Since you found this blog post, chances are you just plugged your flash drive into your computer, but rather than accessing all your important files as usual, you got a small notification at the bottom right of your screen saying “Flash Drive Not Recognized” or “USB Device Not Recognized.” This is actually a very common problem with USB flash drives. 

Several things can cause a flash drive to stop working. The most common causes are failed components or USB connector damage. While a sure sign of physical damage is a loose or bent connector, the damage is often not so obvious. 

The good news is there is a very good chance all your files can be recovered!

Flash Drive Data Recovery Software

Flash drive data recovery software can sometimes recover files from flash drives that ask to be formatted, have become corrupted, or have even been erased, but software can't recover files from a physically damaged flash drive. So it's not going to help in your case. 

Guaranteed Flash Drive Data Recovery Service

The FlashDrivePros data recovery engineers are able to quickly repair any thumb drive with almost any type of damage, and at a price much lower than other data recovery labs. We have a 94% success rate will only charge after we recover your files. Otherwise you pay nothing. We will even pay for for return shipping.

To get started, just fill out our service request form then ship your flash drive to our office in Seattle. As soon as we recover your files, you will be able to download them from our secure server. Or your files can also be returned on a new flash drive. 

Please don't hesitate to give us a call or send us an email if you have any questions. We would be happy to speak with you about our flash drive recovery service or broken flash drive repair in general. 

FlashDrivePros LLC
888-806-6567
support@flashdrivepros.com

What do you do? You got files you need in your flash drive, and you didn't get a chance to back it up. Well, you can breath a sigh of relief because the Flash Drive Pros can probably recover your files.

Before you hire us to rescue your flash drive files you may want to help yourself first.

Read this blog post:

Windows No Longer Recognizes My Flash Drive

If there is obvious physical damage, like you bumping the flash drive when it was plugged in, or you dropped it, this may be a hardware failure. Therefore, you may need to send it to a flash drive data recovery company like FlashDrivePros LLC.

Once you've gone through these steps and determined that the flash drive is still not recognized. You may want to send it to us. You can find out more about our services here: Flash Drive Data Recovery

If You Know All These, Then You Must Be A Flash Drive Hunk

No, seriously...we'd like to think we're the only ones. Okay for real this time. Here is a list of a few things that people may not know about flash drives, and that you should:

1. Flash Drives Don't Have LoJack (like your Range Rover does) - if you misplace a flash drive, you're out of luck; you can't call someone to pinpoint its exact location.
   
   
2. Flash Drives Don't Have AI's (its not KITT in Knight Rider) - AI (Artificial Intelligence), yeah like the one David Hasselhoff use to drive. If you're flash drive did have an AI, it would know how to back itself up, how to make itself faster, and protect itself from all forms of viruses and intrusions.
   
   
3. Flash Drives Are Not Indestructible (only Superman is) - so if you bump it while it's plugged into your computer, the USB connector can stop working. If you accidentally dropped it in your dog's mouth, and it starts chewing on it...say goodbye to your data. Another thing to mention, is that over time, you're going to wear the flash drive memory chip out. Read this post on when to replace a flash drive.
   
   
4. Cheap Flash Drives Suck (don't buy them) - this seems to be happening a lot, we get tons of cheap flash drives that need data recovery. Its because they break easily. If it's not a good reliable brand, be cautious. Don't believe me, check this out. One way to find out if your flash drive is cheap...
   
   
5. Flash Drives Will Lie To You (only 'coz it was programmed to) - and the guy from the TV show "Lie To Me" won't be able to help you until it's too late. How? Lets say you buy a cheap flash drive, and you think you got 4GB in it, and later on you use it, and you can only put half that amount, you'll know the flash drive is lying to you. Yes, you really only have 2 GB worth of space, but you paid for a 4GB flash drive.
   
   
6. Flash Drive Files Hang Around (not your typical monkey) - this is important. Let's say you accidentally deleted some files, and then stopped using your flash drive immediately, take it to a flash drive data recovery company (Ahhheemmm!!) and get those deleted files recovered. If you use it, you may write over the deleted files.
   
   
7. You Can Clone A Flash Drive (the soul can be transferred) - especially for some of you who utilize your flash drives quite a bit, you'll need a flash drive backup application to backup your important data. This way if you ever lose it, or it gets physically damaged, you won't have to dish out some money to get your data recovered.

Things happen; computer parts or electronics eventually wear down or get damaged for whatever reason. So if you ever find yourself in this jam, just know, don't throw your flash drive away and lose valuable data. Send it to a flash drive data recovery service provider.

Hope that helps!!

If you have another to add, just let us know, and we'll add it on here.

The short answer is…nothing at all! Since the USB flash drive came into use about a decade ago, it has became incredibly popular, replacing inferior technologies like floppy disks and Zip drives almost overnight. There’s no denying that everyone loves flash drives. The problem is, we’ve just never been able to agree on a name for these marvelous little contraptions. Though USB flash drive is the most widely adopted nomenclature here in the States, most of Europe has decided to call it a pen drive. Many other titles also persist: Zip drive (actually a misnomer since this refers to those big, square-shaped Iomega branded disks from the late 90s). Thumb drive is also a popular name. Jump drive and usb drive are common as well. Some call it a USB key or key drive. Other names include memory stick, finger stick, data stick, and disk-on-key.

That's 12 names, and I'm probably forgetting a few.

Part of the reason for so many names stems from producers like Kingston, SanDisk, Lexar, Corsair, PNY, Crucial and other flash memory companies seeking to differentiate their USB flash drives from others by coming up with a unique name.

In the end, no matter what we decide to call them, we sure do love these gadgets. That is, until they stop working, become corrupted, break, or get accidentally erased causing us to lose all our important files. Yes, as good and as useful as they are, there is still plenty that can go wrong. Fortunately, FlashDrivePros.com’s flash drive data recovery service exists to rescue your important files should your flash drive break or stop working. We’re also here to help ensure you never lose your files again (or, better yet, prevent it from happening in the first place) with our easy-to-use automatic flash drive backup application.

Questions?

Email us or give us a call!

888.806.6567

support@flashdrivepros.com

Sincerely,

The Flash Drive Pros (Ryan, Cesar, Paul and Kim)

P.S. Tell us what other names have your heard for flash drives and get 25% off FDP Sync!

This is the scenario...You click My Computer to access your flash drive just like you always do. This time, your flash drive isn't showing up in Windows Explorer. You unplug/plug/unplug/plug it, but nothing, NOTHING! What happened? More importantly, what do you do about it? FlashDrivePros.com can recover your files in most cases no matter what happened. But you might also be able to do it and save yourself the time and money of having us do it. Here's how:

First, the Preflight Checklist:

a) The flash drive doesn't appear to be physically damaged. (i.e., the tip isn't loose and the device isn't overheating, etc.)

b) You've tried it on a few different computers.

c) Your flash drive is plugged into a working USB port.

Ok, here it goes:

1. Hit the Windows key (between the Alt and Ctrl keys) and E key simultaneously to open a new Explorer window.

2. Right-click My Computer and select Manage.

3. Under Storage, select Disk Management.

4. (This is the critical step that will tell you if this is going to work or not) At the bottom of the window you should see a list drives associated with your computer. If your flash drive is listed, good news! This procedure should fix your problem. Go to step 5. If not, this solution won’t work and you might want to consider hiring a data recovery shop like FlashDrivePros.com. We charge a flat rate of $147 and charge you only if we're successful. We have a 94% success rate and will make your files available for download right to your hard drive or a new flash drive.

5. Right click on the drive listed in that window which will bring up a menu. Select Change Drive Letter and Paths.

6. Another window will appear showing your missing drive. Select Change.

7. Another window will appear with a drop down menu on the right. Select the letter W.

8. When the message Changing The Drive Letter of a Volume Might Cause Programs No Longer To Run. appears, click Yes.

9. Your flash drive should now appear under My Computer.

If not, or if you have any comments or questions, send us an email (support@flashdrivepros.com), give us a call (1-888-806-6567)

Today, we thought we would take you behind the scenes of the FlashDrivePros.com data recovery lab. We'll be demonstrating flash drive recovery recovery from a SanDisk Cruzer Micro. SanDisk flash drives are notoriously difficult to recover compared to other brands of flash drives. This is the one exception. If your SanDisk Cruzer Micro stops working, has no obvious physical damage, and has no indication when you plug it in to a USB port, this is how it's done...