All files on my USB 2.0 Drive Became Weird Symbols

Question

All files on my USB 2.0 Drive Became Weird Symbols

Anonymous

During a phase of backing up the files on my USB to a Mediafire account, suddenly the name of my drive was overwritten to the default "USB D:" and all the files became weird symbols. Every time I try to open them I get the error shown below. I've tried everything I can think of, and I need to restore these files. I've attempted to use third-party programs which seemed to have been able to recover the files but always needed me to pay them to actually restore them. Trying the "ATTRIB" command in CMD also gives me the error shown below. This is 6.66 GB of 400k+ files on this USB. Anything I can do to restore these at all before going to third-party programs or file recovery labs?

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

6 answers

Answer 1

DaveM121 867.2K Independent Advisor

Hi Genson,

if you backup any good files from that drive, then format the drive, then that drive will be like new and there would be no problem using that drive.

0 comments

Answer 2

Hi Genson,

When your files on a USB drive change to symbols like that, that means the files are all corrupt, that is usually caused by removing the drive when something was still writing to the drive.

The only hope you would have is to try a 3rd party data recovery utility, but honestly, I do not think your files on that USB will be recoverable.

Answer 3

Good day! I'm Raniel. I understand your frustration regarding this issue and I'll do my best to help.

It is possible that the files got corrupted, or infected with a virus which caused the issue. Can you open file explorer > click on "This PC" > right-click on your external drive and select "Scan with Microsoft Defender".

You may also perform the method provided by Davem121 on this thread with a similar issue that you're experiencing: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

I also suggest that you try to use a third party tool like Recuva (free version) and see if it will recover your files: https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva/features

I hope this helps. Good luck!

________________________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

Answer 4

I tried the first remedy with this error message:

The last remedy you suggested I also tried to no avail because it wasn't able to scan anything on it anymore:

As for the similar issue thread you suggested, the reason I didn't do it was that at the end, they mentioned "those files should be gone" when I absolutely need to recover them, I cat just delete them.

Answer 5

Anonymous

Hi Genson,

Apologies if the suggested methods didn't work for you.

I'm also running out of options here. But let's see if someone else has a better idea with regards to this issue.

0 comments

Share via

All files on my USB 2.0 Drive Became Weird Symbols

6 answers