Kingston micro SD formatting. Kingston flash drive recovery software

Hello! It was not for nothing that I undertook to write an article on how to flash a USB flash drive - I have experience. Yesterday I was restoring my flash drive Kingston DT Elite 3.0 16GB... Everything worked out, and I thought, why not write similar instruction, and tell you what and how to do to give the flash drive a new life :).

Now, probably in every house there is a flash drive and very rarely one. It is convenient to transfer information to them, they are beautiful, and besides, they have not been expensive lately. But very often USB drives fail. If we talk about why this happens, then we ourselves are in the first place. Do you always safely eject your USB stick? Here I am rarely. There may, of course, be other reasons why flash drives simply “die”.

There is one point to clarify here. It happens that the flash drive really "dies". In this case, it cannot be restored. At least at home. But if USB stick, when connected to a computer, it gives at least some signs of life, then you can try to restore its operation by firmware of the controller.

What are the signs of life of a USB drive?

• When you connect a flash drive to a computer, the computer gives a signal to connect the device - it's already good.
• At connecting windows ask to format the removable storage (but in the process of formatting there are problems and errors such as "Windows cannot complete formatting").
• The flash drive is detected and visible in the explorer, but when you try to open it, the message "Insert disc ..." appears
• Errors occur when copying information.
• Very slow speed of writing / reading information.

If there is valuable information on the flash drive, then you can try to restore it before and after firmware. This can be done with different programs. I advice Recuva, here is the article but there are many others, good programs.

If the information is very valuable, then it is better not to do anything on your own so as not to make it worse. Contact special service centres who are engaged in information recovery.

Let's now look at the whole process of flashing the controller using a real example, using my example flash drives Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 16GB. This flash drive has broken for me at all interesting. I had to drop files on it and delete those that were already recorded. I connected it to my computer and started deleting the folder. But the Folder was removed very slowly. I disconnected and reconnected this flash drive, an inscription appeared that the disk needs to be formatted “Before using the disk ...”.

Since there were no Important files on the flash drive, I started formatting without hesitation.

But the process itself lasted a very long time and never ended, I forcibly stopped it. The message “Windows could not complete formatting” may still appear.

But nevertheless I formatted it, since the tenth time and only in FAT 32. After that the USB drive was normally detected and I was even delighted. But it was not there. I started copying files to it, and the write speed was about 100 kb / s. I decided to flash it, which I did.

Determine the VID and PID of the USB controller

First we need determine VID and PID... This is data about the model and manufacturer of the controller that is in our drive. Based on this data, we will look for a utility for the firmware. There are many different programs with which you can determine the VID and PID. I recommend the utility Flash Drive Information Extractor you can download it from the link.

Connect the USB flash drive to your computer and run the Flash Drive Information Extractor program (extract the program folder from the archive and run the GetFlashInfo.exe file).

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

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, the obtained data will be useful to us now.

We are looking for a utility for flashing a flash drive

According to the VID and PID data, we need to find the utility with which we will flash the controller. There is a good site flashboot.ru, which contains a database of flash drives and utilities for their recovery.

In the search results, we are looking for a USB flash drive similar to ours. The list may include devices from other manufacturers. They just have the same controller, it was identified by VID and PID. You may have noticed that I have a 16 GB flash drive, and in the list I allocated 32 GB. I think there is nothing wrong with that (just where the name of the utility is not indicated for 16 GB)... You try to choose a more similar device from the list.

We are interested in the field UTILS(utility), copy its name in full.

Unfortunately, the utility I needed was not found on this site. Perhaps you will be more fortunate and you will see something in the search results. Download the utility to your computer.

And I didn't stop there and started googling. I just asked for “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 this did not prevent me from successfully curing my USB flash drive.

USB drive recovery process

Disconnect the USB flash drive. Extract the utility folder from the archive and run .exe file. In my case, this is the MPTool.exe file. See also text file readme.txt... Perhaps there is an instruction, or a link to a site with instructions. If the instruction is in English, then translate it using the same translate.google.ru.

I'll tell you how I did (you just might have a different utility and everything might be different there, but it shouldn't be very different).

The utility is launched. We connect the USB flash drive. I got information about the flash drive in two lines in the program. Push the button Start... In my case, the yellow bar signaled the firmware process. We wait.

When the process was over, I saw a green color, everything is fine.

It should appear immediately Windows message with a proposal to format the disk. But the first time, most likely, nothing will work out. Unplug the USB stick and plug it back in. The driver should be installed and the removable drive should appear in the explorer. You can format it.

I checked the write speed, everything is as expected for USB 3.0, everything is fine!

It is necessary to be prepared for the fact that the 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 work out!

Flash drives from Kingston are very popular due to the fact that they are fairly inexpensive and reliable. This is not to say that they are cheaper than the others, but their cost can still be called low. But, since absolutely everything breaks down in our world, it is not at all surprising that Kingston's removable media can also fail.

This happens quite simply - you insert a USB flash drive into a computer, and he "does not want" to read data from it. The drive can be detected, but it will appear as if there is no data on it. Or, it may simply not be all the data defined. In general, situations can be very different. In any case, we will analyze several effective ways to restore the performance of a Kingston drive.

Kingston has own funds recovery of flash drives. There is also universal way recovery of removable media, which is relevant for devices of any company. We will analyze all the most working methods.

Method 1: MediaRECOVER

This is one of two proprietary programs from Kingston. To use it, you need to do the following:

The second option looks more " humane"For a flash drive. He just assumes the recovery of the flash drive. In any case, if using MediaRECOVER does not help, move on to the next method.

Method 2: Kingston Format Utility

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

Method 3: HDD Low Level Format Tool

Based on user reviews, this program copes well with damaged Kingston flash drives. The Low Level Format Tool works at a low level, so it is quite successful in its business. And it's not just Kingston's removable media. But, again, the utility formats the USB flash drive and restores its performance, but not the data from it. To use this program, you need to do very little, namely:

Method 4: Super Stick Recovery Tool

Another very simple program, designed to restore Kingmax flash drives, but will work for Kingston as well (although for many it will seem quite unexpected). So, to take advantage of the Super Stick Recovery Tool, do this:

1. program, insert the USB stick and run the executable file.
2. If all is well and the program can work with your USB flash drive, information about it will appear in the main window. Click on the " Update"To start formatting. After that, just wait for the process to finish and try again with the USB flash drive.

Method 5: Search for other recovery utilities

Not all models flash drives Kingston those programs that are indicated in methods 1-4 are suitable. In fact, there are a lot of similar programs. In addition, there is a unified database with information about programs intended for recovery. It is located on the site's iFlash service. The process for using this repository is as follows:

This method is suitable for all flash drives.

Method 6: Standard Windows Tools

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

You can also use the standard Windows tool to format the flash drive. Try different combinations of the order of actions - first format, then check and correct errors, and then vice versa. It is quite possible that something will still help and the flash drive will become operational again. To format the removable media, right-click on the selected drive again in “ Computer". In the dropdown menu, click “ Format…". Further, in the next window, just click on the button " To begin».


It is worth saying that all of the above methods, except for checking the disk with the standard Windows tool, assume a complete and irrecoverable loss of data from the media. Therefore, before performing all these methods, use one of the utilities for recovering data from a damaged storage medium.

Before talking about the repair of USB flash drives from the American company Kingston, it is worth mentioning a couple of significant facts about this company, which is the undoubted leader in the supply of USB drives, the second in the world in the production of flash memory and the third in memory cards.

The California company Kingston was founded on October 17, 1987, but although the company is American, its origins were from Taiwan's John Tu and David Sun. Kingston Technology is currently ranked 77th on Forbes' 500 Largest Private Companies in the United States.

A huge variety of flash drives in shape, color, body material, as well as volume, from the smallest to 1 TB. There are a series of drives with data encryption that are suitable for corporate use requiring a high degree of protection and encryption of information.

All Kingston usb flash drives are covered by a warranty that guarantees the exchange of a defective device if the breakdown is not the fault of the buyer. The minimum warranty period is 1 year, there are lines of flash drives and memory cards for which the warranty is valid for up to five years. As a rule, no breakdowns occur in the first years of use. Repairs are often required after warranty service and, despite the high reliability of the products of this company, no one guarantees that one day your drive will stop working.

If your storage device is no longer correctly detected, shows zero or incorrect volume, asks to insert a disk, etc., then this indicates software glitch at the controller level. These and other similar faults must be repaired. There are several programs for repairing Kingston flash drives, besides universal utilities. Let's take a look at a few of them so you know how to work with them. Download the archive from the link, which contains all three utilities.

Phison Preformat v.1.30

The program helps to restore flash drives on Phison controllers, which are also used by Kingston. Run it with the preformat.exe file, if it displays the message: Preformat does not support this IC, then the controller is not supported. If the program has started, a window will open, as in the image below, where you are given four options: full formatting, fast, fast low-level and full low-level.

No instructions for use are needed. Select the modes one at a time and test the drive. Remember that after a quick and complete low-level formatting it will be impossible to restore the information that was stored on it, so take care of this in advance.

Another very simple utility that can help you fix errors. It's simple, if it starts, then the device is assembled on a controller compatible with it. There are only two buttons: Format and Cancel. The first is low-level formatting, which helps to fix the device in case of logical failures, and the second is to close the utility.

A production utility that has managed to bring a lot of flash drives back to life. The instructions are simple: run the AlcorMP.exe file, if your drive is found in Device Status, then click Start and check the operation.

These three programs for flash drive repair from the manufacturer Kingston can "cure" most of the devices. If the website provides generic diagnostic and recovery utilities.

The program for the correct cleaning of storage devices and recovery of flash drives after failures. Suitable for all Kingston branded drives.

What you need to know about the Kingston Format Utility:

This is a tiny utility for formatting Flash-based devices (memory cards, flash drives, etc.). Initially, the application was created for Kingston storage devices of the HyperX XXGB / DTHX30 series, but it is compatible with all flash drives from the manufacturer. Clearing data (re-flashing) flash drives with Kingston Format Utility tools is suitable for different cases- if the system incorrectly considers the disk to be write-protected and shows the inscription "Format fail" when deleted, or there is a need to restore Kingston DataTraveler flash drives or other series in case an error occurs when reading data.

The utility interface consists of one window. It contains two drop-down menus. In the first block "Device" you can select the device you want to clean. If the field is not filled in, it means that Kingston's flash drives are not connected to the computer. In the second field, "File System", you can select the file allocation system that will be used after formatting. To start the process of eliminating all files, click the "Format" button. Thanks to this algorithm, Kingston Format Utility is very convenient to use when you need to format several devices.

Briefly and clearly:

1. formatting devices;
2. choice file system- NTFS / FAT32 / FAT / exFAT;
3. support for Kingston components;
4. compatibility with media of different sizes.

After memory card failures, usually only a program for formatting ntfs, fat32, microsd, transcend, usb, kingston, sd, apacer, hp flash drives helps. There are several of them.

It is impossible to say which is the best. They are on the computer and phone by default, but they may often be required additional programs for formatting.

Each flash drive (memory card) contains a microprocessor responsible for its operation.

The program for formatting flash drives, in case of failure, simply closes the "broken" sectors (cells) and leaves only the working ones.

At the same time, the amount of memory decreases, but the memory card remains functional.

Very good program for full formatting flash drives ntfs, fat32, microsd, transcend, usb, kingston, sd, apacer, hp "Flash Doctor".

It can be used for forced and low-level formatting and is free.

Download this program for free to format flash drives

How to use? First of all, after starting, find your USB flash drive on the panel for formatting:

A new window will open, wait until the end of the check of the accumulator you have selected.

You will see the state of your memory card or disk (depending on what you are checking).

Formatting a flash drive and more

To format the flash drive, click "recover media". Just be careful. All content (if not saved separately) will be destroyed.

By the way, if your flash drive does not want to be formatted,. If after this there is no positive result, then nothing will help her.

In conclusion, I will give an example from personal experience... Once my memory card completely stopped working. What I didn’t do. I stayed to format it with all existing programs. There were no results.

Then he began to stay on the phones. It was micro SD (with the rest: ntfs, fat32, microsd, transcend, usb, kingston, sd, apacer, hp, if the phone does not support this option, it will not work) and a miracle happened, everything worked.

Only not on the first hit, but only on the fourth Sony Erickson. Before that, I tried on Samsung, Nokia and LG - they did not help. Where am I leading this?

Sometimes, computer programs for formatting flash drives, which are considered the best, may not help, especially if your memory card is Chinese.