Removable drives in the form of USB-flash drives or memory cards, which can also be attributed to flash drives, are unprecedentedly popular. They have sufficiently large amounts of memory to store information of any type and are less prone to malfunctioning or even physical damage. However, they are not immune to errors.
On how to check the flash drive for errors or perform some other important operations, we will describe further. Immediately it is worth noting that it is not possible to describe absolutely all unforeseen failures and methods for eliminating them, so we will focus only on the most common ones.
How to check the flash drive for errors or format the drive using standard Windows tools
First of all, we’ll deal with errors that are akin to software crashes that appear on the most common hard drives. We will take Windows systems as a basis, since it is these OSs that are used to work on a computer most often. As you know, Windows has its own tools for servicing any type of storage device.
To begin, let's see how to check the volume of the flash drive (full, busy or free).
Actually, for this, in the most ordinary “Explorer” or in any other file manager, you need to call the property menu through RMB. Even easier - to view the necessary information immediately when calling "Explorer" by selecting the "This computer" (Windows 10).
If we talk about how to check the USB flash drive for errors (in the first, in the second case) through the PCM menu, you need to go to the properties item and then click on the corresponding button on the service tab.
In operating systems Windows 7 and below, you can use additional scan options, which include automatic error correction and recovery of bad sectors. In Windows 10, such actions are not required. Sometimes, you may be asked to restore or disconnect the device. We must agree with this.
Now a few words about how to format a USB flash drive. “Explorer” is also suitable for this, only in this case the corresponding item is located directly in the RMB menu.
When the formatting window appears, you just need to indicate the type of your preferred file system and the formatting method (by default, full formatting is performed, and for the quick line at the bottom of the window is marked).
Command line usage
If you consider questions about how to check the flash drive for errors, in Windows systems you can use another tool - the CHKDSK applet, which works through the command console. The main condition is, after entering the main command, specify the drive letter that is assigned to it in the system and supplement the verification with attributes, if necessary.
You can view all available options through the help system by calling it with the command “chkdsk /?” (Without quotes). But in most cases, you can use this type: chkdsk g: / f / r (it is assumed that the USB flash drive in "Explorer" is displayed as a removable drive G).
And to solve the problem of how to format a USB flash drive in the same command console, the FORMAT tool is used.
Again, the assigned letter with a colon and additional attributes are indicated for the medium (most often this is the type of formatting and file system). As in the previous example, you can call the help system (format /?) To select the desired additional attribute.
Specialized Utilities
Despite the presence of its own capabilities in Windows, sometimes it is necessary to use more effective tools, especially if this is due to the appearance of various kinds of errors and failures that cannot be fixed with standard system tools.
Utilities like Check Flash are good for checking media, and HDD Low Level Format Tool is suitable for formatting, and at a low level, which eliminates most of the known problems with flash drives or memory cards).
Information can be restored using the appropriate programs, but, as practice shows, it is best to use R.Saver and R-Studio applications for these purposes (the second utility allows you to recover data even after the drive is fully formatted).
Possible problems with USB drives, flash drive error codes, and simple troubleshooting methods
Finally, a few words are worth saying about the most common failures. The most common are:
- changing the file system, as a result of which the drive is not detected in the system or it is impossible to read information from it;
- the presence of write protection, etc.
It goes without saying that it is not worth excluding the virus effect, because viruses like to settle on flash drives, infecting existing files or creating their own executable objects like autorun.inf, which can be hidden from the user's eyes. Here, checking, low-level formatting and disabling protection programmatically or physically will help.
Quite often you can find codes in the description of the connected drives, which are issued by the “Device Manager” (10 or 43).
In this situation, it most often helps:
- reinstalling or updating drivers;
- reconnecting the drive using a different port;
- deactivate device lock for power saving mode;
- setting the appropriate options in the current power scheme.
Sometimes it is necessary to enable the use of the device in the parameters of the primary BIOS / UEFI systems. In general, there are enough solutions.
Avoiding Errors and Crashes: Some Simple Tips
In the end, it remains to add that in order to avoid any type of failure, it is only necessary to remove flash drives from the corresponding ports using safe extraction. You cannot retrieve them during the process of copying information or formatting, because if the device is turned off incorrectly, the file system may change to an unreadable RAW format.
It is also advisable to periodically check for errors. But if there are problems with microcontrollers, you can restore their performance by installing the original firmware by downloading it from the Internet. To do this, you must first set the search by device identifiers. They can be found in the corresponding manager in the list of equipment IDs on the information tab, in the properties section, or using the ChipGenius program for this.