The file system of the volume is not recognized (USB stick). What to do, how to restore?

Today, flash drives and removable memory cards have a fairly large capacity and are used almost everywhere. Unfortunately, they are more susceptible to physical damage than internal hard drives and hard disks, but they can also display software failures. So it turns out that when you try to connect the device to the computer, the system displays a message stating that the volume system of the volume is corrupted or not recognized. How to fix such failures, now and will be described.

Why is not the USB flash drive recognized? Possible reasons

The most likely reasons why the operating system can not recognize the drive or its file system can be conditionally divided into two large categories: physical damage and software failures.

Physical causes associated with malfunctions in the operation of microcontrollers, external and internal damages, overheating or overcooling, and many other negatively affecting factors, will not be considered. In this case, the USB flash drive will simply be discarded. Even replacing the microcontroller will cost much more than a new memory card or memory card. Sometimes there may be a malfunction in the operation of USB ports, but here the output is obvious: the flash drive just needs to be connected to another port.

Therefore, we will dwell on program failures. Among the most likely reasons that the file system of the volume is not recognized (the flash drive is not visible when connected, and if it is visible, then it is not possible to work with it), the following are distinguished:

• Exposure to viruses;
• Program failures in the microcontroller;
• Incorrect or incomplete formatting;
• Improper removal of the device from the port;
• Voltage surges;
• Unsupported file system;
• Obsolete drivers for the device;
• Discrepancy between USB-stick and port standards.

Regarding the last point, the problem is that the USB 3.0 stick is connected to port 2.0. This problem is solved by simply reconnecting to the desired port.

Symptoms of damage to the removable device

Determining that a removable device is in an inoperative state is simple enough. In case of connection, the system starts to issue warnings that the location is not available, the file system of the volume is not recognized, the device is offered to format it, etc.

Incidentally, it should be noted that the drive itself can be seen or not. In the first case, the problem is somewhat easier to fix. In the second, you will have to use additional utilities.

When issuing a warning about an inaccessible location, the reason may also lie in the fact that an incorrect volume label (a drive letter) is assigned to a flash drive or a removable card, for example, X instead of F. In this situation, you simply change it by first using the disk management section, where the right Click on the device to select the appropriate command.

RAW format: what is it?

In the usual sense, this structure is a modified format, which is simply incompatible with most of the known operating systems. Therefore, a message appears on the screen indicating that the file system of the volume is not recognized (although the RAW format stick is visible, but you can not see the files on it, even if you enable the display of hidden objects).

Change of format is most often associated with software failures due to incorrect formatting, incorrect device disconnection and exposure to viruses. However, to convert a format into a readable format can be quite simple, as will be discussed a little later.

The main directions in solving problems

If you can not recognize the volume of the file system, there may be several solutions for fixing the situation, depending on the cause of the failure:

• Conversion format to any other, compatible with the system;
• Removal of viruses and threats;
• Fast or full formatting;
• If you need to restore data, you need to use special utilities.

Just in case, you can make sure that a suitable driver is installed for the device. You can do this in the standard "Device Manager", which you can access either from the Control Panel or by calling the command "devmgmt.msc" from the "Run" console.

Typically, if the device does not work or does not work properly, it will be marked in yellow. In this case, you should either update the driver (command from the context menu) from your own database of the system, or install it manually from removable media, or apply automatic update using programs like Driver Booster (of course, with the flash drive turned on). Sometimes it may be necessary to update the driver directly to the USB controller itself.

Simplest testing and recovery

Now consider the situation when the file system of the volume is not recognized (the memory card in the system is visible) from the perspective of a conventional disk. For removable drives, you can use standard commands to check their status, which are originally intended for hard drives. It's about checking the disc.

To perform this operation, you need to call the command console (cmd) from the "Run" menu (Win + R), then write the line chkdsk X / f, where X is the letter assigned to the flash drive (usually F). Even if the drive is in RAW format, this procedure works in terms of restoring the file system or converting it to NTFS.

Virus scan

Some viruses can change the structure of the file system of removable drives (and not only) purposefully. In this case, too, a message will be issued notifying that the file system of the volume is not recognized. The USB flash drive, however, will be visible in the system. This simplifies the task.

The simplest way to solve the situation is to check it completely. You can use a regular anti - virus scanner or portable utilities. But here, unfortunately, there is no full guarantee of "treatment". This is due to the presence on the media of a standard autorun.inf file, which in some cases may be hidden (to see it, you need to set the display of hidden objects in the menu of the standard Explorer view).

If possible, it must be deleted manually, but most often it is protected from such procedures. Then you should use the command line again.

Removing components from the command line

So, the system reports that the file system of the volume is not recognized (the flash drive in the system is detected). For example, let's assume that the volume label of the flash drive has letter Z. To delete the desired file, we sequentially assign the following commands, after each of them press the Enter key:

• Cd F: /;
• Attrib -a -s -h -r autorun.inf;
• Del autorun.inf.

Only in this case the complete removal of this object is guaranteed, because even for actions in Explorer due to its close integration with Windows, viruses can set some restrictions, and the command line works using the principles of DOS-systems.

Fix the file system by formatting

Now one more example, when an SD card is inserted into the card reader (the file system of the volume is not recognized, but the system "sees", even if it does not show formatting messages).

In principle, you can look at its format in the disk management section , but why do this if the problem is only that you can not write information on it? The easiest way to do this is formatting.

Many users mistakenly believe that the easiest option is to quickly clear the table of contents. Absolutely wrong! Even if you prefer to install something from the drop-down list (FAT32 NTFS, etc.) for the preferred system, there is no guarantee that it will work with it. Therefore, it is better to make a full format. It takes more time, but after that the user will receive a clean drive, as they say, from scratch. And with him problems just will not be. But this method is applicable only if the device does not have important information that can not be destroyed.

Can I recover information on a damaged device?

The issue of restoring information to many is an unambiguous criterion in favor of selecting special utilities that can not only restore boot sectors and records on any type of devices, but also extract previously existing information, which for some reason has become inaccessible.

You can restore the data. But such advertised programs as Recuva, when the same removable media in the system is not visible, are useless. Here professional utilities come to the rescue. Next, two of them will be examined: the TestDisk application and the unique R.Saver program (both utilities are portable).

Recovery with TestDisk utility

Now let's look at the situation when the file system of the volume is not recognized (the flash drive is not visible even in the "Explorer", although the LED flashes). Immediately we will say that below the given solution can be used for removable memory cards of any standard.

The program is free and does not require installation. True, many can be disappointed by the lack of a Russian-language interface and work in DOS mode. But the utility is very powerful, because it is able to first restore the file system, and then - and the necessary information.

Run the utility, in the window that appears, select the Create item. Next, a list of all available disks will appear, including an invisible flash drive. As a rule, in the list it is denoted as Disk / dev / sdc with capacity indication (in addition there can be a description like Generic-Multi-Card). If there is no description, determine that this is the desired flash drive, you can simply by the size or by the letter of the disk.

Next, activate the analysis process (Proceed), then select the Intel Partition in the partition table. Next, go to the extended file system (Advanced), press the enter key, and then use the Undelete command at the bottom of the window. We are waiting for the end of the scanning process, and then in the window there appear red lines corresponding to all the deleted files. Do not be surprised that even files that you do not remember at all can be found here (the program finds them with ease).

Now move the arrows through the list, select the desired object and press the C key to restore. Next, choose the directory in which the files will be saved, click "Enter." After selecting the folder again, press C. After the restoration is completed, it will be reported that the copy is ready.

Universal program R.Saver

Finally, another utility that can be used in case the file system is not recognized (the flash drive is visible or not visible in the system - it does not matter). It is best suited for restoring sectors and data on SD cards.

After the application starts, select the flash drive and start the scanning process (agree with sector-by-sector scanning). Then starts the procedure of sector recovery (reconstruction of the file system) and the information contained in them (this can take quite a long time).

In the list of detected objects, select the necessary ones, specify the destination folder on the hard drive and confirm the selection with the corresponding button. At the end with the flash drive you can work without problems.

Instead of an afterword

As you can see, in some cases the troubleshooting processes can be quite laborious (this concerns simultaneous recovery of the drive's file system and data on it). However, if such procedures are not required, it is possible to restore the working capacity of a flash drive or a removable memory card quite simply. Which way to prefer? This is already decided by everyone, based on the current situation.