USB sticks - help!!

hey,

i was wondering if anyone could help me, i went to use my USB stick and it wont let me open it and says it needs to be formatted - i am not doing that casue wipes off everything on it - i NEED to open it as it has ALL my coursework on there!!

I have tried on 3 different computers it says the same on all

ANY ADVICE PLEASE!!!!!!!???????

katie x

[Hidden]

Sounds like the flash memory on the USB stick is corrupted; either the stick has reached the end of its life or it wasn't properly unmounted the last time you used it.

You can try the trial version of this and see if it can recover your files for you:

tinyurl.com/3ae3jd

However, be warned that there's a very high probability that the data on the stick gone for good. Sorry.

[Hidden]

thanks peaksteve, i have tried the programme no luck , bit i gave emailed them to see if they can help - THANK YOU for the info!!

katie xx

[KateMoss]

Ouch!

Sorry you have had problems with your USB stick.

I didn't realise till recently that the little icon that apears at the bottom right hand side on the screen stating that new hardware found also enables the stick to be removed safely from the USB port - you click on it, click stop then remove the stick when it tells you.

It can corupt data if you pull it out before it has finished reading it.

Sorry for the late advice.

Kate

PS always make a back up somewhere else! My work stuff is backed up 3 times, once on the computer, once on the remote back up and once one a USB because I don't trust the remote back up!

[Hidden]

Good advice, Kate.

Also, flash memory (the type found on USB sticks and digital camera memory cards) was never designed for long-term storage of files. It is an ""interim storage"" medium; you keep files there only until you move them somewhere permanent. Ideally you'd be looking at a big hard drive or DVD-Rs for long-term storage of lots of data.

I'm always pained when I note that nowhere that sells flash memory devices (and nowhere on the documentation that comes with them) is there any mention of this. I'm sure lots of people are unaware that flash memory is quite volatile and should never be used to store your only copy of a file for long periods of time.