In this tutorial, you will see how to check USB drive in 4 different ways. In addition, we provide a solution to recover data from any USB drive easily.
Certainly, your trusty USB companion has faithfully accompanied your photos, videos, and music on countless journeys. However, the convenience it offers can be thrown into doubt when an unforeseen error arises, barring your access to precious data.
Periodically checking your USB's health is a prudent practice, given that Windows might not always alert you to impending issues. Continue reading to learn some ways to check USB drive with detailed steps so that you can find lost files on USB in time.
Initiate a USB health check when you detect any unusual behavior. Warning signs might encompass:
Once you've ascertained the veracity of your USB drive's information, explore these techniques for checking USB drives.
Kick off with a visual examination. Assess the USB's housing for potential problems. Subsequently, shift your focus to the connection point. Is it bent or compromised?
Although USB connectors are built to be robust (given their hot-swappable nature), severe damage could impair data pins and even trigger short circuits, causing memory damage and rendering the USB unusable.
Also, if your USB boasts indicator lights, check their functionality when connected to a computer.
For diagnosing and rectifying USB drive issues, CheckDisk stands as a dependable tool. It possesses the capability to fixing bad sectors by mapping them to operational ones. To utilize it, the Command Prompt is necessary, along with equivalent applications like PowerShell or Terminal for Windows.
Execute the following steps to run CheckDisk through Command Prompt:
1. Initiate by clicking Start and searching for Command Prompt. Open the target.
2. Type in chkdsk e: /r. Replace e with your USB drive's letter, then hit Enter.
Safeguard your USB drive from potential virus contamination. Employ the built-in antivirus utility, Microsoft Defender Antivirus, to scan your USB for malicious software.
Adopt these actions to conduct a virus scan via Microsoft Defender:
1. Launch File Explorer, right-click on your USB drive, and select Scan with Microsoft Defender. For Windows 11, click Show more options initially. This step triggers an automatic quick scan.
2. To conduct a thorough scan, opt for Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan) and initiate a Scan now. This offline scan transpires within a trusted environment, external to the Windows kernel, targeting malware attempting to tamper with the master boot record.
Disk error checking effectively serves as a graphical user interface for CheckDisk. Windows empowers you to inspect connected drives for file system-related anomalies. If any irregularities are detected, you'll have the opportunity to rectify them.
Follow these instructions to execute disk error checking on your USB flash drive:
1. Launch File Explorer, right-click your USB drive, and choose Properties. Accessing USB flash drive properties.
2. Navigate to the Tools tab and select Check.
3. Click on Scan and repair drive.
In the event of a USB failure without preceding indications, data recovery becomes the focus. Employ a USB data recovery software for this purpose.
Opt for a reliable data recovery software like MyRecover. This proficient tool restores over 200 file types from corrupted drives across various Windows versions, including Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11, as well as Windows Server. It offers a commendable success rate.
MyRecover’s shining advantages:
To embark on data recovery from a compromised drive, download and install MyRecover on an operational PC. Accomplish the following steps:
Step 1. Link the USB flash drive to the functional PC containing MyRecover. Hover the mouse over the affected drive or partition, then initiate Scan.
Step 2. The combined power of Quick Scan & Deep Scan will automatically scrutinize all lost or deleted files. Identified files are presented below.
For expedited file retrieval, explore two efficient choices:
📌 1: Employ the Search for files or folders box to input specific file names.
📌 2: Employ the Filter feature for broader searches, utilizing options such as Type, Date Modified, and Size.
Example: To recover deleted Word documents, opt for Filter > Type > Documents. Then, input DOCX in the Search for files or folders box to display identified Word files.
Step 3. Select desired files for recovery and click Recover x files. Designate a location for storage, and the retrieval process will commence.
📍 Notes:
When embarking on the process of check USB drive, begin with a visual inspection to detect any physical defects. Subsequently, undertake multiple evaluations, involving CheckDisk scans, Microsoft Defender virus checks, and disk error assessments.
For instances where USB failure has already occurred, promptly back up your data and embark on recovery with tools like MyRecover. Upon USB data recovery, restore your USB to its original state through formatting.