Because laptops are made to be used on the go, a lot of users tend to leave sticks inside and accidentally knock them over. In this case, it will break at the solder joint (and not at the storage); that’s why broken connectors have the highest success rate among all the types of faults with the USB stick. Harder cases would include controller failure (when it comes to the controller, you want to know if your stick was designed as individual pieces or as one whole sealed unit). Larger portable drives have their own issues; see data recovery for external hard drives.
That prompt generally indicates that the filesystem header has been damaged (it is possible that your data still exists). Formatting will write to the device, thereby turning what would otherwise have been an easy recovery into a carve operation and possibly the final operation completed by a device which is physically failing.
USB devices fail in a few very predictable ways, and one particular failure mode has some of the highest odds of recovery.
Two sticks could appear to be similar at first glance, but they could have very different prospects.
Older and large capacity sticks utilise a separate design: a single board containing either one (or multiple) NAND packages along with an individual controller. When the controller fails, we are able to pull out the NAND packages (with a soldering iron), remove them, and place them into a reader which will read their contents. Then we can combine these contents into a single file (using software that removes the controller’s interleaving & error correcting code).
The majority of modern low-capacity modules are monolithic (controller + flash fused together as one sealed unit with no parts accessible). The recovery will involve finding the internal test points on the monolith, reading out through those test points, and using the correct pinout for that exact module. This method is entirely doable but takes longer than other methods; this is why there may be different requirements depending on if you have two modules that look very similar.
Any plug-in device holding an amount of flash memory.
Kingston, SanDisk, Integral, Verbatim, Corsair, PNY and unbranded: the brand name is much less important than how the device was made.
Broken (snapped) connections on the board, cracks from drops or other damage, crushed casings as if run over by a car and units that were put through a washing machine.
The unit displays “0MB”, shows the wrong capacity or asks you to format it each time you connect the unit.
Password required. Hardware encrypted sticks cannot be accessed without the password and that is something we will advise you of instead of charging you to attempt recovery.
All cards are treated equally (SD, microSD, CF etc.) & at equal prices.
One price for sticks & cards.
All of our prices for USB memory sticks & memory cards start at £250 +VAT. We do a free 48-hour diagnostic in order to give you an exact written quote. In most cases you only pay if we recover your data.
Please send your device exactly as it is: do not straighten any bent connectors. Do not open the device casing. And if a piece has broken off, please send that as well. If you have an idea of what you are looking for, let us know. On partial recoveries, knowing what you were looking for helps us confirm the correct material has been returned to you. Full write-ups: a Kingston USB with a snapped connector and USB Recovery: A Corrupt Partition Table on a PNY.
When posting or dropping off your unit, send it in for a free diagnostic along with a short description of what’s wrong with it. An engineer will evaluate it, confirm the exact price for the recovery, and write out that evaluation in writing prior to starting any work.
Prior to sending or dropping off your unit, get a quote from us either over the telephone or via our online quote request form. Once the stick reaches us, we begin the process of retrieving your information/data from the failed USB stick. Please pack the USB stick securely, include all contact information, and after we complete the free diagnostic evaluation we will provide you with an exact price for the recovery in writing prior to starting any work.
Posting it? We would suggest using a tracked and insured delivery method. Want to drop it off? That’s okay too. Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5:30pm is good; no appointment necessary: simply prepare the item as described above.
Want to get a detailed quote prior to shipping the stick to us? Simply fill out the quote form describing the problem you’re having with the stick and one of our engineers will review your submission and respond to you with a custom quote based upon your specific issue(s).
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01865 593000.
Frequently asked technical questions about failed USB sticks.
Usually; with this type of USB fault you have the best odds of recovering your files. The memory chip usually survives a broken connector, but the problem lies in the solder joint. The memory chip can either be read through a rebuilt connection, or it can be removed and its contents read by using an IC extraction tool.
No. This message typically indicates that there has been damage to the file system headers as opposed to your data. If formatting occurs before you recover, the process will become even more difficult. In fact, formatting may be the last thing a failing drive will do prior to crashing completely.
A controller and flash combined into one sealed unit (typically found on most modern very low capacity thumb drives). Because there is no removable chip, the process of recovering data requires connecting test probes to the package using the correct pinout.
Typically a failed controller, or less commonly, a counterfeit device claiming to hold more storage space than it actually does. Regardless of which scenario you experience, we would recommend ceasing use of the device immediately. Continued writing on a counterfeit device will result in corruption of the legitimate data stored on the actual flash.
We need the password before we can even try. Your hardware encrypted storage device is completely secure and no one, including ourselves, can access your encrypted contents on your hardware-encrypted device without the password. The diagnostic will inform you of this as opposed to charging you to learn this information.
Prices start at £250 (plus VAT) for USB drives and memory cards; each quote is fixed in writing, provided after a complimentary 48-hour diagnostic and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.
Complimentary diagnostics, flat rate price of £250 (plus VAT) per storage device, all makes & models of USB sticks and flash drives returned, snapped connectors included. In addition to complimentary diagnostics, in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. Begin your recovery today!