We are now full of USB sticks and memory cards, we often keep them in the drawers or maybe we forget to leave them attached behind desktop PCs. If an old USB stick or memory card is not recognized by the PC in which it is inserted or if it seems broken, there is still hope for repairing it or even for recovering the data inside it.
To begin with, let's make sure that the USB stick really doesn't work by connecting it to another PC.
I therefore recommend reading the article with all the solutions if no USB sticks or external drives are detected on the computer .
If there is actually a problem, the damage can be more or less serious depending on whether Windows sees it or not.
If Windows sees the USB stick or SD card, but clicking on it from My Computer, you cannot open its contents, then you can repair it .
If, on the other hand, the PC does not see it at all, then there is internal damage that may be related to the connector or the memory chip.
Once again, in the first case, if the problem is with the connector, it can be repaired, otherwise it is broken and lost forever.
READ ALSO: What to do if the computer hard disk is broken or damaged
To solve the problem of a USB disk or SD card that is not opened or that gives an error when trying to access files, you can try before using the scandisk tool to solve internal disk errors.
However, the scandisk will hardly solve anything so the only way is to format it .
Obviously this will delete all the data present, so if inside there is something important to recover, it would be better to contact a specialized company.
To format a USB disk just click on its icon with the right mouse button and choose the " Format " option.
If it is not possible to format the USB stick because as you try to click on it it gives us an error, follow this procedure to clean up the USB stick and force the formatting of the drive .
NOTE: In the case of a USB stick or an unrecognized external drive, you can try to forcibly assign a letter for identification in Windows Explorer with the SeeMe program.
- Insert the USB stick into the computer to be repaired and remove all the others.
- Start the command prompt with administrator privileges (the prompt is found in Windows 7 in the Start menu -> Programs> Accessories while in Windows 8.1 and 10 you have to press the right mouse button on the Windows flag).
- Type the DISKPART command in the command prompt and press OK on the popup that appears.
- In the new window write and execute the list disk command
- Write down the disk number of the USB stick and recognize it also by its size.
- Write select disk disk_number (for example select disk 4 ) and press enter (I recommend not to make mistakes here otherwise you will format the hard disk and lose everything).
- Run the clean command
- Run the create partition primary command
- Run the active command
- Run the select partition 1 command
- Run the format fs = fat32 command
The USB stick should now be up and running again.
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As mentioned above, if this is not really recognized by the computer, it may be that the connector is broken.
Replacing the connector is not easy, but neither is an impossible undertaking.
On the Wikihow website there is a clear guide to repairing USB sticks with photos and explanations.
When opening the USB stick, try to understand if it is broken if there are signs of cracking in the printed circuit because in this case there will be nothing to do to save the unit.
READ ALSO: Solutions to errors on unrecognized USB ports, unknown or impossible to use devices
