lost data from USB drive while copying files

Hi,
I was trying to COPY files from a windows XP PC to my (windows XP) notebook
using a USB (thumb) drive and that XP PC overwrote my FAT index on my USB
drive. Now I do not see any files on my USB drive - XP corrupted my USB
index. Can anyone suggest a utility that can recover my Windows files such
as Word docs from my USB drive? I tried using ParetoLogic software but it
would not recognise my J: drive even though Windows recognized it.

"davey" <ihot01@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:E2B4EF7D-C4D3-47C0-A481-8DC01CD71748@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
> I was trying to COPY files from a windows XP PC to my (windows XP)
notebook
> using a USB (thumb) drive and that XP PC overwrote my FAT index on my USB
> drive. Now I do not see any files on my USB drive - XP corrupted my USB
> index. Can anyone suggest a utility that can recover my Windows files
such
> as Word docs from my USB drive? I tried using ParetoLogic software but it
> would not recognise my J: drive even though Windows recognized it.


Just format the drive
then re-copy the data

Thanks "philo". I have other files that are only on my USB drive that I
want to recover. These USB files are not found anywhere else and they were
not copied from the computers I mentioned.

On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:42:01 -0700, davey <ihot01@gmail.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>I was trying to COPY files from a windows XP PC to my (windows XP) notebook
>using a USB (thumb) drive and that XP PC overwrote my FAT index on my USB
>drive. Now I do not see any files on my USB drive - XP corrupted my USB
>index. Can anyone suggest a utility that can recover my Windows files such
>as Word docs from my USB drive? I tried using ParetoLogic software but it
>would not recognise my J: drive even though Windows recognized it.

Try using the drive on a diferent PC. This has happened to me before,
and it worked...

Thanks JR. I happened to be a applications programmer and know to do these
simple stuff. I have a 5 year old copy of Norton Utilities and I wonder if
that will search and rebuild my index on windows XP USB drives.

That's a good option if he wants a close to zero chance of recovering his
data.

--

----
Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
How to ask a question http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375



"philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:eAeYa662IHA.784@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
>
> Just format the drive
> then re-copy the data
>
>

"davey" <ihot01@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:E2B4EF7D-C4D3-47C0-A481-8DC01CD71748@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
> I was trying to COPY files from a windows XP PC to my (windows XP)
> notebook
> using a USB (thumb) drive and that XP PC overwrote my FAT index on my USB
> drive. Now I do not see any files on my USB drive - XP corrupted my USB
> index. Can anyone suggest a utility that can recover my Windows files
> such
> as Word docs from my USB drive? I tried using ParetoLogic software but it
> would not recognise my J: drive even though Windows recognized it.

While I don't have any suggestion to recover the data, and I hope you are
able to do so, I have a future suggestion. Never use a USB thumb drive as
your only source for your information storage. Always have it copied to
either a hard drive, CD, DVD or such. Thumb drives have a limited life
cycle (number of writes IIRC) and can fail at any time. The more backup
locations the better for really important data.

yes i did back it up - a month ago. my drive is only a few months old.

"LVTravel" wrote:

>
> "davey" <ihot01@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:E2B4EF7D-C4D3-47C0-A481-8DC01CD71748@microsoft.com...
> > Hi,
> > I was trying to COPY files from a windows XP PC to my (windows XP)
> > notebook
> > using a USB (thumb) drive and that XP PC overwrote my FAT index on my USB
> > drive. Now I do not see any files on my USB drive - XP corrupted my USB
> > index. Can anyone suggest a utility that can recover my Windows files
> > such
> > as Word docs from my USB drive? I tried using ParetoLogic software but it
> > would not recognise my J: drive even though Windows recognized it.
>
> While I don't have any suggestion to recover the data, and I hope you are
> able to do so, I have a future suggestion. Never use a USB thumb drive as
> your only source for your information storage. Always have it copied to
> either a hard drive, CD, DVD or such. Thumb drives have a limited life
> cycle (number of writes IIRC) and can fail at any time. The more backup
> locations the better for really important data.
>
>
>

"davey" <ihot01@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:294561A7-6295-4269-A05C-72E418D1D049@microsoft.com...
> yes i did back it up - a month ago. my drive is only a few months old.
>
> "LVTravel" wrote:
>
>>
>> "davey" <ihot01@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:E2B4EF7D-C4D3-47C0-A481-8DC01CD71748@microsoft.com...
>> > Hi,
>> > I was trying to COPY files from a windows XP PC to my (windows XP)
>> > notebook
>> > using a USB (thumb) drive and that XP PC overwrote my FAT index on my
>> > USB
>> > drive. Now I do not see any files on my USB drive - XP corrupted my
>> > USB
>> > index. Can anyone suggest a utility that can recover my Windows files
>> > such
>> > as Word docs from my USB drive? I tried using ParetoLogic software but
>> > it
>> > would not recognise my J: drive even though Windows recognized it.
>>
>> While I don't have any suggestion to recover the data, and I hope you are
>> able to do so, I have a future suggestion. Never use a USB thumb drive
>> as
>> your only source for your information storage. Always have it copied to
>> either a hard drive, CD, DVD or such. Thumb drives have a limited life
>> cycle (number of writes IIRC) and can fail at any time. The more backup
>> locations the better for really important data.
>>
>>
>>

I stated the needed extra copies since in a previous post you stated "These
USB files are not found anywhere else and they were
not copied from the computers I mentioned." which means that the USB thumb
drive copy is the only copy you have of those files, according to the post.
Again, never have only one copy of an important file. Create the file and
back it up immediately if it is important at all. Thumb drives will fail at
any time, just like a hard drive can. I have even had CDs go bad on me that
had data backed up on them that were created and tested after the creation
back in 1998 and then stored in a controlled environment for the last 10
years. (I tried to copy data off them with 3 different optical drives
recently and only got part of the data, thank goodness I had another
backup.)

Hmm, CD's have a shelf life but not sure how long. Yes, I have a backup of
my thumb drive - but it is over a month old <sigh>. I never had a thumb
drive go bad - but my wife lost one for me.
Someone recommended recuva software. Going to check it out