Dead USB Key Drive

[DPlaya]

Hey guys I have a major problem with a USB key drive. Right now when I plug the usb key drive into the computer a blue light on the usb drive does not come on ( usually does when you first connect to the computer). However the computer recognizes a new drive ie. Drive F, yet whenever I try to access it, the computer prompts me to please install disk (as if I just put in a blank drive that needs to be reformatted).

Is there anyway to resurrect this drive or recover the data from it. I 've seen a few sites advise a recovery utility, but I don't think that will do any good since the drive isn't being recognized by the computer. Oh and I have tried to insert the drive on different computers with no success. I'm not so concerned with the usb drive as I am with the data that was on it. Any suggestions. Thanks


DP

 

[Keebler Elf]

I had this happen to me and it became nothing more than a paperweight.

The previous poster is right, USB keys seem to have frequent failure rates. At one point I burned through three in about a year and a half. Very frustrating, lemme tell ya.

Now I frequently back my key up, usually once a week. I've been using BackUp Magic which allows you to backup only new/modified files rather than copying them all (which puts stress on the key) but I'd be interested if anyone knows any other methods of backing up. That program is a little old now.

 

[Juldet]

That sucks after losing a few hard drives recently I bought a few 16gig USB keys to use as back up to my back up. Anyone know the life span of these keys?

I thought these USB keys were the cat's meow

 

[Rockslinger]

Isn't the perfect backup supposed to be the new solid state hard drives that are meant to last 100 years?

 

[WoodPeckr]

Isn't the perfect backup supposed to be the new solid state hard drives that are meant to last 100 years?

Those are the latest claims made.
Time will tell if they are true.

10 years ago claims were made that CD media would last 100 yrs also, so who knows what will happen.

 

[Rockslinger]

10 years ago claims were made that CD media would last 100 yrs also

Isn't the Black's gold CD suppose to last 300 years (money back guarantee)?

 

[WoodPeckr]

Isn't the Black's gold CD suppose to last 300 years (money back guarantee)?

LOL!
Yep, heard that also.....

 

[Keebler Elf]

That sucks after losing a few hard drives recently I bought a few 16gig USB keys to use as back up to my back up. Anyone know the life span of these keys?

I thought these USB keys were the cat's meow

It all depends on usage. If you're leaving it plugged in for hours on end, expect it to die that much faster. Also, if you're the guy who just pulls it out of the plug without properly shutting down the drive, you can also expect it to die that much faster (or at least get corrupt files).

Backing up by saving the entire key repeatedly is a double-edged sword. On the one hand you're saving all your data but on the other you're putting a lot of strain on the key. Still, that's a lot better than not backing up and losing it all. At least if you're backing up you'll still have the data from your last backup if it ever fails.

The other reason to backup is it's so darn easy to lose the tiny little keys. That alone should be enough to get you to backup your data.

 

[Juldet]

Guess what? My 2 gig USB key just died.

It lasted 2 years and what a coincidence, I see this post in TERB and a day or 2 later ...it is fried. Pretty sure it was just back up stuff, too bad though, proves a point though, about their reliability

 

[tboy]

To the OP and Jul, when you say died, do you mean you can't read the files you put on it or it is asking for a formatting?

To the OP: your PC is recognizing the drive, just not the file structure on it. It could have been exposed to a high em field which corrupted its file structure hence why your pc is asking for it to be formatted (I assume in the windows NTSF format).

For all the backup files questions, this was all addressed in the other thread on the subject. Just backup your entire user files directory every 6 - 12 months onto a CD or DVD ROM then you'll never lose any data ever. If you did your backup yesterday, you have about 100 yrs before those files become corrupted on a disc.

I'm NOT talking about backing up your applications or OS, just your word, email, spreadsheet, mp3 files etc. With the price of digital media these days, I don't know why everyone doesn't do this.....

 

[Juldet]

In my case, the drive is not recognized, the little light on the drive that indicates it has connected to the PC is gone. No notification from the computer that anything is trying to connect to it so , just as you say

1) Either the data in the USB key has been corrupted..possible then to reformat and re-use key?

2) Mechanical issue/chemical issue in USB key, needs to be cleaned...something... and it may work

3) It is a door stop or paper weight now.

Hopefully 1) or 20 but you can get a 16 gig USB key for $25.00 so I will not spend too much time on this old 2 gig usb key

 

[tboy]

In my case, the drive is not recognized, the little light on the drive that indicates it has connected to the PC is gone. No notification from the computer that anything is trying to connect to it so , just as you say

1) Either the data in the USB key has been corrupted..possible then to reformat and re-use key?

2) Mechanical issue/chemical issue in USB key, needs to be cleaned...something... and it may work

3) It is a door stop or paper weight now.

Hopefully 1) or 20 but you can get a 16 gig USB key for $25.00 so I will not spend too much time on this old 2 gig usb key

LOL you prolly paid as much for the 2 gig as the 16's are worth now....

I have a 512 mb that I paid $50.00 for .....(but then again, I paid $900.00 for 16 mb of 48 pin ram once...lol...)

 

[WoodPeckr]

Just backup your entire user files directory every 6 - 12 months onto a CD or DVD ROM then you'll never lose any data ever. If you did your backup yesterday, you have about 100 yrs before those files become corrupted on a disc.

I'm NOT talking about backing up your applications or OS, just your word, email, spreadsheet, mp3 files etc.

Sadly this in NOT so, CDs don't last 100 yrs....

9-10 years ago I did a little music project. A 'History of Rock & Roll' where every Top 40 song from 1955-2000 was downloaded and stored as MP3s on CDs. It took 33 CDs, there were thousands of songs gotten from Napster, WinMX, Kazaa, AudioGalaxy, etc. These 33 CDs were all 'properly' stored as recommended and 5-6 yrs later some refused to play/open anymore. They must have corrupted somehow. Today only 4 of those 33 CDs will still play, the rest are dead! Tried a few recovery apps with no luck. Luckily I saved most but not all by putting those MP3s back on 2 HDDs, in case 1 of them fails.

Because of this I no longer trust CD or DVD media for long term storage.

 

[Rockslinger]

Because of this I no longer trust CD or DVD media for long term storage.

I learned my lesson from VHS tapes where they were a grainy mess by year 15. Longer term storage (say over 5 years) is a real challenge with this newfangle stuff.

 

[Rockslinger]

Because of this I no longer trust CD or DVD media for long term storage.

If you no trust CD and DVD, what do you trust?

 

[tboy]

Sadly this in NOT so, CDs don't last 100 yrs....

9-10 years ago I did a little music project. A 'History of Rock & Roll' where every Top 40 song from 1955-2000 was downloaded and stored as MP3s on CDs. It took 33 CDs, there were thousands of songs gotten from Napster, WinMX, Kazaa, AudioGalaxy, etc. These 33 CDs were all 'properly' stored as recommended and 5-6 yrs later some refused to play/open anymore. They must have corrupted somehow. Today only 4 of those 33 CDs will still play, the rest are dead! Tried a few recovery apps with no luck. Luckily I saved most but not all by putting those MP3s back on 2 HDDs, in case 1 of them fails.

Because of this I no longer trust CD or DVD media for long term storage.

Let me ask you:

Did you pay full pop for those CDs or did you buy the bulk pack of 100 for $12.99?

Was the drive you burned them on the same one you tried to play them on? (and were both MOR types?)

How did you burn them: did you just copy the files directly into folders or did you sync with a media player like WinAmp, Itunes or Media Player 6? (it makes a difference).

Did you do a backup of the files or just copy (this could be answered by the previous question).

How fast did you burn them? 48x? 20x? 16x?

Because I have music cds that are easily 20 - 25 years old and they still play fine.....

 

[WoodPeckr]

If you no trust CD and DVD, what do you trust?

I put them on HDDs.
The main HDD and an ext HDD for backup in case one fails.

 

[Gentle Ben]

........Because I have music cds that are easily 20 - 25 years old and they still play fine.....

Commercially copied Cds & DVDs are a totally different process,they are pressed rather than burned, and seem to have a much longer more stable shelf life.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Did you pay full pop for those CDs or did you buy the bulk pack of 100 for $12.99?

The first half used CompUSA bulk generic silver media....yeah crap media but the first 4 burned with them still play.
The second half was with Fuji blue media. These lasted longer but now they won't open.

Was the drive you burned them on the same one you tried to play them on? (and were both MOR types?)

Only used the highly rated Plextor PleXWriter 12/10/32A, it still works and never made a coaster! The CDs played on that and the Toshiba DVD ROM in my PC and a couple other players later, even a Sony Walkman.....till they failed.

How did you burn them: did you just copy the files directly into folders or did you sync with a media player like WinAmp, Itunes or Media Player 6? (it makes a difference).

Burned all with Plextor apps out of files created in a huge folder. When done I tested and listened to them all and they all played great.


FWIW
I think the culprit was the 'Fellowes Neato Labels' that were printed out then stuck onto the CDs. I used that Neato label kit. Later it came out attaching sticky labels to CDs is not a good idea because over time glue or ink will penetrate the media layers and cause it to corrupt.

The above were all MP3s files.
I also did some audio CDs with full size WAVE files that also had Neato labels stuck on them. These audio CDs lasted longer but just now trying a couple old ones from 10 yrs ago, they won't play anymore either.

 

[tboy]

A couple of things:

I'm not sure what Plextor apps is, but it could do something to the files. I just simply copy the files to the cd rom.

Mp3s are highly compressed so ANY missing data would corrupt the file. Even 1 bit of info would make the file unreadable.

And yeah, I have read that basically putting anything on the disc can corrupt the data. Least that's what the manufacturers would use as an excuse. (even water based pens).