Hi All
I'm new to this forum but i'm hoping someone can help me. I'm trying to recover about 4 months of college work from a friends usb key. Anytime i put the usb key into my computer and try to open it it says i need to format it but for obvious reasons i don't want to do that cause i will loose all the data thats on the key if its formated. I tried to use Recuva to get the data but it just comes up saying thats its unable to read the boot sector. i have tried an advanced search checking all the boxes but it still comes back that it is unable to read the boot sector. Have i forgotten to do something using Recuva or is all the data on the key lost forever.

Thanks a million for any help or advice.

Paul

Hi All

Sorry for the numerous mails about my problem. After more searching through google there is people telling me that i should do a Quick Format of my usb key ( to fix the unable to read boot sector message ) and then use a program like Recuva to find the documents because it will no longer be stuck at the message "unable to read boot sector" and it should be able to recover most of the documents. I just wanted to check does anybody know how true this is? If i did a quick format of the key would i still be able to get the information off it. Like i said in the last post this is all college work and it really would be bad if it was lost but i really need to get the information off it as soon as i can if its possible. Again i would be really thankful for any help or advice that anyone could give.

Cheers

Paul

It's certainly worth a try Paul, you don't seem to have much other option really. Some more info here.

http://docs.piriform.com/recuva/using-recu...formatted-disks

http://docs.piriform.com/recuva/introducin...can-and-cant-do

Please let us know how you go on.

Thanks a million for getting back.

Yeah i'll just check with my friend to get the go ahead once i do i'll post back up how it went, hopefully we'll recover the files and maybe this will help others if they have the same problem.

Thanks again for your advice

Paul

Hi All

Well here is the update on that usb key. I figure its beyond any help as windows is not able to format it and my Mac won't even recognize it when its plugged in. So there seems to be no way to get the info off it. I taught that if i could at least format it Recuva might have a fighting chance to retrieve the information but the usb key just doesn't want to give up the info. Thanks again for all the help.

Sorry to hear that pauldf

Take care now.

pauldf-- I've had this problem before and managed to fix it more than once. I can't guarantee it will work for you, but you can try it if nothing else works.

You'll need a hex editor- I use the freeware editor HXD.
Remove all usb drives attached to your computer except the corrupt one.

With HXD, there is a button on the toolbar that says 'open disk'. The popup dialog will show Logical Disks and Physical Disks.
You want to open the PHYSICAL DISK for the corrupted drive-- It should be labeled 'Removable Disk 1'.

MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE RIGHT DISK OR YOU WILL CORRUPT YOUR GOOD ONES !!!!!!

If HXD opens it, you want to select / highlite approximately the first 64 kb / 128 sectors--.
Right click the selected text and select 'Fill Selection'. In the dialog box that pops up, click the 'Zerobytes' button- then hit OK

-MAKE SURE YOU SELECTED THE CORRECT DISK- then save.

Close HXD, then unplug the drive. Plug it back in and try to access it- Windows should ask you to format it, and should now do it.
Remember to do a QUICK format. If this works, you can then run Recuva in deep scan mode and retrieve your files.