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I have some trouble with a USB stick. If I plug it into any computer, it says that the device is not formatted, and if I want to format it now.

I have some files there I created yesterday, and haven't backed them up yet.

Any idea how to restore them?

Ouch. Are all those machines Windows?

Plugging it into the same computer you used to copy the files onto it?

Hope your device isn't corrupted - I found this under a google search for "USB memory stick help" - Recover Damage USB Drives
eProvided.Com/866-857-5950_TollFree, but I didn't check the site myself.

Is it possible the stick is formatted NTFS and you're trying to read on an older machine that doesn't support it?

Also, try another computer - I've seen some off brand sticks that are flaky that way. They'll work fine on some machines and not on others. Those are the ones I give away.

Some of the larger sized sticks may have problems with some machines. The only hone I have that works like a charm is a Sony 1 GB stick.

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions - unfortunately, none of them helped.

It's a 2 GB stick. I tried it on several machines (WinXP and 7), including the one I last operated it on. Unfortunately, the boot sector of the USB stick was damaged, and I was unable to restore it.

So I formatted the stick and used a data recovery tool (Recuva) afterwards. I was able to restore almost all the data. Except for the few files that I did not have a backup for. This Murphy guy was an asshole...

The files in question were the winner certificates for our May and June photo contest winners, which I finished only yesterday and thus did not have a backup for yet. No data is lost, I still have the certificate draft and the photos, but of course, it takes some time to embed the photos to the certificate and update the photographer names.

So, you guys will have to wait a few days more. And I learned a lesson: never save something to a USB stick without IMMEDIATELY making a backup.

Btw, so far I was one of the careless guys who just unplugged the stick after use. I will write 100 times "I shall use the 'safely remove' function" now, and no TV for me tonight...

Zak wrote:Btw, so far I was one of the careless guys who just unplugged the stick after use. I will write 100 times "I shall use the 'safely remove' function" now, and no TV for me tonight...

Don't beat yourself up over it, I see people do that all the time. Unfortunately, it's usually after having an experience similar to yours that people realize there's a reason for the "safely remove" function.

Funny thing is, I didn't even unplug it yesterday. Just forgot it in the USB socket when shutting down the computer.

Zak wrote:Funny thing is, I didn't even unplug it yesterday. Just forgot it in the USB socket when shutting down the computer.

Erg, that sucks. Windows is an equal-opportunity media destroyer.

Queso wrote:

Zak wrote:Funny thing is, I didn't even unplug it yesterday. Just forgot it in the USB socket when shutting down the computer.

Erg, that sucks. Windows is an equal-opportunity media destroyer.

Do Unix derivatives generally bitch at you if you just remove an external drive? I haven't tried it with Ubuntu, but Mac OS fortunately does... huge window smack-dab in the middle of your screen telling you not to do this.

aloges wrote:Do Unix derivatives generally bitch at you if you just remove an external drive?

When Unix (Linux) does a write, it is a commit write and it doesn't keep file handles open the way Windows does (with it's "speculative execution") so it's not as likely to cause problems. But yes, it's always best to unmount the drive before removing it. It's also much quicker in doing so than is Windows.

Okay, now it seriously starts to suck! The house got struck by lightning this afternoon, and my computer got grilled. I can only pray that the harddisks survived. If not... Rhaaaaaa!

Grilled as in cooked, smoking hot?

The phone system - yes. The socket hung popped out of the wall, smouldering, when I came home.

The computer just won't start. If I'm lucky, it's only the power unit.

Router, modem, printer and phones are dead as well...

That really sucks.

You're lucky if that is all that got fried. It could have been a lot worse.

Damn. I'm really sorry to hear about that, Zak.

Maybe you need to change your username to "Sparky".

Zak wrote:Okay, now it seriously starts to suck! The house got struck by lightning this afternoon, and my computer got grilled. I can only pray that the harddisks survived. If not... Rhaaaaaa!

Saw that on FB, sorry to hear you're having such problems!

aloges wrote:

Queso wrote:

Zak wrote:Funny thing is, I didn't even unplug it yesterday. Just forgot it in the USB socket when shutting down the computer.

Erg, that sucks. Windows is an equal-opportunity media destroyer.

Do Unix derivatives generally bitch at you if you just remove an external drive? I haven't tried it with Ubuntu, but Mac OS fortunately does... huge window smack-dab in the middle of your screen telling you not to do this.

Does this window have a graphic of Klaus shaking his finger at the user in a condescending manner?

Zak wrote:The house got struck by lightning this afternoon, and my computer got grilled.

So I take it no UPS?