Member Avatar for shawnmel

My usb key is not being recognized by my laptop. When I plug it in it says insert disk - also it is indicating that there are 0 bytes. Can anyone give me a solution for retreiving my data?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by razib8bd

Dani AI

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Short expert summary and safe-first rule: when Windows reports "Please insert a disk" or a USB stick shows 0 bytes, stop and do not click Format or copy files to the stick. That message usually means the flash drive’s file system or its controller is damaged; writing to the device or doing a quick format reduces the chance of recovering files. (cgsecurity.org)

Practical diagnostic checklist (fast, in order):

  • Try a different USB port and a different PC (good first test — thanks ). If the stick works elsewhere the problem is the laptop/OS. (learn.microsoft.com)
  • Open Disk Management to see how Windows reports the drive (missing letter, RAW, "No Media", 0 bytes). Do not format from Explorer. (minitool.com)
  • In Device Manager uninstall the problematic disk entry and the USB controllers, then reboot so Windows redetects hardware (this fixes many host/driver issues). If multiple FAT devices fail on the laptop, a corrupted system driver (as noted) or corrupted system files can be the cause — prefer SFC/DISM and official driver/chipset updates over manually copying System32 files. (learn.microsoft.com)

If the drive is logically damaged but the hardware still enumerates:

  • Make a read-only sector image first (create a device image on another drive). Use a tool that handles read errors intelligently (for example: ddrescue). Work from the image, not the original. (en.wikipedia.org)
  • Run recovery tools against the image: TestDisk can try to restore partitions; PhotoRec/carving can extract files even when the filesystem is gone. Both are read-only and widely used. (cgsecurity.org)

Final notes: if the device shows "No Media" on every PC or stays undetectable, that often means controller or NAND failure and only a professional lab (chip-off or controller repair) can help. If the data is important, avoid further DIY writes and consult a reputable recovery service. (powerdatarecovery.com)

Recommended Answers

All 12 Replies

Member Avatar for Xlphos

Does the usb stick work in other computers?

Member Avatar for Techeasy

I guess you have encountered RAW drive. Did it remind you "The disk in drive F is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?"

Check the file system, did it report RAW?

At this time, the content on your drive will be reported as 0 byte. To recover files from a raw usb flash drive, you can read this article

Member Avatar for shawnmel

no it doesn't - it say insert disk drive

Member Avatar for ellioth_13

have you try it in other computers?

does it work?

Member Avatar for thp

I have the same problem only my drives do work on other computer. Did you ever find a solution?

I did start a new thread - USB Flash Drive & SD Card reader/writer both recognized but not open(Format)

Member Avatar for thp

I had the same problem (for over a year):

My problem was a bad system32 driver named FastFat.sys

A brief description of steps to repair the problem:

Boot Windosw XP (using boot disk) in Repair Mode
Renamed the old driver C:\Windows\System32\Drivers FastFat.old
copied a new FastFat.sys driver to the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers folder

Rebooted normal and all work well for me! I can now read and write FAT files to Thumb drives and SD Cards. I hope that this is of help to you.

Member Avatar for mariary

flash drive is ot being recognized by laptop, then there is no chance to recover the data on it.

Member Avatar for Retallacka

The same thing happend to me. My USB had Software it needed to install manually, Annoying I know but if you do this it should fix it.

Member Avatar for rubberman

I have had this problem with Win7 when accessing large (bigger than 2GB) drives that are perfectly accessible from Windows XP and Linux (FAT-32 drives). I don't know why this is an issue with Win7, but it is a PITA!

Member Avatar for sheikhali449

try to format your usb first and then try again

Member Avatar for thp

If you format the drive, as suggested by sheikhali449, you should try formatting as NTFS (Windows NT File System). That way you can eleimnate a problem with the FAT system.

Member Avatar for razib8bd

it is possible that ur usb port is not in working mood. check computer
with a good anti-virus.

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