How to flash a flash drive? Restoring the USB drive. Restoring USB drives Silicon Power Program for restoring silicon power 16gb

Good day!

If your flash drive begins to constantly fail: it cannot be formatted, when connected to a computer it often freezes, when copying files to it errors occur, but it has not been subjected to mechanical stress - there is a CHANCE for restoring its functionality!

It would be nice if, when connecting a flash drive, it was at least somehow detected, for example: a connection sound is made, the flash drive is displayed in "my computer", the LED on it blinks, etc. If the computer does not see the flash drive at all, then first I recommend reading this article:

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

Restoring a flash drive // ​​step by step

Controller Model Definition

By the will of fate, it turned out that I had one flash drive, which Windows refused to format - an error occurred "Windows can't complete formatting". The flash drive, according to the owner, did not fall, no water got on it, and in general, it was handled quite carefully...

All that was clear after examining it was that it was 16 GB, and its brand was SmartBuy. When connected to a PC, the LED lit up, the flash drive was detected and visible in the explorer, but it did not work properly.

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

To restore normal operation of the flash drive, you need to reflash the controller chip. This is done with special utilities, and for each type of controller there is its own utility! If the utility is chosen incorrectly, then with a high degree of probability you will ruin the flash drive completely... I will say even more, the same model range of flash drives may have different controllers!

Each device have their own unique identification numbers - VID and PID , and the flash drive is no exception. To select the correct flashing utility, you need to determine these identification numbers (and the controller model based on them).

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

Flash Drive Information Extractor

A small free utility for getting maximum information about a flash drive. No need to install it!

The program will determine the model of the USB flash drive, model and type of memory (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 detected, or when the computer freezes when connecting the media.

Information received:

• controller model;
• possible options for memory chips installed in the flash drive;
• type of installed memory;
• maximum current consumption declared by the manufacturer;
• USB version;
• the full physical volume of the disk;
• disk space reported by the operating system;
• VID and PID;
• Query Vendor ID;
• Query Product ID;
• Query Product Revision;
• 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 advisable, before starting the program, to leave only one flash drive connected to the USB ports, from which you want to get maximum information.

Working with Flash Drive Information Extractor

1. We disconnect everything that is connected from the USB ports (at least all drives: players, external hard drives, etc.).
2. Insert the flash drive to be repaired into the USB port;
3. We launch the program;
4. Press the button "Get information about the flash drive" ;
5. After some time, we get maximum information about the drive (see screenshot below).
6. If the program freezes- don’t do anything and don’t close it. Remove the flash drive from the USB port after a couple of minutes, the program should “hang” and you will see all the information that it managed to pull out from the flash drive...

Now we know the information about the flash drive and we can start searching for the utility.

Information about the flash drive:

• VID: 13FE; PID: 4200;
• Controller model: Phison 2251-68 (second line in the screenshot above);
• SmartBuy 16 GB.

Addition

You can reliably determine the controller model if you disassemble the flash drive. True, not every flash drive case is collapsible, and not every one can be put back together later.

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

Disassembled flash drive. Controller model: VLI VL751-Q8

Addendum 2

You can find out the VID and PID of a flash drive using the device manager (in this case, you don’t need to install anything). True, in this case we will not recognize the controller model, and there is some risk that VID and PID it will not be possible to accurately identify the controller. And yet, suddenly the above utility freezes and does not provide any information at all...

How to find a utility for flashing a flash drive

Important! After flashing the flash drive, all information on it will be deleted!

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

The operating algorithm is as follows:

1. We go to the site:
2. Enter yours VID and PID into the search bar and look for it;
3. You'll likely find dozens of lines in the results list. Among them you need to find a line that matches: controller model, your manufacturer, VID and PID, flash drive size .
4. Further in the last column you will see the recommended utility. By the way, please note that the version of the utility also matters! All that remains is to download the necessary utility and apply it.

After you find and download the required utility, run it and format the media - in my case, you only had to press one button - Restore .

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

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

That's all, actually. I would be grateful for any additions on the topic. Good Luck!

Losing information on a memory card is a very unpleasant thing. What if there was valuable information on the drives? Its loss can be a real tragedy, and a flash drive recovery utility can be a salvation. But before we describe the process of recovering information on a hard drive, let’s consider the possible reasons for the loss of information on memory cards:

Drive software failure. If your flash drive does not open and asks you to format it, this is exactly the case. It is usually caused by a crash of a special driver installed on any flash card. You can install it again, and then the drive’s functionality will be restored. However, the information will have to be restored separately. - Virus attacks. Yes, picking up a virus by transferring information from one PC to another is as easy as shelling pears. Some viruses specialize specifically in deleting/damaging files. - Mechanical damage. May be caused by temperature changes, shocks, falls, etc. In this case, the memory card may become completely unusable. But even in this case, it is possible to recover information! - Incorrect operation. A flash drive and/or information on it may be damaged in cases where: you do not use the “Safely Remove Hardware” option, remove the USB drive while downloading, recording information, watching movies, etc.

Flash drive recovery programs

How to recover information on a flash card? In almost all of the above cases, special utilities for flash drive recovery will help us. There are a huge number of them now. We recommend that you use only proven software products. “Flash Drive Recovery 2.0” is a powerful utility for recovering flash drives. She is capable of:

Recover information on drives of different formats and manufacturers (Silicon Power, Kingston Datatraveler, Alcor Micro, Corsair Voyager) and of any size (4gb, 8gb, 16gb, 32gb).
Work in cases where the flash drive has been formatted many times.
Recover information even on damaged memory cards.

Recover up to 100% of deleted information.

Flash drive recovery software can recover data from any type of storage device (music devices, digital cameras, flash drives, USB drivers, PC cards, etc.). This utility recovers all damaged and deleted files, even if the memory card has been reformatted.

Restoring a flash drive often helps restore its functionality and damaged memory locations. The only disadvantage of recovery is the complete formatting of the flash drive, which leads to clearing its memory of all data.

Silicon Power USB drives can be restored using several special programs that the company has released. In addition, you can use third-party recovery programs.

Recover Tool helps to fix damaged memory sectors of flash drives with Innostor IS903, IS902 and IS902E, IS916EN, and IS9162 controllers.

To restore the functionality of the flash drive, you need to download the program and run the initialization file.

Next, you need to connect the flash drive to your computer, and the program will automatically recognize it. If the software cannot detect the device, it means it cannot connect to the controller and the user should use another program.

If detection is successful, the “Start” button will appear. You need to click on it and wait for a message about the successful recovery of the flash drive.

The second program from the Silicon Power recovery package includes not only the ability to restore the functionality of a flash drive, but also other important functions.

First you need to go to the official website and download the program.

After downloading the program, you need to run the installer and wait for the installation to complete successfully. Next, you need to connect the flash drive to the computer and make sure that the program recognizes it.

Next, we will run diagnostics to detect errors. As soon as the program finishes the analysis, the test results will appear. If errors are detected, you will be offered to restore the memory of the flash drive and further format it, but if the media does not work correctly, but the program does not generate errors, most likely the problem is a virus.

To clean a flash drive from viruses, you need to scan it with an antivirus and perform the necessary cleaning option.

Formatting a flash drive is carried out in the “SECURE ERASE” menu, where the user will be offered two methods - quick formatting and full formatting.

Today we will look at:

USB drives from Silicon Power have a simple and elegant design. By purchasing such a stylish product, we hope that the miniature storage media will last quite a long time.

It is very unpleasant when flash drives unexpectedly fail, while the drive contains valuable information that was not duplicated. According to customer reviews, 16 GB USB drives from Silicon Power are the most vulnerable to logical errors and physical influences. Don’t despair right away; in most cases, you can restore the performance of the storage device and save the information.

Signs that a USB device has failed and needs to be repaired or restored

• Flush is periodically or not detected at all.
• When turned on, it is detected as a connected device, but a message is displayed that it is not recognized by the operating system (unknown device).
• Inability to perform file access, read or write operations, and messages are displayed: “no access to the disk”, “disk is write protected”, “insert disk”, “file or folder is damaged. Reading is impossible."
• Defined as media with reduced or zero memory capacity.
• The message “Before you can use the disk in the G:\ drive, you must format it. Format?" After several tries, it turns out that "Windows cannot complete formatting."

Causes of malfunctions

• Logical – incorrect formatting, deleting and removing a device while recording, transferring or downloading information, incorrect use of a flash drive when watching movies on TV, file system failure.
• Mechanical - shocks, falls, etc.
• Thermal and electrical – static electricity discharges, power instability during power surges and overheating.
• Software and hardware malfunctions in the operation of electronic parts of flash drives.
• Damage or removal of the driver program for device recognition by the operating system.
• , written specifically to deliberately remove or distort information.

Solutions for restoring flash drives

When restoring the functionality of USB drives, it should be taken into account that in most cases this results in a complete loss of data recorded on them.

In case of serious logical errors in the file system, the knowledge of computer specialists is needed.

In case of mechanical, thermal and electrical impacts and destruction, the device is usually not suitable for use. However, if only the body of the flash drive is damaged, there is a possibility of recovering the information in service centers.

The “driver” program can be reinstalled by downloading it from the manufacturers’ official website using the link Silicon Power drivers.

As in the previous case, the program is launched without installation through the executable file “RecoveryTool (.exe)”. Screenshot of the start and scanning start screen:

Before scanning begins, a warning is displayed stating that while the program is running, there is a risk of losing data from the media. By clicking on Start, the process of restoring the flash drive begins.

SoftOrbits Flash Drive Recovery is a program for recovering information from flash drives after repeated formatting. You can download the trial version from the official website softorbits.com.

The program must first be installed. The launch is carried out through the executable file “frecover (.exe)”. The screenshots below show the process of starting the trial version of the program, where you select the media to scan, select files for recovery, hard drive space for recording them, as well as a preview window for the recovered information:

To obtain final recovery results, you must purchase a registered version of the program on the Softorbits website.

Controller firmware

If the use of the above software does not lead to the expected results, there is a more complex option for restoring flash media - this is the so-called “controller firmware”. This option consists of using special utilities to recover hardware failures of a specific type of flash drive using known unique USB device identifiers - VID and PID.

If you carefully examine the window of the running USB Flash Drive Recovery program described above, you can see that the VID and PID values ​​are automatically recognized during operation. If these numbers are entered into the database of identifiers of known flash drives on the Iflash website , It’s easy to find in the table the model of your flash drive from the manufacturer Silicon Power and a utility for restoring it (“flashing”).

Experiments along the way of using various options for restoring the functionality of your flash drive will definitely lead to the desired results and pleasant personal discoveries.

There are several solutions for creating data backups:

1. Applications built into the operating system. Microsoft Windows provides data backup methods that involve saving files and data on external or built-in storage media. All modern versions of Windows already include the ability to create a backup copy of necessary files or the entire hard drive, if necessary. The functions provided by Windows are complete and independent, and are aimed at ensuring that you do not need to use third-party services or programs.
2. Copying data manually. You can always use the old proven method of creating a data backup - manually copying the data to an external storage medium. This is a long process, but if you work with a small amount of data, this solution may be quite acceptable for you.
3. Online services. Recently, the most modern method of data backup has become increasingly popular - these are numerous online services. Companies that provide backup of your files directly on the Internet. A small background application installed on the computer creates copies of the necessary data and stores them on a remote server. However, the volumes provided by such companies for storing your files in the free version do not allow them to be used as a comprehensive solution. Often the space offered for data backup does not exceed 10 GB, so there is no need to talk about creating a backup copy of the entire hard drive. Such services are rather aimed at reserving a separate number of files.
4. Creating a disk image. This is the most complete data backup solution used by advanced users. This method involves using a third-party program to create an image of the entire disk, which can be deployed, if necessary, on another storage medium. Using this solution, you can in a short period of time gain access to all the data that was on the disk at the time of its backup: documents, programs and media files.

Silicon Power flash drive models for 64gb, 32gb, 16gb, 8gb, 4gb, 2 gb:

• Jewel;
• Touch;
• Blaze;
• Mobile;
• xDrive;
• Secure;
• Marvel;
• firma;
• Ultima;
• Unique;
• Helios;
• LuxMini;