Restoring Kingston Datatraveler 2.0. Ways to restore the Kingston flash drive: from simple to complex

Telephone

Hello everyone! For no accident, I took to write an article on how to flash a flash drive - there is experience. Yesterday restored my flash drive Kingston DT ELITE 3.0 16GB. Everything happened, and I thought, and why not write a similar instruction, and tell what and how to do to give a new life to a flash drive :).

Now, probably in every house there is a flash drive and very rarely alone. It is convenient to transfer information to them, they are beautiful and besides lately not expensive. But very often USB drives fail. If we talk about what it happens, then we are in the first place we ourselves. Do you always make a safe flash drive extraction? So I rarely. Of course, there may be other reasons for which flash drives simply "die."

Here it is necessary to clarify one point. It happens that the flash drive really "dies." In this case, it is impossible to restore it. At least at home. But if a USB drive, when connected to a computer, it gives at least some signs of life, you can try to restore it to the firmware of the controller.

What could be the signs of a USB drive?

When connecting a flash drive to a computer, the computer gives a signal about connecting the device - already well.
When you connect Windows to format a removable drive (But in the formatting process, problems arise and errors such as "Windows cannot complete the formatting").
The flash drive is determined and visible in the conductor, but when trying to open it, the message "Insert the disk ..."
When copying information, errors occur.
Very slow write speed / reading information.

If there is valuable information on the flash driveYou can try to restore it to the firmware and after. You can do this by different programs. I advice Recuva., Here is an article but there are many others, good programs.

If the information is very valuable, then it is better to do nothing on our own. Contact special service centers that are engaged in restoring information.

Let's now consider the entire process of firmware of the controller on the real example, on the example of my Kingston Datatraveler Elite 3.0 16GB flash drive. My flash drive broke at all interesting. I needed to throw files on it and delete those that have already been recorded. I connected it to the computer, I began to delete the folder. But the folder was removed very slowly. I turned off and back connected this flash drive, the inscription appeared that the disc should be formatted "before using the disk ...".

Since there were no important files on the flash drive, I did not think that I launched formatting.

But the process itself lasted for a very long time and never ended, I stopped him forcibly. Maybe the message "Windows failed to complete the formatting".

But still, I formatted it, times so from the tenth and only in FAT 32. After that, the USB drive normally decided and I was even delighted. But it was not there. I started copying files to it, and the recording speed was approximately 100 kb / s. I decided to flash her what I did.

Determine the VID and PID USB Controller

To begin with, we need determine VID and PID. These are the data on the model and the controller manufacturer, which is in our accumulator. According to these data, we will look for a firmware utility. There are many different programs with which you can define VID and PID. I advise the utility Flash Drive Information Extractor You can download by reference.

Connect a flash drive to a computer and run the Flash Drive Information Extractor program (Remove the folder with the program from the archive and run the getflashinfo.exe file).

Click the button at the top of the program. "Get a flash drive data".

The program will give us the result. We look at the information that is opposite the VID and PID.

You can copy these numbers, or leave the Utility window open, we will now use the data obtained.

We are looking for a utility for flash drive firmware

According to VID and PID, we need to find a utility that we will flash the controller. There is a good site FlashBoot.ru, on which the base of flash drives and utilities are collected for their recovery.

In the search results, looking for a flash drive like our. The list can contain devices and other manufacturers. Just they have the same controller, it decided on VID and PID. Perhaps you noticed that I have a flash drive on 16 GB, and in the list I highlighted 32 GB. I think that there is nothing terrible (just where the name of the utility is not indicated on 16 GB). You try to choose a more similar device from the list.

We are interested in the field Utils. (utility), copy its name, completely.

Unfortunately, the utility that needs me is not found on this site. Perhaps you will be lucky more and in the search results you will see something. Download the utility to the computer.

And I did not stop at this and began to google. Just asked the request "SK6221 MPTOOL 2013-04-25" and found this utility on some other site. If you have the same flash drive, then this utility is. True, the name of the archive is different, but it did not prevent me from successfully cured his flash drive.

Drive USB Recovery Process

Turn off the USB flash drive. Remove the folder with the utility from the archive and run .exe file. In my case, this is a MPTool.exe file. Also see a text file readme.txt. Perhaps there is an instruction, or a link to the site with the instruction. If the instruction in English, then translate it with the same translate.google.ru.

I'll tell you how I did (You just may have another utility and everything can be different there, but it should not be very different).

The utility is running. We connect the USB flash drive. I have a flash drive in the program in the program. Press the button Start.. In my case, the yellow strip signalized about the firmware process. We wait.

When the process is over, I saw the green color, the campaign is fine.

Immediately the Windows message should appear with the proposal format the disk. But the first time most likely nothing will happen. Turn off the USB flash drive and connect it back. A driver and a removable drive will be installed in the explorer. You can format it.

Checked the speed of the record, everything is as expected for USB 3.0, everything is fine!

It is necessary to be prepared for the fact that actions may differ from those that I described. And not everything can work out the first time. The main thing is not to give up and everything will turn out!

Files of Kingston are very popular due to the fact that they are fairly inexpensive and reliable. It cannot be said that they are cheaper than others, but their cost can still be called low. But, since everything in our world breaks absolutely everything is not surprising that the removable carriers of Kingston can also fail.

It happens just enough - you insert a flash drive to the computer, and he "doesn't want to" read the data from it. The drive can be determined, but everything will look like no data on it. Or simply, not all data can be determined. In general, situations can be the most different. In any case, we will analyze several effective ways to restore the performance of the Kingston drive.

Kingston has its own tools for recovery of flash drives. There is also a universal way to restore removable media, which is relevant to devices of any firms. We will analyze all the most working ways.

Method 1: MediaRecover

This is one of the two branded programs from Kingston. To take advantage of it, you need to do the following:

The second option looks more " humane»For flash drive. It just implies the recovery of the flash drive. In any case, if using MediaRecover does not help, go to the next way.

Method 2: Kingston Format Utility

This is another Kingston brand program. It is suitable for all flash drives of this brand, starting with the DTX 30 series and ending with USB DataTraveler Hyperx devices. This utility also formats the flash drive without a chance to save any information. To take advantage of Kingston Format Utility, do the following:

Method 3: HDD Low Level Format Tool

Judging by user reviews, this program is perfectly coping with damaged Kingston flash drives. Low Level Format Tool works at a low level, so it is sufficiently successful in his business. And this concerns not only removable carriers from Kingston. But, again, the utility formats the USB flash drive and restores its performance, but not data from it. To take advantage of this program, you need to do quite a bit, and specifically:

Method 4: Super Stick Recovery Tool

Another very simple program designed to restore the Kingmax flash drives, but is suitable for Kingston (although it will seem sufficient for many). So, to use Super Stick Recovery Tool, do the following:

Program, Insert the USB flash drive and run the executable file.
If all is well and the program can work with your flash drive, information about it will appear in the main window. Click on the "button" Update."To start formatting. After that, just wait until the process is over, and try working with a flash drive again.

Method 5: Search for other recovery utilities

Not all models of the Kingston flash drives are those programs that are specified in methods 1-4. In fact, there are a lot of similar programs. In addition, there is a single base with information on programs intended for recovery. It is located on the IFLASH site. The process of using this storage is as follows:

This method is suitable for all flash drives.

Method 6: Windows standard tools

If all of the above methods did not help, you can always use the standard WINDOVS formatting means.

You can also use the standard Windows tools to format a flash drive. Try different combinations of the order of action - first format, then check and correct errors, and then on the contrary. It is possible that something will still help and the flash drive will again become workable. To format the removable media, right-click on the selected disk in " Computer" In the drop-down menu, click " Format…" Next, in the next window, just click on the "button" To begin».

It is worth saying that all of the above methods, in addition to checking the disk, the standard WINDOV means, suggest the full and irrevocable loss of data from the carrier. Therefore, before performing all these ways, use one of the data recovery utilities from the damaged media.

Many users face problems when a USB drive fails (USB flash drive), and here is not an exception even such a reliable company as Kingston. Symptoms that the drive failed, but it can still be saved as follows:

Problems when writing or reading data from a flash drive to a computer, hang, reptiles;

The flash drive appeared in the explorer, or any file manager, but it is impossible to open it, gives different error messages;

When the drive is connected, the operating system all the time offers to format it (even after the formatting procedure made);

When connected to the PC, the system issues a message about finding a new device, but it does not go further;

For the procedure for restoring the flash drive work, special utilities for Kingston are needed. For the correctness of the choice, you need to know the controller model, we need information about VID and PID flash drives (unique identifiers). You can find out them with the tools of the operating system, or downloading and installing the Flash Drive Information Extractor program.

The first way. We connect the USB drive, call the context menu of my computer and switch to "Control" select "Device Manager" in the list of "USB controllers" find a "USB storage device", in which you also open the context menu and select "Properties". In properties, you need to select the "Details" tab and from the drop-down list, select "Equipment ID". So we get the information you need.

Another way to get data using the Flash Drive Information Extractor program, after installing it, we connect the USB drive and click on the "Get Data" button in the program.

Next you need to use specialized sites to search for the necessary recovery programs (popular among them FlashBoot.ru). In one of the partitions, namely iflash, entering the previously received information about the VID and the PID of the drive, we get the information that the utility should be sought and downloading.

If you have a kingston flash drive of 8, 16 or 32 gigabytes then in the list of programs for their resuscitation will be the following utilities:
Phison Preformat;
Alcormp AU698X RT;

After loading the desired program, install it on your personal computer and run. We connect the USB storage failed if it appears in the program window, then it is chosen correctly. It remains to choose it and click on the "Start" button. The utility will correct all the errors automatically. Turn off the USB flash drive and check the result.

A variety of problems with USB drives or flash drives is what each of their owner is faced with. The computer does not see the flash drive, the files are not deleted and the files are not recorded, Windows writes that the disk is protected, the amount of memory is incorrectly shown - this is not a complete list of such problems. It is possible if the computer simply does not define the drive, it will also help this guide: (3 ways to solve the problem). If the flash drive is determined and works, but it is necessary to restore the files from it, I recommend to get acquainted with the material.

If different ways to correct the USB errors of the drive by manipulations with drivers, actions in "Drinks" or using the command line (DiskPart, Format, etc.) did not led to a positive result, you can try utilities and programs for repairing flash drives provided by manufacturers , for example, Kingston, Silicon Power and Transcend, as well as third-party developers.

The official website of Silicon Power in the "Support" section provides a program for repairing flash drives of this manufacturer - USB Flash Drive Recovery. To download, you will need to enter an email address (not checked), then the UFD_RECOVER_TOOL ZIP archive is loaded, in which SP Recovery Utility is located (requires for operation .NET Framework 3.5 components, automatically boots if necessary).

Similar to the previous program, the SP Flash Drive Recovery is required to connect to the Internet and the restoration of work occurs in several steps - determining the parameters of the USB drive, loading and unpacking the suitable utility for it, then automatically perform the necessary actions.

Download Silicon Power SP Flash Drive Recovery Software Flashkef's repair program Free from the official site http://www.silicon-power.com/web/download-usbrecovery

If you are the owner of the Kingston Datatraveler Hyperx 3.0 drive, then on the official Kingston website you can find a utility for the repair of this lineup of flash drives, which will help format the drive and bring it to the state he had when purchasing.

You can download Kingston Format Utility from the page https://www.kingston.com/ru/support/technical/downloads/111247

ADATA USB FLASH DRIVE ONLINE RECOVERY

The ADATA manufacturer also has its own utility that will help correct flash drive errors, if you cannot read the contents of the flash drive, Windows reports that the disc is not formatted or you see other errors associated with the drive. To download the program, you will need to enter a serial number of the flash drive (to load exactly what is required) as in the screenshot below.

After downloading, run the downloaded utility and perform several simple steps to restore the USB device.

The official page where you can download the ADATA USB Flash Drive Online Recovery and read about the use of the program - http://www.adata.com/ru /ss/usbdiy/

APACER REPAIR UTILITY, APACER FLASH DRIVE REPAIR TOOL

For the Apacer flash drives, several programs are available at once - different versions of Apacer Repair Utility (which, however, cannot be found on the official website), as well as Apacer Flash Drive Repair Tool, available for downloading on the official pages of Apacer on the official page specifically Your USB drive model and look into the download section at the bottom of the page).

Apparently, the program performs one of the two steps - a simple formatting of the drive (Format item) or low-level formatting (Restore item).

Formatter Silicon Power

Formatter Silicon Power is a free utility of low-level formatting of the flash drives, which, according to reviews (including in the comments to the current article), works for many other drives (but use it at their own risk), allowing you to restore their performance when no other Methods do not help.

On the official website SP utility is no longer available, so you have to use Google to download it (I do not give links to the unofficial locations) and do not forget to check the downloaded file, for example, on Virustotal before starting it.

SD Memory Card Formatter for repairing and formatting SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards (including Micro SD)

The Association of SD Memory Card Manufacturers offers its own universal utility for formatting appropriate memory cards when problems with them occur. At the same time, judging by the available information, it is compatible with almost all such drives.

The program itself is available in versions for Windows (there is support and Windows 10) and MacOS and quite simple to use (but the card reader will be required).

You can download SD Memory Card Formatter from the official site https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/

D-Soft Flash Doctor program

The free D-Soft Flash Doctor program is not tied to any particular manufacturer and, judging by the reviews, can help fix problems with a flash drive by low-level formatting.

In addition, the program allows you to create an image of a flash drive for subsequent work no longer over the physical drive (to avoid further faults) - it can be useful if you need to get data from the flash disk. Unfortunately, the official site utility failed to find, but it is available on many resources with free programs.

How to find a program for repairing flash drives

In fact, this kind of free utilities for repairing flash drives is much more than listed here: I tried to consider only about "universal" tools for USB drives of different manufacturers.

It is possible that none of the above utilities is suitable in order to restore the performance of your USB drive. In this case, you can take advantage of the following steps to find the desired program.

Optional: If all of the described methods repaired a USB drive did not help, try.

Good day!

If your flash drive has become constantly climbing: it is not formatted when connected to a computer - it often hangs, when copying files to it - errors fly out, but it has not been mechanically exposed - there is a chance to restore its operation!

It would be nice if when the flash drive is connected - it is at least somehow defined, for example: the connection sound is published, the flash drive is displayed in "My Computer"The LED blinks on it, etc. If the computer does not see the flash drive at all, then I first recommend getting acquainted with this article:

In general, give a universal instruction, how and what program what to do to restore the flash drive is impossible! But in this little article I will try to give an algorithm that will help, even novice users, deal with the problem and solve it.

Restoration of flash drive performance // Steps

Definition of the controller model

I was like the will of fate I have one flash drive that Windows refused to format - an error crashed "Windows cannot complete formatting". The flash drive, according to the owner, did not fall, did not fall on it, and in general, it was quite careful with her ...

All that was clear by examining her, this is what she is at 16 GB, and her brand - SmartBuy. When connected to a PC - the LED lights up, the flash drive was determined and was visible in the conductor, but worked with failures.

SmartBuy 16 GB - "Extensive" non-working flash drive

To restore normal flash drive operationYou must reflash the controller chip. This is done by special utilities, and for each type of controller - its utility! If the utility is selected incorrectly, then with a high probability, you will spoil the USB flash drive at all ... I will even say more, one model range of flash drives can be different controllers!

Each device There are one unique identification numbers - VID and PID , and the flash drive here is no exception. To select a correct flashing utility - you need to define these identification numbers (and on them the controller model).

One of the easiest ways to find out the VID, PID, and the flash drive controller model is to use special utilities. One of the best of your kind is .

Flash Drive Information Extractor

A small free utility, to obtain a maximum of information about the flash drive. It is not necessary to install it!

The program will determine the USB flash drive model, model and memory type (all modern flash drives are supported, at least from normal manufacturers) ...

The program will work even in cases where the file system of the flash drive is not defined when the computer is hung when the media is connected.

Received information:

model controller;

possible options installed in the memory chip flash drive;

installed memory type;

the maximum current consumed by the manufacturer;

uSB version;

full physical disk volume;

the volume of the disk communicated by the operating system;

VID and PID;

Query Vendor ID;

Query Product ID;

Query Product Revizion;

Controller Revision;

Flash ID (not for all configurations);

Chip F / W (for some controllers), etc.

Important! The program only works with USB flash drives. MP3 players, phones and other devices - it does not recognize. It is desirable, before starting the program, to leave only one single flash drive connected to USB ports with which you want to obtain maximum information.

Work with Flash Drive Information Extractor

Disconnect from USB ports all that is connected (at least all drives: players, external hard drives, etc.).
Insert the flash drive to the USB port;
We run the program;
Click the button "Get information about flash drive" ;
After a while we obtain a maximum of information about the drive (see Screenshot below).
If the program hung - Do not do anything and do not close it. Remove the USB flash drive in a couple of minutes from the USB port, the program must "drop out", and you will see all the information that she managed to pull out from the flash drive ...

Now we know the information about the flash drive and can proceed to the search for the utility.

Flashboard information:

VID: 13FE; PID: 4200;

Controller model (Controller): Phison 2251-68 (second line in the screenshot above);

SmartBuy 16 GB.

Addition

Determine a reliably model of the controller, if you disassemble a flash drive. True, not every case at the flash drive is collapsible, and not everyone will colide back.

Usually, to open the housing of the flash drive, you need a knife and screwdriver. When opening the case, be careful not to damage the insides of the flash drive. An example of a controller is shown in the screensing below.

Disassembled flash drive. Controller model: VLI VL751-Q8

Supplement 2.

You can find the VID and PID flash drives using the device manager (in this case, you do not need to install). True, in this case, we do not know the model of the controller, and there is some risk that VID and PID It will not be possible to accurately identify the controller. Nevertheless, suddenly the above utility will hang and will not give any information at all ...

How to find a utility for flash drive firmware

Important! After flash drive firmware - all the information on it will be removed!

1) Knowing the controller model - you can simply use search engines (Google, Yandex, for example) and find the right one.

The algorithm of work is:

We go to the site:
We introduce your own VID and PID in the search string and are looking;
In the list of results, most likely, you will find tens of lines. Among them, it is necessary to find such a string in which the coincides: controller model, your manufacturer, VID and PID, Flash drive size .
Further in the last column - you will see the recommended utility. By the way, pay attention, the version of the utility also matters! It remains to download the desired utility and apply it.

After you find and download the desired utility, you launch it and format the media - in my case it was necessary to press only one button - Restore (recovery) .

Formatter SiliconPower v3.13.0.0 // Format and Restore. The utility of the end-user designed for both low-level and high-level (FAT32) formatting of flash drives on the PhoSon controllers of the PS2251-XX line.

After a couple of minutes, blinking the LED on the flash drive, it began to work normally, messages from Windows about the impossibility of formatting - no longer appeared. Total: The flash drive was restored (it became a working 100%), and is given to the owner.

On this, actually, everything. For additions on the topic - I will be grateful. GOOD LUCK!