USB-drive extracted, but data appears damaged.
USB-drive extracted, but data appears damaged.
Hello, I recently connected a USB drive and noticed all my folders were replaced with strange symbols (%#/, *, etc.). Feeling worried, I unplugged it immediately, which is usually a bad idea. Now that I’ve reinserted it, it appears to have copied my C drive (the main Windows drive with desktop and user folders) and erased the older ones. I can’t locate them anywhere—they’re not in the recycle bin, but there’s a shortcut to most of them that doesn’t work. Anyone experienced with this issue have had similar problems? Is there a method to recover my old files and folders, or are they all gone? I’m open to sharing screenshots or logs if you need them.
In theory, you can unplug a USB stick anytime and it should not cause any data corruption (in Windows 10 and 11). What you describe looks a lot like data corruption... but I doubt it was caused by the USB stick unless it is a virus or something. Was this a USB stick you found somewhere or one you already had ? As for how to recover your files, there are a few free utilities you can use yo recover corrupted files. First thing : STOP USING YOUR COMPUTER !!! The less you let Windows run in that shambles of data, the greater are your chances to recover something. Now, before you begin, does the data that was on your computer worth the effort ? IF you have some backups, it would be way easier to restore backups. Or if the data can be downloaded from Internet, just re-download from the Internet. Even Microsoft has a tool for that https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/...26S50LN705 but it is a command line tool. Make sure to read the instructions. You can also google file recovery or data recovery and you'll see plenty of results. Take caution before some are scams and some require payment before you can recover files. Use the free trials or totally free programs preferably. Good luck !
When using a bootable Linux image such as Ubuntu, you can start from that device and inspect the contents of the USB. This helps me verify if I'm dealing with a Windows Moment or a more serious drive issue. Good luck!
I think your "old folders" were probably on the flash drive. Besides malware, it's possible the USB was being removed. If file names suddenly changed to random characters, it might mean the file structure is missing. You can avoid writing more to the USB and try using a file recovery tool. I used Recuva before, but it might not work in this case.