USB Key Erased Without Prompt

[jonn]

Hey everyone,

I have an 8 GB Sony USB key on which I had stored a number of files.

I was trying to open a picture for editing (stored on the USB key), but the program kept crashing repeatedly. When I tried to restart, the restart command would not respond (even though the OS was not frozen). I ended up having to restart the old fashioned way.

Afterwards, my entire USB key had been wiped clean. Very confused about this as I was not prompted to delete files or format the drive. They literally just disappeared.

Am I out of luck? Any way to do it without purchasing recovery software?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Hey everyone,

I have an 8 GB Sony USB key on which I had stored a number of files.

I was trying to open a picture for editing (stored on the USB key), but the program kept crashing repeatedly. When I tried to restart, the restart command would not respond (even though the OS was not frozen). I ended up having to restart the old fashioned way.

Afterwards, my entire USB key had been wiped clean. Very confused about this as I was not prompted to delete files or format the drive. They literally just disappeared.

Am I out of luck? Any way to do it without purchasing recovery software?

Any help would be much appreciated.

From what you are describing, It seems that your flash drive got damaged; this could be the reason why part of the OS (usually the Finder) starts to delay responding.

I had something similar happen to me and also to a friend; apparently static electricity caused the problem.

Leave it unplug for a while, then restart your Mac, and try plugin in once again. If you still have the problem then you may try recovering your data.
It's difficult, but not necessarily impossible to do.

Here's a link to an app that worked for me: DDR Recovery (Professional)
You could install it in trial mode, and if it finds something, then you decide whether to buy it or not.
There's only one problem: it only comes as a Windows application.

 

[jonn]

I had something similar happen to me; apparently static electricity caused the problem.

That might actually explain it - had been wearing slippers on the carpet when it happened..never thought of that. Thanks!

 

[teleromeo]

Data rescue is for the mac. You can use a trial before buying.