The flash card is not readable, what should I do? What to do if the flash drive is not detected on any computer

Hello!

A flash drive is currently one of the most popular types of storage media (except for the ability to share files over the network).

In fact, a USB flash drive has a lot of advantages: it is mobile (can be put in any pocket), universal (connects to any PC, laptop, gadget), copying/reading information from it is quite fast, etc.

But one small thing happens to them" problem“- sometimes the computer refuses to recognize and see it. There are quite a few reasons for the invisibility of a flash drive, in this article I want to give the most basic ones that I most often encounter in my work.

Also from the article you will learn what can be done to restore the functionality of your device (you shouldn’t always immediately throw it away and run to buy a new one?! 👣).

To help!

If you want to buy flash drives at bargain prices, I recommend using Chinese online stores:

Reasons for the invisibility of a flash drive

10 Main reasons and their solutions...

Problem #1: the flash drive is not formatted

This reason is the most common! The fact is that after purchasing a flash drive, you need to format it (very often new flash drives and disks are not formatted at all and therefore they are not visible in “My Computer/This Computer”...).

Solution

It is most likely pointless to go into “My Computer”, because... in some cases you won’t see a flash drive there.

Therefore you need to open "Disk Management" . To do this, press the button combination Win+R (The Run window should appear) , enter the command diskmgmt.msc and press Enter (screenshot below).

Remark! If your flash drive is not visible in Disk Management, go to the 3rd problem.

Find your flash drive in the list (guide by its size and name, for example, "Kingston...8 GB") , then click on it right mouse button and in the context menu that appears, select - " Format... " (example in the screenshot below) .

Actually, that's all. By the way, I recommend choosing NTFS as the file system (because on FAT 32, which is often the default on flash drives, it is impossible to copy and place files whose size exceeds 4 GB).

Problem #2: incorrect auto-installation of drive/flash drive letter

When you connect any disk drive, flash drive, floppy disk, etc. to your computer - it automatically assigns a unique drive letter to your drive, e.g. "System drive C:\" or "Local drive F:\", etc.

Everything would be fine, but sometimes the auto-installation of the letter fails and assigns a non-unique letter to your connected drive. As a result, the drive is not visible...

To solve this, you just need to try changing the letter (this is done quickly and very often solves the lion's share of problems).

Solution

You also need to go to "Disk Management" (how this is done is described above), then select your “invisible” drive, click on it right mouse button and select the function " Change drive letter or drive path ".

To help!

By the way, in some cases, Windows may not assign a drive letter to all connected drives at all. To fix this, use the following recommendations:

Problem #3: Outdated or broken drivers

A very, very common problem is outdated drivers (also sometimes drivers can fail and conflict with each other). It is worth noting that on older computers another problem is possible - the inability to see a flash drive whose size is more than 32 GB.

This can be solved in the following way: first remove the old drivers, then install new ones.

Solution

First of all, open the device manager, where you can see all the devices connected to the computer. To do this, open, then switch the view to "Large icons" and select "from the list" device Manager " (example in the screenshot below).

To help! Alternative ways to open Device Manager -

Note!

Devices that do not have drivers will display a yellow exclamation mark. In general, it is not advisable for you to have such devices marked with exclamation marks (or red crosses).

After uninstalling, click the "" button - it is located at the top of the Device Manager window. After which, your manager window will blink a couple of times, and the drivers will be reinstalled...

Problem #4: the front panel of the system unit is not connected

Very often, the USB ports on the front panel of the system unit are not connected to the motherboard (apparently, they forget to connect this socket when assembling the PC). In this case, you simply insert the flash drive into a port to nowhere...

Solution

1. Quite simple: connect the flash drive to the back of the system unit - it always has 2÷4 USB ports. At the very least, it is recommended to do this simply for testing - to confirm that the USB ports on the front panel are not working.
2. Try connecting the front panel to the mat. board If you have never had such experience before, I do not recommend getting into the system unit; it is better to use the services of service centers.

Problem #5: viruses on a PC or flash drive

Settings for enabling USB ports are usually located in the "Advanced" tab. On opposite point USB Controller need to convert the value to Enabled(i.e. enabled, see screenshot below). Then save the settings and exit (usually F10 key).

You can also simply reset the BIOS settings to optimal ones (USB ports are always included in them. At least I have never seen the opposite...).

Problem #8: File system error

In cases of file system failure - when you connect a flash drive, you will most likely see a message that the flash drive is not formatted, that it has a RAW file system and Windows will prompt you to do something with it 😊.

In some cases, formatting a flash drive cannot be completed due to some errors...

In general, the problem with the file system is quite “big”, and its solution is not always simple and quick (especially if the flash drive has the necessary data).

Solution

If the data on the flash drive is needed- I don’t recommend formatting it. In general, I advise you not to do anything with it, but take it to a service center. If you want to do everything yourself, then first try to remove your data from it using recovery utilities: Recuva, R.Saver, Easy Recovery Professional, etc.

To help!

How to recover photos from a MicroSD memory card or USB flash drive -

If the data on the flash drive is not needed (or you have already copied it): I recommend trying to format the flash drive using one special. utilities - HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool.

HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool

A simple utility for low-level formatting of disks and flash drives. In a number of cases, it helps to bring drives back to life, for which there was practically no hope left. By the way, it formats even those disks that Windows does not see or gives reading/formatting errors.

The utility works quite simply: after launching, it will present you with a list of all connected drives to the system, you select the one you need and format it. After formatting, the disk (or flash drive) starts working as it should!

Formatting a flash drive

To help!

How to format a flash drive (FAT32, exFAT, NTFS) -

Problem #9: USB port malfunction

It also happens that the USB port becomes unusable. Most often this happens due to frequent and careless use of it: for example, many people sharply pull the flash drive (or USB cable), over time the USB port begins to fit poorly to the inserted flash drive (i.e. there is no contact between the flash drive and the port). As a result, the flash drive is invisible.

Note. By the way, the USB port may not work stably: i.e. you will first see the flash drive, and after you start copying information onto it (or reading it) - you may see an error, or the connection will simply disappear...

Solution

1. Try connecting the flash drive to another USB port, or to another computer/laptop. If the problem is related to the USB port, you will immediately notice the difference...
2. I also recommend paying attention to dirt in the USB port. Often, over time, a layer of dust, plaque, etc. accumulates, which leads to poor contact. If there is a lot of dirt, try removing it with an old toothbrush dipped in alcohol. (perform the operation with the PC turned off!) , and then reinsert the flash drive.

Problem #10: USB flash drive malfunction (for example, after being dropped)

This is perhaps the worst thing that could happen to the drive, especially if it contains important data. Most often, the user guesses that the flash drive may have become unusable, because... before that:

• the drive fell to the floor;
• was dropped into water;
• accidentally touched or hit by any object;
• The drive shows deep scratches, chips or cracks.

In general, when you insert a flash drive into a USB port, the LED on it should light up (most flash drives have one). The characteristic sound of connecting the device should “ring” on the PC. If all this is missing, especially when connecting a flash drive to different devices, then this is a bad sign; most likely there is a problem with the flash drive itself.

Solution

1. Buy a new flash drive (banal and simple 😉, especially since the prices for them are now quite affordable (and they generally cost “pennies”));
2. Try taking it to a service center, maybe the technician will be able to resolder the contacts and it will work again (but I would recommend this method only for). After repairing the drive: using it for important data is not justified!

Which results in the USB drive not being recognized. From damaged USB ports to USB formatting issues, the list of possible scenarios is varied. It should also be noted that before applying any of the methods below, the user must ensure that the cause is analyzed and the problem is identified correctly.

The list of reasons that lead to a flash drive being unreadable and which users encounter most often includes the following 5 scenarios:

1. USB ports don't work.
2. You need to update your USB drivers.
3. The operating system (OS) is not updated.
4. The USB storage device is faulty.
5. The USB firmware is corrupted.

You can find more than one USB recognition program on the Internet that will ensure that the data is retrieved, but it is better not to use these programs as they can pose security risks, possibly compromising the data.

Below are some of the factors that can lead to flash drive recognition problems. It should be noted that these problems need to be resolved as soon as possible:

1. Problem with USB formatting. This is the most common type of problem where the user fails to format the drive before first use. The error message states that formatting could not be completed.
2. Driver problem. USB drivers are not available or need to be updated.
3. Hard drive problems. If the hard drive of the OS and its associated system is not working properly, it is most likely a problem with the hard drive.
4. OS related problems: OS if not updated on time also leads to these problems. The only solution is to update the components.
5. Port related problems. This can be either hardware or software. If the ports do not recognize USB, professional help is recommended.

USB formatting problem is the most common type of problem

4 Ways to Fix Problem with Flash Drive Not Recognized by Windows

Method 1: Scan for USB problems

Step 1. Insert the flash drive into the USB port.

Step 2. Make sure that the flash drive appears in the “My Computer” section. Then, right-click to open the “Properties” section.

Step 3. Enter the "Service" section.

Step 4. Then you need to click on the “Check Now” button for a new menu to appear. Here both options should be selected and the run button should be clicked to scan the device and fix the problem (some may just say "Check", then you need to click "Check" and then "Check and repair disk").

Method 2: Reformatting USB

Follow this process:

Step 1. Right-click on the flash drive under My Computer to select the Format option.

Step 2. Now, to solve the problem, you need to format the flash drive using NTFS instead of FAT32 or vice versa:

On a note! All information from the flash drive will be deleted!

Method 3: Update drivers

The process looks like this:

Step 1. You need to open the Run window (Win+R), and then enter devmgmt.msc as in the screenshot below:

Step 2. This will take you to the Device Manager (you can also open it through the built-in Windows search, you just need to type “Device Manager” in the search box and Windows will return the desired result).

Step 3. You need to find “Universal Serial Bus controllers” as in the picture below:

Step 4. When you have found the controllers you need, you need to right-click on them and select the option to update drivers, then “Automatically search for updated drivers.”

Method 4. OS update

To update your OS, follow these steps:

Step 1. Go to Control Panel > System and Security.

Step 2. Now you need to make sure that the “Check for updates” option is selected.

The OS will be updated.

Then you need to restart the system to ensure that the problem is resolved.

Software to recover lost data on hard drive

Once the USB recognition problem is resolved, it is recommended that you save all important data to ensure that the problem never happens again. You should also check that all folders are saved and that nothing is missing. Wondershare Data Recovery tool is the most advanced and modern tool designed specifically to solve the problem of file loss. It is better to download it from the official website.

Note! Only 100 megabytes of lost data are free.

Recovering files with Wondershare Data Recovery occurs in 3 steps:

Step 1. First you need to select what types of files you want to recover.

Step 2. Then you need to select the device from which you want to recover these same files.

Step 3. You also need to select the location where these files will be restored.

It won’t be difficult, and the intuitive and simple interface will only help with this.

Video - Flash drive not detected - solution to the problem

A USB flash drive is not recognized as a disk when connected to a computer or laptop? Can't you write anything on it? And you can’t even format the flash drive? In principle, all is not lost. Most likely the problem lies with the controller. But this can be fixed. And everything will take a maximum of 5-10 minutes.

The only caveat is that restoring the flash drive’s functionality is only possible if it has no mechanical damage (+ it appears in device manager). That is, if you disabled it not through “Safely Remove” (or something like that), then this can be fixed. At the very least, it’s worth at least trying to restore a non-working flash drive.

How to get your flash drive working again

Even if it seems that the USB flash drive has come to an end, you should not take it for repairs. And even more so throw it away. First, you can try to restore the damaged flash drive.

The instructions work for all USB flash drives: Silicon Power, Kingston, Transcend, Data Traveler, A-Data, etc. With its help, you can restore the file system and fix any problems (except mechanical damage).

So, the first thing you need to do is determine the parameters of the USB flash drive. Or rather, its VID and PID. Based on this information, you can determine the brand of the controller, and then select a utility that will help restore the damaged flash drive.

To find out these parameters, do the following:

1. Connect the flash drive to your PC or laptop and go to Start – Control Panel – Device Manager.
2. Find the "USB Controllers" section.
3. Double-click on it and look for the “USB storage device” item. This is your flash drive (let me remind you, it must be connected to the computer).
4. Right-click on it and select “Properties”.
5. In the new window, go to the “Details” tab.
6. In the “Property” field, select the “Equipment ID” (or “Instance Code”) item.

   

7. Look at the VID and PID values ​​and remember them.
   
8. Next, go to the website http://flashboot.ru/iflash/, enter your values ​​at the top of the site and click the “Search” button.
   
9. You are looking for the model of your USB flash drive (by manufacturer and memory capacity). In the right column “Utils” there will be the name of the program with which you can try to restore a non-working flash drive.
   

After that, all that remains is to find this utility by name or follow the link (if it exists) and download it.

Restoring Kingstone, Silicon Power, Transcend and other models is easy: just run the program and follow the instructions.

What to do if you have not found a suitable utility for your model? To do this, go to Google or Yandex and write something like this: “Silicon Power 4 GB VID 090C PID 1000” (of course, you should indicate the parameters of your flash drive here). And then look what the search engine found.

Never use programs that are not suitable for the VID and PID parameters of your controller! Otherwise, you will “kill” the flash drive completely, and you will no longer be able to restore it.

In most cases, recovery of a damaged flash drive is successful. And after that it will be detected when connected to a PC or laptop.

This is how you repair a flash drive yourself using a free utility.

And most importantly: in this way it is possible to restore a damaged flash drive in 80% of cases. While most specialized programs may not be able to cope with this task.

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I’m sure you have documents, photos or videos that should never be deleted. If this happens, they will help. But what to do if the flash drive literally breaks or stops working? Why did this happen? Today I will answer these questions.

First of all, let's define the terms. When they say “flash drive,” they mean a device with a USB connector:

And what is inserted into phones and cameras is called memory cards:

But this is unnecessary complexity and can be misleading. Both types of memory drives can be called flash drives. The cards have exactly the same parts (okay, a little more compact) as USB flash drives. This identical devices. Yes, they look different, the method of exchanging data between the device and the flash drive is different, but otherwise they are similar. The only difference is where they are connected.

And their problems are similar, and the treatment (data recovery) is the same. And it’s not always easy. Remember:

The success of data recovery depends on the severity of the situation, the model of the flash drive and the amount of money in the owner’s pocket.

You need to know that repairing and restoring data are two mutually exclusive situations. When pulling out information, you will have to gut the flash drive so that it will not be possible to put it back together. But you will have the data.

What can break? And if it breaks, will it be possible to restore the files?

1. Memory chips with cells in which data is stored.

Data cannot be written to memory cells forever. Their read-write cycle life is limited to hundreds of thousands of operations. Once the limit is exceeded, the cell will not be able to hold a charge. Files will become unreadable or their contents will be damaged. And if the loss of a couple of bytes in a text document threatens only the absence of a couple of letters, then for photographs, videos and archives any distortion is unacceptable.

The data is stored in such a chip. There may be several of them

To avoid data corruption, memory chips have cells that are not used during normal use. As soon as the memory begins to fail, the controller (more on it later) will prohibit work with the faulty cell and substitute a spare one in its place. Alas, there is not much spare memory; sooner or later the reserve area will be completely used up. Then plan “B” will come into effect: data recording will be prohibited. Reading will not be lost anywhere, so you can safely copy the files to your home computer or other safe place.

But this is ideal. I have only encountered a similar situation on memory cards. USB flash drives usually start to “glitch”: the saved files stop opening because they are damaged. What to do? Alas: no data recovery programs will help here!

So damage to the memory chip can result in permanent loss of data. Fortunately, the read-write resource is quite large (hundreds of thousands of cycles). Even if you completely fill up the flash drive every day and then delete everything, failure will not occur before a year of operation. And MicroSD in phones are more resistant to this, because, as I wrote above, protection is triggered and files can be copied to a safe place.

Much more often problems arise with the controller.

2. Controller(not a controller!) - a chip that takes care of data transfer between memory chips and a computer, phone or other external device.

Most often, problems arise with it. This is a complex component with its own memory and a set of electronic parts, in which anything can break. For example, the contents of the controller’s firmware are often damaged and the flash drive is simply not detected when connected to a computer or becomes visible as a disk with a size of 0 bytes. Many USB flash drives can be repaired at home using flashing programs (the data will be lost!), but this trick will not work with miniature memory cards - they have a monolithic body (to put it simply, everything is inside one chip), which cannot be disassembled.

The controller cannot be repaired, but data can be restored. Contact data recovery companies - they will be able to connect to the memory chip, bypassing the controller, or transfer the memory to exactly the same donor flash drive.

3. Electronic “harness”. These are various electronic components (resistors, diodes, power regulator) scattered across the board.

The parts are “on the front lines”, smoothing out voltage surges due to the unexpected removal of a flash drive from the port and other electronic interference, so very vulnerable. The situation is especially bad with memory cards and monolithic flash drives: due to the dense layout, the working parts are poorly cooled, and the risk of burnout increases. Memory cards, unlike monolithic USB flash drives, are even worse: they are located inside a working device, which also heats up.

Depending on the model of the flash drive, you can either replace the parts with new ones (and the flash drive will last for some time), or connect directly to the memory chip to get the data. Of course, this requires people with the right skills and technology.

Advice: in winter, when fluffy warm clothes become a trend, static electricity kills this very “harness” once or twice. If you are wearing something that causes sparks when you take it off, before working with the computer and/or picking up a flash drive, touch the unpainted part of the heating battery - the accumulated charge will go away and the equipment will be out of danger.

4. Connector and housing.

USB flash drives and memory cards have different connectors, but the problem is common: the contacts are damaged. Oxidation, erasure, simply insufficient pressure - and now the flash drive is no longer detected when connected, and the phone does not see the memory card. The problem can be solved by cleaning the contacts with an eraser or, if it is a full-size USB connector, by slightly squeezing it so that the flash drive sits tightly when connected to the computer.

For large memory cards, the latch may break or the casing may peel off; this can be repaired with ordinary tape (wrap the casing and you’re done). The contacts can also be wiped, but if the housing is cracked, it’s a lost cause. I had no idea how fragile they were until I accidentally knocked the MicroSD off the table and ruined it. Having fallen on its edge, the card simply cracked.

I have also often seen the consequences of finding a flash drive in the back pocket of jeans. The result is always the same:

Sometimes the expression “something bad happened” should be taken literally. Photo from dannydullin.com

Repairing broken connectors is a fairly simple procedure for service center workers. After repair, the flash drive can continue to be used.

About software glitches

In addition to hardware failures, software failures also occur. Files in case software Failures are fairly easy to recover from. Usually free programs are enough. Then format the flash drive and continue using it.

A simple way to determine the type of failure: if the flash drive does not show itself when connected to a PC or phone, the hardware is broken. And if it is recognized, but there is something wrong with the files, the problem is software. Usually the algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. Retrieve information using data recovery programs.

2. Format the flash drive (right-click on the drive in the “This Computer” folder - Format - Start).

The only software problem that cannot be solved by formatting is changing the partition size. Appears after installing a large flash drive in old cameras. The camera, unaware that such capacious flash drives exist, creates a partition that is smaller than necessary. It will help you to work with disk partitions. You can use Windows tools: Control Panel - Computer Management - Disk Management - right-click on the partition on the flash drive - Delete volume, then Create volume, you need to select FAT32 instead of NTFS. This will rebuild the file system from scratch with the correct size.

Hardware failures

So, what to do if the controller burns out or the flash drive breaks in half, and there is important data there? How to restore them?

This is where the difficulties begin. Data mining methods can be divided into three conventional types. It all depends on what is broken and what type of flash drive - regular or monolithic.

1. Transfer memory to a working flash drive.

Specialists install a memory chip from a damaged flash drive onto a donor of exactly the same model.

Ideal option: after repair, the flash drive connected to the computer is recognized as a regular removable disk, documents are easily copied to a safe place. You can’t pull off this trick with memory cards; the components are too tightly packed and cannot be soldered, or the case is completely monolithic. But the following option is suitable.

2. Read memory directly.

To access memory, you can do without a controller. Specialists connect directly to the outputs of the memory chip and read its contents in “raw” form, then use specialized data recovery software to retrieve the files.

But this is not always the case. Sometimes there are several memory chips and/or the controller operates according to its own algorithms, which only the manufacturer knows about.

3. Data recovery from monolithic devices.

It is not possible to quickly connect to the memory of MicroSD cards and some models of SD and USB flash drives; you need to do difficult work at least to access the pins of the memory chip. Retrieving data requires expensive equipment that most laboratories do not have and a lot of time. That's why prices are high. The minimum price for restoring monolithic flash drives, which I found on the Internet, is 12 thousand rubles.

Connecting to a memory chip on a monolithic flash drive. Photo from gillware.com

Working with monolithic flash drives is a complex and painstaking process that does not always end in success.

Why are monolithic flash drives bad? The fact is that instead of the good old board, they use a thin substrate and parts soldered with wires less than a hair thick. All this stuff is covered in varnish. The result is a monolithic structure that cannot be disassembled. Specialists use a microscope to peel off layer by layer, and then, when the tracks become visible, they solder them to the desired contacts. This is a temporary measure; after removing the data, the flash drive goes to waste.

Photo from blog.acelaboratory.com

An important point: when restoring monolithic flash drives, a donor is often needed. To understand which contact is responsible for what, you need to use a logic analyzer and, possibly, an X-ray machine to see how exactly the same intact flash drive works.

Monolithic flash drive under x-ray. Photo from the site habrahabr.ru

Such work requires appropriate payment, so not everyone can afford to pay for data recovery from monolithic flash drives. If I were an employee of a laboratory with a similar service, I would insert an advertisement here, but I do not work in this area, so I will tell the victims one thing: I sincerely sympathize. It’s especially sad when a flash drive from an unnamed Chinese manufacturer breaks. Maybe I don’t know something and the nameless flash drives are as similar to each other as two peas in a pod, but something tells me that this is not so.

When a flash drive from the Chinese brand XEDIAN gave up life as a wife, I began to look at it (the flash drive, not my wife) in the hope that it had service contacts. These contacts simplify access to memory and, accordingly, reduce the cost of the recovery process. There were no contacts, but under the top layer of paint I found the inscription “SanDisk Extreme Plus 32 GB”. It was applied crookedly, which indicates a fake, and there are no memory cards similar in appearance on the SanDisk website. Rhetorical question: how much will it cost to recover data from a flash drive from a Chinese manufacturer that stamps its nameplate on counterfeit memory cards? It’s difficult to find a donor, because different models are hidden under the card with that name, judging by the photos and reviews on Aliexpress. This is a case where a recovery attempt can cost a pretty penny and is unlikely to be successful.

Why do flash drives break?

Have you inserted a flash drive into your computer, it is not detected and cleaning the contacts did not help? This does not mean, that you are unlucky. Any Technology tends to break down when used. Defects, power surges, temperature changes, hands from the wrong place - everything can cause a breakdown. You just have to accept it and move on with your life. Well, or look for service centers with data recovery services.

To avoid sadness, in advance make backups. Many have already forgotten about the existence of DVD, but this is a good way to store archival photographs, videos and other digital data dear to the heart. Or buy an external hard drive.

Phone owners: you can install Yandex.Disk, enable auto-uploading of photos to the cloud and you will never lose memorable entries. Only 10 GB is available for free, but until July 3

Today, among PC users, there is probably not a single person who would not use items on flash memory. These include USB drives, MP-3 players, memory cards and other devices that use flash memory. At the same time, very often various problems arise with flash drives. Then the computer displays “USB device not recognized”, “Insert disk”, “No access to disk” or “The disk is write protected”, or “Windows cannot finish formatting”. Or it doesn’t detect the flash drive at all. It happens that no serious problems arise with flash drives, but the information is simply accidentally deleted or the flash drive is formatted. How then? On this page you will find everything you need to recover information from a flash drive or repair it yourself. In most cases, it is possible to save the flash drive. And it is almost always possible to restore lost information if rescue measures are taken in time.

USB device not recognized
Such a glitch sometimes happens with the USB driver or with the USB flash drive itself (memory card or MP player) after which the flash drive is not detected in one of the USB sockets. The first thing you need to do is insert the flash drive into other USB sockets or even into another computer to determine which device is not working. If the flash drive is detected in another slot or in another PC and starts working, then the problem is not with it, but with the computer. This way you can understand where to look for the problem in order to fix it. This is a purely software problem and can be resolved by reinstalling the USB driver. In a more complex case, you will have to edit the registry. If you know how to use registry cleaning programs, you can use them. If not, you can edit the registry manually. This is done like this:
Start: run/regedit/OK
Next you need to expand the branches:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USBSTOR
and clean out all folders whose names contain VID & PID. These registry branches contain entries about all USB devices that were connected to this PC. If you know the VID & PID of your flash drive that does not want to be detected correctly, then you can only delete the folder that contains the name of your flash drive or its VID & PID. This must be done from both of these branches. If you clear these registry branches of all entries, then nothing bad will happen. Windows will create new entries there itself. If Windows does not allow you to delete folders in the registry, then this can be done using another OS, for example with a Live-CD. In the same way, in a Live-CD you go into the registry and delete folders just like in Windows. Then download your version of Windows again and check the flash drive. Everything should work. You can look at the expanded registry branch

If you accidentally deleted data or formatted a flash drive
After deleting information or formatting flash memory, you can return information using a simple Recuva program. The main thing is that after losing data, do not write anything to this flash drive, otherwise the information can be overwritten by new data.
You can download the program.

Unable to format flash drive
It happens that a flash drive or memory card becomes so glitchy after a failure that you cannot format it using Windows. The PC gives you the message “Windows cannot finish formatting” or something similar. In this case, “Panasonic_SD Formatter.2000” will help you - a small utility that performs formatting. After formatting the flash drive with this program, you can continue to use it.
You can download it.

The flash drive does not open or is not detected
In this case, you should use special programs for recovering flash drives after serious failures. To know which program to use, you must first find out VID & PID chip.
VID– manufacturer identifier
PID– device identifier
You can find out VID & PID with special programs, such as ChipGenius or CheckUDisk. Programs determine VID & PID even if the computer does not see the flash drive.
ChipGenius– a detailed and understandable program from Chinese manufacturers. CheckUDisk is another program for determining identifiers, albeit simpler.
ChipGenius – download
CheckUDisk – download
After you find out the chip identifiers of your flash drive, look for your pair in the table and download the desired program.
There is another program FlashGenius, which determines the parameters of USB Flash drives based on their markings. FlashGenius detects chip capacity and version, manufacturer, voltage, MLC/SLC type, etc.
You can download it.

How to use AlcorMP flash drive recovery program
watch here

If flash drive recovery programs did not help
In this case, when nothing has helped and there is really nothing to lose, you can try more harsh methods - simply short-circuit the microcircuit. You can do it like this. Disassemble the flash drive or device where the flash memory is located, insert the device into USB, turn it on if it requires turning on and close the contacts of the microcircuit with a needle. How to do it

What if nothing helps at all?
If it happens that none of all the methods helped, then things are really bad. If this is an expensive device that uses flash memory, then you can take it to a service center and they will replace the chip. If it’s a simple USB flash drive, then you can safely throw it away. Because after such recovery manipulations, it will no longer be possible to save the information, and repairing an empty flash drive will cost more than buying a new one.

Good luck!

VID	PID	Size	Program	Download
1307	0163	8Gb	MPTool v 3.9.8.0	Download
058	6387	-	AlcorMP	Download
058f	6387	2 Gb-8 Gb	AlcorMP (090227)	Download
058f	1234	2 Gb-8 Gb	AlcorMP (090227) AU698X, AU3150X	Download
0204	6025	1 Gb	CBM209X UMP-Tool	Download
058f	9380	16 Gb	AlcorMP.AU9380 (UFD Manufacture Tool)	Download
13FE	1F00,1A00	1 Gb	USB 2K REL90	Download
1043	8012	2 Gb	i5128-PDx16V1.32	Download
125F	1001	2 Gb		Download
0dd8	1430	4 Gb	NT2033CMS	Download
0000	7777	2 Gb	AlcorMP6.18_beta3	Download
1307	0163	2 Gb	USB_Flash_Disk_Utility_USBest	Download
0dd8	1430	4 Gb	NT2033CMS	Download
058F	6387	4 Gb	PCB0 AlcorMP6.18_beta3	Download
058F	9380	-	AU9381 V1.1.0.0, Alcor Micro UFD	Download
067b	2528	-	USB Flash Disk Utility	Download
0457	0151	1 Gb	USBest; UT161	Download
1307	0163	-	MPTool (UT163) v3.9.12.0, UT165_1.65.17.0	Download
1005	B113	-	USB 2K REL90 (PS2231-UP12)	Download
1307	0165	-	MP TOOL UT165	Download
3538	0054	-	PQI_LowFormat	Download
090C	1000	-	SM32x_G121	Download
0EA0	2168	-	OTI PT Multi-Device	Download
2008	2018	4 Gb	MPTool V2.0	Download
067b	2517	-		Download
1727	0000	-	Prolific UFD Utility v21400	Download
067B	2528	-	Prolific UFD Utility v21400	Download
0951	160F	-	AlcorMP	Download
BA63	4146	4 Gb	UT163 MPTool v3.9.35.0 or	Download
4146	BA63	4 Gb	UT163 MPTool v3.9.35.0 or	Download
1307	165	8 Gb	Super Stick Recovery Tool V1.0.2.19 (UT161, UT163, UT165)