How to recover data from a USB key?

February 1, 2006 7:27 AM

Can anyone recommend a company/service in the UK to recover data from a USB key?
posted by plep to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Would you attempt to do it yourself? After some searching I found PC Inspector Smart Recovery that says it works for Flash Cards, amongst others. It's free to download, but Windows only. There are other free utils too.

I found that tool by reading this article. It covers other methods depending on if you deleted the files, formatted the drive, or if the drive was corrupted. MAybe you could give those a shot. Again, the article is Windows-centric.
posted by bDiddy at 7:39 AM on February 1, 2006

Not a personal recommendation, but a quick Google search:
Data Recovery Doctor

It appears that they do, indeed, do USB keys. And they are, indeed, in London.
posted by disillusioned at 7:57 AM on February 1, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks, we're trying PC Inspector Smart Recovery now.

We did take a look on Google - am especially interested in people with personal experience of using different tools or companies.

Cheers,
posted by plep at 8:20 AM on February 1, 2006

I don't know if there's a PC version, but the Mac app you'd want is Data Rescue, by ProSoft Engineering.

I'm in freakin' love with that utility.
posted by Wild_Eep at 9:53 AM on February 1, 2006

Data Recovery (by a third party) = REALLY, REALLY EXPENSIVE.

Why do they charge so much? Well, because they can.

Definitely give Smart Recovery a try - I've rescued considerable amounts of data from a failed hard drive before using it.
posted by coach_mcguirk at 12:25 PM on February 1, 2006

Easy Recovery is excellent.
posted by DrtyBlvd at 12:33 PM on February 1, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks all.

Here's a follow-up question :- Is it possible to give the USB key a partition without having to format it?

Cheers, thanks for all your help so far.
posted by plep at 2:33 AM on February 2, 2006