| Thumb Drive: Convenience is the magic word. | | | | actually) which has lost the data. |
| | | | |
| The thumb drive is an excellent device, no | | | | Backup procedure |
| doubts about that. Although it costs more | | | | |
| than optical discs, it has much more storage | | | | Then, you need to download recovery utility. |
| space in a smaller package. | | | | From this point on, I will be referring and |
| | | | using the data recovery software and data |
| Convenience is the word here, as now you not | | | | recovery tools (free). |
| only have a large enough storage space to | | | | |
| backup spreadsheets, databases, videos, mp3's | | | | Download link to ADRC data recovery tools |
| and more, BUT you can just put in your pocket | | | | below |
| as it is not as frail as optical disks, nor | | | | |
| does it have any moving parts in it. | | | | Once you have downloaded the software, unzip |
| | | | it and double click on the application. |
| Thumb Drive: The Dangers. | | | | |
| | | | The following process is to create a disk |
| In fact, thumb drives are hardy. And that's | | | | image of the thumb drive so that recovery can |
| part of the problem. | | | | be done on the image instead of the original |
| | | | data disk. |
| Once you know it is sturdy, people tend to | | | | |
| take the fact for granted and neglect basic | | | | To create an image, you want to use the Image |
| things like backup and such, with the | | | | Backup/Restore function, which is under the |
| presumption that the thumb drive will never | | | | tools menu in ADRC's data recovery tools. |
| fail. The basic fact is (and this goes just | | | | |
| for about anything mechanical, electronic or | | | | You should see there are two radio buttons. |
| biological) will fail. | | | | Select Create Image From Disk. |
| | | | |
| Here are a few ways in which thumb drives and | | | | Then, in the lower drop down menu, select the |
| other solid state devices can fail, in fact: | | | | drive you want to clone. Save and image file |
| | | | name, and then wait for the operation to |
| - Write/erase limit | | | | finish. |
| | | | |
| Thumb drives "wear out" after a number of | | | | Image created, you want to proceed on to |
| write/erase to the devices. Yes, there is a | | | | recovery from this image file. |
| limit of some sort (with numbers ranging from | | | | |
| 10,000 to 100,000) of how many times you can | | | | Recover from file deletion |
| write to the thumb drive. | | | | |
| | | | Still in the data recovery tools software, |
| - file corruption | | | | under "tools", select "undelete". Select the |
| | | | drive which you have backed up the image |
| Like in normal hard disks, there is a | | | | drive to, and click search. |
| possibility that file corruption occurring. | | | | |
| When this happens, you either cannot open the | | | | Wait for the process to finish. With luck, |
| file as normal or the whole drive cannot even | | | | the file you need and deleted can be found in |
| be opened, and there are messages which ask | | | | the list. |
| you to format your drive. | | | | |
| | | | Select the files (to select many files, press |
| - burned chips/components | | | | ctrl and click) that you need. This may be a |
| | | | tedious process as there are many files which |
| During power surge, or even improper eject of | | | | you may not need. Persevere! You need the |
| the thumb drive, the memory chip where all | | | | files! |
| your data is stored may get destroyed. When | | | | |
| this happens, there is no chance at all to | | | | Once you have selected the files, click the |
| even recover your data. | | | | "Undelete Files" button. You will then be |
| | | | prompted to specify a location to save the |
| - misplacement | | | | files. |
| | | | |
| With the nature of the drive itself, its | | | | Recover from file/drive corruption |
| diminutive size makes it easy to forget its | | | | |
| existence. It is easy to misplace, lose and | | | | There are many recovery software on the |
| leave behind. | | | | market, both good and bad. However, in this |
| | | | particular guide, we are referring to ADRC's |
| As you can see, there are dangers in trusting | | | | data recovery express, which costs US$6.99. |
| the thumb drive solution wholly. And in some | | | | The software relatively powerful but cheap |
| cases, like burnt components, misplacement | | | | costing software, thus there is minimal risk. |
| and theft would mean that your data is lost | | | | |
| forever.However, if you only either delete | | | | Download link to ADRC Data Recovery Express |
| your data, or your files get corrupted or | | | | below |
| your thumb drive returns messages which ask | | | | |
| you to format it, then there is still a | | | | Run the software (just double-click on icon). |
| chance that you can get back your data. | | | | Under the settings tab, you would want to |
| | | | check the "raw disk scan" option. Then, |
| Recovery from deleted/corrupted files in | | | | select the image you have created, and click |
| thumb drives | | | | "Begin Scan". |
| | | | |
| When you have lost data through either | | | | And now we wait for the automated recovery |
| deletion or corruption, it is of utmost | | | | process to finish. |
| importance that you immediately stop using | | | | |
| the media to increase the chances of you | | | | As long as you have not done anything after |
| recovering your data. | | | | realising that your drive is corrupter your |
| | | | files should be remain intact. In fact, ADRC |
| Once that is done, you need to create a | | | | recovery express can repair files that have |
| backup image of the thumb drive. | | | | suffered corruption, so long as the |
| | | | corruption is not severe. |
| This step is necessary so that recovery can | | | | |
| proceed while preserving the integrity of the | | | | Problem solved. |
| original thumb drive (or any storage media | | | | |