• Methods for restoring a Kingston flash drive: from simple to complex. How to flash a flash drive? Restoring the operation of a USB drive Restoring kingston datatraveler 100 g3

    Kingston flash drives are distinguished by their reliability and long service life, but they are also not protected from various failures. Sometimes the drive actually “dies” and it is not possible to restore it. More often there are situations when a flash drive can be brought back to life using a special firmware utility.

    Most often, Kingston dt100g2 and datatraveler flash drives break.

    Is it possible to recover a flash drive?

    Signs that the drive can be restored:

    • When you connect a flash drive, a notification appears that a new device has been detected.
    • The system prompts you to format the removable disk.
    • The drive does not open, but is shown in Explorer.
    • Errors occur when reading and writing data.

    These problems can be eliminated by flashing the controller or formatting the media, but if there is important information on the flash drive, then you should try to “pull it out” before performing any recovery procedures. Use to extract a recovery program like Recuva or so as not to lose the necessary files.

    Search for a program for flashing the controller

    To restore, you will need a special utility for a Kingston flash drive. To avoid mistakes and download the correct program, you need to know the model of the drive controller.

    Method 1

    You can view the necessary information on the website flashboot.ru in the iFlash section, using the VID and PID values ​​of the flash drive as a filter.

    1. Connect the drive to your computer.
    2. Open the device manager (right-click on the “Computer” icon - Manage).
    3. Find "USB Mass Storage Device".
    4. Right click and open properties.
    5. Go to the Details section and select the Hardware ID property.

    Method 2

    Another way to obtain the necessary information is to download the Flash Drive Information Extractor program and click the “Get Data” button. The report will contain the lines “VID” and “PID”; use their value to find a utility that can correctly restore the Kingston Datatraveler flash drive.


    You can download the program in the “Files” section on the website flashboot.ru. If the utility is not here, try to find it on other web resources.

    Recovery utilities

    You can find the program you need without a controller model - just type in the search engine the request “kingston recovery utility”. In the results you will see several utilities, among which there will certainly be programs such as Phison Preformat, AlcorMP AU698x RT, etc.

    The problem is that Kingston flash drive recovery programs only work if they are compatible with the controller installed in the drive. Therefore, if you download the first repair utility you come across, it may not detect the connected media.

    When the desired program is found, you can begin to restore it. Be sure to look at the instructions, which should be packaged in the archive along with the recovery utility - perhaps the program has a special operating procedure. The general recovery procedure looks like this:


    You don’t need to do anything else: the program will automatically correct errors and return the flash drive to a working state. This completes the restoration of the Kingston flash drive; If the controller firmware did not help resolve the problem, then the cause of incorrect operation should be sought among hardware faults.

    Hi all! It’s not for nothing that I decided to write an article on how to flash a flash drive – I have experience. Yesterday I restored my flash drive Kingston DT Elite 3.0 16GB. Everything worked out, and I thought, why not write similar instructions, and tell me what and how to do, in order to give the flash drive a new life :).

    Nowadays, probably every house has a flash drive and very rarely just one. It’s convenient to transfer information onto them, they’re beautiful, and besides, they’re not expensive these days. But very often USB drives fail. If we talk about why this happens, then we ourselves are in first place. Do you always do a safe removal of your flash drive? So I rarely do. There may, of course, be other reasons why flash drives simply “die”.

    One point needs to be clarified here. It happens that the flash drive really “dies”. In this case, it is impossible to restore it. At least at home. But if the USB drive shows at least some signs of life when connected to the computer, then you can try to restore its operation using the controller firmware.

    What signs of life might there be for a USB drive?

    • When you connect the flash drive to the computer, the computer signals that the device is connected - that’s good.
    • When connecting Windows, it asks you to format the removable drive (but during the formatting process there are problems and errors such as “Windows cannot complete formatting”).
    • The flash drive is detected and visible in Explorer, but when you try to open it, the message “Insert disk...” appears.
    • Errors occur when copying information.
    • Very slow speed of writing/reading information.

    If there is valuable information on the flash drive, then you can try to restore it before and after the firmware. This can be done using different programs. I advise Recuva, here is the article but there are many other good programs.

    If the information is very valuable, then it is better not to do anything yourself so as not to make it worse. Contact special service centers that specialize in data recovery.

    Let's now look at the entire process of flashing the controller using a real example, using my Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 16GB flash drive as an example. My flash drive broke down. It’s interesting. I needed to upload files to it and delete those that had already been recorded. I connected it to the computer and started deleting the folder. But the folder was deleted very slowly. I disconnected and reconnected this flash drive, and a message appeared that the disk must be formatted “Before using the disk...”.

    Since there were no Important files on the flash drive, I started formatting without hesitation.

    But the process itself lasted a very long time and never ended, I forcibly stopped it. The message “Windows could not complete formatting” may also appear.

    But still, I formatted it, the tenth time, and only in FAT 32. After which the USB drive was detected normally and I was even happy. But that was not the case. I started copying files onto it, and the recording speed was approximately 100 kb/s. I decided to flash it, which I did.

    Determining the VID and PID of the USB controller

    First we need determine VID and PID. This is data about the model and manufacturer of the controller, which is located in our drive. Using this data, we will look for a utility for the firmware. There are many different programs that can be used to determine VID and PID. I recommend the utility Flash Drive Information Extractor You can download it from the link.

    Connect the USB flash drive to your computer and run the Flash Drive Information Extractor program (extract the program folder from the archive and run the GetFlashInfo.exe file).

    Click the button at the top of the program “Get data about the flash drive”.

    The program will give us the result. We look at the information that is located opposite VID and PID.

    You can copy these numbers, or leave the utility window open, we will now need the received data.

    We are looking for a utility for flashing a flash drive

    Based on the VID and PID data, we need to find the utility with which we will flash the controller. There is a good website flashboot.ru, which contains a database of flash drives and utilities for their recovery.

    In the search results we look for a flash drive similar to ours. The list may include devices from other manufacturers. They just have the same controller, it was identified by VID and PID. You may have noticed that I have a 16 GB flash drive, but in the list I highlighted 32 GB. I think there's nothing wrong with that (just where the name of the utility is not indicated on 16 GB). You try to choose a more similar device from the list.

    We are interested in the field UTILS(utility), copy its name in full.

    Unfortunately, the utility that I need was not found on this site. Perhaps you will have better luck and you will see something in the search results. Download the utility to your computer.

    But I didn’t stop there and started Googling. I just asked “SK6221 MPTool 2013-04-25” and found this utility on some other site. If you have the same flash drive, then this utility is . True, the name of the archive is different, but this did not stop me from successfully curing my flash drive.

    USB drive recovery process

    Disconnect the flash drive. Extract the folder with the utility from the archive and run .exe file. In my case it is the MPTool.exe file. Also look at the text file readme.txt. Perhaps there are instructions there, or a link to a site with instructions. If the instructions are in English, then translate it using the same translate.google.ru.

    I'll tell you how I did it (you just may have a different utility and everything may be different there, but it shouldn’t be very different).

    The utility is running. We connect the flash drive. I have information about the flash drive in two lines in the program. Press the button Start. In my case, the yellow strip signaled the firmware process. We are waiting.

    When the process ended, I saw a green color, everything seemed to be fine.

    A Windows message should immediately appear asking you to format the disk. But most likely nothing will work out the first time. Unplug the flash drive and plug it back in. The driver should be installed and the removable drive should appear in Explorer. You can format it.

    I checked the recording speed, everything is as it should be for USB 3.0, everything is fine!

    You need to be prepared for the fact that the actions may differ from those I described. And not everything can work out the first time. The main thing is not to give up and everything will work out!

    Kingston flash drives are very popular due to the fact that they are quite inexpensive and reliable. This is not to say that they are cheaper than others, but their cost can still be called low. But, since absolutely everything breaks in our world, it is not at all surprising that Kingston removable media can also fail.

    This happens quite simply - you insert a flash drive into the computer, but it “does not want” to read data from it. The drive can be detected, but everything will look as if there is no data on it. Or simply not all data may be determined. In general, situations can be very different. In any case, we will look at several effective ways to restore the functionality of a Kingston drive.

    Kingston has its own flash drive recovery tools. There is also a universal method for restoring removable media, which is relevant for devices from any company. We will analyze all the most effective methods.

    Method 1: MediaRECOVER

    This is one of two proprietary programs from Kingston. To use it, you need to do the following:



    The second option looks more " humane"for a flash drive. It just involves restoring the flash drive. In any case, if using MediaRECOVER does not help, move on to the next method.

    Method 2: Kingston Format Utility

    This is another Kingston proprietary program. It is suitable for all flash drives of this brand, from the DTX 30 series to USB Datatraveler HyperX devices. This utility also formats the flash drive without a chance to save any information. To use Kingston Format Utility, do the following:


    Method 3: HDD Low Level Format Tool

    Judging by user reviews, this program copes well with damaged Kingston flash drives. Low Level Format Tool works at a low level, so it is quite successful at what it does. And this applies not only to removable media from Kingston. But, again, the utility formats the flash drive and restores its functionality, but not the data from it. To use this program, you need to do very little, namely:


    Method 4: Super Stick Recovery Tool

    Another very simple program designed to recover Kingmax flash drives, but it is also suitable for Kingston (although for many this will seem quite unexpected). So, to use Super Stick Recovery Tool, do the following:

    1. program, insert the USB flash drive and run the executable file.
    2. If everything is fine and the program can work with your flash drive, information about it will appear in the main window. Click on the button Update" to start formatting. After that, just wait until the process finishes and try to work with the flash drive again.

    Method 5: Search for other recovery utilities

    Not all Kingston flash drive models will be suitable for the programs listed in methods 1-4. In fact, there are a lot of similar programs. In addition, there is a single database with information about programs intended for recovery. It is located on the site's iFlash service. The process for using this repository is as follows:



    This method is suitable for all flash drives.

    Method 6: Standard Windows Tools

    If all the methods described above do not help, you can always use the standard Windows formatting tool.



    You can also use the standard Windows tool to format a flash drive. Try different combinations of the order of actions - first format, then check and correct errors, and then vice versa. It is quite possible that something will help and the flash drive will become operational again. To format removable media, right-click the selected drive again in " Computer" In the drop-down menu, click " Format…" Then, in the next window, just click on the button “ Begin».


    It is worth saying that all of the methods described above, except for checking the disk with a standard Windows tool, assume complete and irreversible loss of data from the media. Therefore, before performing all these methods, use one of the data recovery utilities from damaged storage media.

    Step-by-step instructions for USB flash drive recovery in which I will try to answer the question in an accessible language How to recover a flash drive independently and without much effort.

    Sometimes you help a person, and then he will tell everyone that you are so good and there are already crowds of people thirsty for help. This is roughly what happened when I restored several flash drives colleagues.

    Now the people bear not only their own flash drives, but also flash drives your friends, acquaintances and relatives. Well, at least someone else would bring a bottle of beer or a cookie.

    It’s not difficult for me to help, but when I suggest you learn how to do all this yourself, you refuse. Next time I’ll just sew them off. If you don't want to study, pass by.

    I’ll finish with the lyrics here and move directly to the topic of the post..

    If your flash drive stopped be determined like a disk, doesn't want to formatted, does not allow you to write down information or something else happened to it, BUT it has no mechanical damage, then you know that all is not lost. Most likely a glitch controller and you will have to tinker with it a little. This procedure takes approximately 5 minutes.

    I’ll say right away that there is no universal programs For recovery all varieties flash drives. You will need to find exactly the one that can work with your controller. flash drives.

    First we need to define VID And PID non-working flash drives.

    Determine VID and PID for flash drive recovery

    Stick it in flash drive into your computer and run device Manager. Start – Execute - mmc devmgmt.msc.


    Then go to the section Universal Serial Bus Controllers.


    We find ours in the list flash drive. Usually, everything flash drives have a name USB storage device.


    Press the right button on the device and open Properties.

    Go to the tab Intelligence.

    Select the item from the drop-down list Instance code devices or Equipment IDs.

    In this window we see PID And VID.

    Finding a flash drive recovery program

    We go to the website FlashBoot.ru and enter the received VID And PID.


    Click on the button Search.

    In the results we look for your manufacturer and model of the flash drive. I have Kingston DataTraveler 2.0.


    The right column will contain the name of the program we need or a link to it.

    All. Now search Google for the program by name or download it from the link provided. Launch and follow the instructions. Usually, in such programs for recovery There’s only one button, so you shouldn’t have any questions.

    That's all!

    If you have any questions, ask in the comments.

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