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Failed USB drive - any ideas? (usb has malfunctioned)

Nvidiaguy07

Nvidiaguy07

Platinum Member
A coworker came to me today with a presumed dead USB drive. This is what happens when you plug it in to a computer running windows 7.

I get a message saying "USB Device not recognized - one of the usb devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned and windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click this message."

shows up as an unknown device when you click it. It says try reconnecting, and then it says try reinstalling if that doesnt work.

I tried multiple windows computers (xp and 7), and multiple USB ports with the same result. If i go to device manager and uninstall and then reboot, it just says device failed to install.

I then tried it in OSX on my macbook air and it wouldnt even pop up. Tried in windows 7 on the same MBA, same result as other windows computers.

Lastly, i tried booting into a live cd (lubuntu and tiny core) and it would not even show up there.

What are my options here for helping him? If its nothing i can do, is data recovery possible at all? and at what price?

thanks in advance to anyone who can help out.
 
Which type of "USB drive" are you talking about? Is it a USB flash (thumb) drive or an external USB drive like the WD Passport or the Seagate FreeAgent, or is it an actual HDD in a USB enclosure?
 
Sometime that happens when the soldering is cracked on the usb thumb drive connector. Try applying some up or down pressure on drive see if that helps.
 
heymrdj said:
Recovery prices aren't horrible factoring in the normal costs of hard drives, but you still have to decide if the drive is worth it. Also as is always repeated, a flash drive can be wiped out at anytime just by a file hanging out there uncommitted, they can be extremely finnicky (especially on systems older than Vista).

http://www.eprovided.com/digital-image-recovery-costs.html
Click to expand...

tried messing with it, no luck. I gave him that website, seems pretty reasonable, i was thinking in the hundred of dollars. There cant be more than 1-2gb on there, so its pretty cheap.

Thanks for the recommendation
 
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