How to Revive a Damaged Flash Drive

Flash drives are used to transport files and for external storage.

Users carry flash drives around to use at home, at the workplace and at school, but excessive usage might damage files or the drive. Corrupted files might be due to a user being impatient as the operating system was saving data to the drive. Physical internal errors might also occur with the flash drive. When these problems occur, you might be resigned to discard the flash drive thinking it will no longer work. Instead, use a utility in the Windows 7 operating system to check for errors and attempt to fix the drive.

Instructions

1. Click "Start" and select "Computer."

2. Right-click on the drive letter that corresponds to the flash drive, such as "E." Choose "Properties" from the context menu.

3. Click the "Tools" tab to the front of the dialog box. Click the "Check Now" button.

4. Put a check mark in both boxes. Click the "Start" button. Wait while the Windows operating system scans and attempts to repair the flash drive.

References

• Microsoft: Check a Driver for Errors

Resources

• Microsoft: Format Disks and Drives, Frequently Asked Questions
• Make Use Of: How To Make Corrupt USB Jump Drives Work Again