Hi, I got a problem with my SanDisk Cruzer U3 flash drive. The drive was working fine till date, but yesterday when I was trying to transfer few files from Cruzer U3, an error displayed stating that drive is not formatted. Following the message I formatted the drive and resulted in complete loss of files saved on it. Now, is it possible to recover files lost from SanDisk Cruzer USB drive? Please help thanks in advance.”
This kind of situation is frequently seen among various USB drive users. In the top list of USB drive manufacturers SanDisk stands as prominent producer; one of its amazing Smart drive is Cruzer U3 USB drive. This flash drive is preinstalled with a program called ‘U3 Launchpad’ to enable downloading of portable applications on the drive instead of system, so that user can carry his files and related programs within the USB to work on any computer. This program introduced by SanDisk for USB drives made easy the work of running programs directly from USB drive. But, there are few users who suffer inevitable file loss due to the malfunctioning of U3 program on SanDisk Cruzer U3 drive.
The common scenarios of losing files from SanDisk U3 Cruzer drive are listed below:
- Use of unsecured applications on U3 Cruzer drive can lead to missing/erasing of files from the drive automatically
- Data on SanDisk U3 Cruzer can be secured by providing a password for the drive. But, if you entry wrong password for maximum attempts then data on it will be made completely unreachable
- Accidentally formatting SanDisk U3 Cruzer USB drive without confirming for proper backup will causes loss of entire files on the drive
- Deletion of necessary files instead of unwanted ones from Cruzer U3 drive will also lead to complete loss of files
- Other times, abrupt removal of SanDisk U3 Cruzer USB drive from system, incomplete file transfer process, virus infection, improper download and installation of programs on the drive can all result in important file loss
Various blogs state that, many discomfort users of SanDisk Cruzer U3 drive face loss of files or inaccessibility of files on the drive due to U3 Launchpad. So, it is recommended to uninstall this Launchpad in order to avoid data loss catastrophes. To uninstall the U3 Launchpad, click on U3 icon on your system -> click for settings and then U3 Launchpad settings -> Select Uninstall and click on Uninstall U3 Launchpad option. Then click ‘on Next’ and Format options to finish the uninstalling of Launchpad.
Hard drive deleted file recovery software:
However, to retrieve inaccessible data from SanDisk U3 drive, make use of prominent file recovery tool such as Deleted files recovery. This tool is powered up with advanced recovery modules to enhance complete restoration of missing and erased files from Smart drives like SanDisk Cruzer U3. One can also retrieve files from USB drives produced by Transcend, Lexar, Kingston, SanDisk, etc. that holds different capacities of data. Additionally, this tool is efficient enough to bring back files from system drives, external hard drives, FireWire drives, etc. formatted with FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5 and ExFAT file systems. The software is compatible to work on Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and 2008 OS based systems.
Steps to retrieve files from SanDisk Cruzer U3 drive:
- Download Yodot File Recovery tool on to a Windows computer
- Connect SanDisk Cruzer U3 drive from which data has to be recovered to this system and install the tool
- After running the software, you will find 2 options in main screen
- Select “Deleted File Recovery” option to extract erased files
- Or select “Lost File Recovery” option to bring back files that are missing or inaccessible
- Then if necessary specify the file types that you wish to recover and click next
- Software performs a quick scan of the drive and restores all files from it
- Search for required files from the list of recovered files in Data view / File type views
- After selecting necessary files, target a destination location on system drive and click on Save
Valuable Tips:
- Retain backup of important files from Cruzer U3 drive on other storage devices
- If you are password protecting the drive’s data, never forget the password
- Do not interrupt processes like installation, downloading and file transfer on SanDisk Cruzer U3
