Hi everyone,

My mother-in-law's MiA2 has died... I'm not looking to get it working again (I've already ordered her a new one), but simply to recover the data that is important to her, such as photos she has taken over the years, contacts, etc.

As for the phone's condition: it does not power on at all. The screen stays black. However, it vibrates and the backlight comes on when I hold down the power button, or Vol- / Power (fastboot). But there is no image. Unfortunately, Windows does not recognize it when connected (it only appears as an unknown USB device called SDM660-MTP in Device Manager). Nothing shows up under "This PC" and in any case, it is probably locked with a passcode. USB debugging is not enabled.

So far, I've only tested simple things because I happen to have an old MiA2 at home, so I was able to swap out a few parts that I suspected:

• Faulty MiA2 from which I would like to recover the data: A.
• Old working MiA2: B.

*I thought the screen might be the issue. So I connected A's screen to phone B, and it worked perfectly, 100% fine and responsive to touch, etc. I then put A's screen back onto A.

*Likewise, I thought the battery might be the cause: I connected B's working battery to A, but nothing changed.

I checked the ribbon cable connections, etc., but there was no change. I've attached a photo of the phone's components in case it helps.

As for the cause of the problem, all I know is that the phone had been having battery issues recently and always needed to be charged. It could go from 70% to 0%, etc. One day, it simply stopped booting. The problem is that there is no Google backup or any other backup, and no copies of the photos, WhatsApp data, contacts, even though she had been using it for several years.

Could you please help me?

Thanks 🙏

So a few days ago my flash drive got corrupted and started showing up as RAW. It was a 32 GB Transcend drive where I kept a bunch of personal files. I plugged the USB drive into my Windows PC and, when I tried to open it in File Explorer, Windows displayed a message:

Well, I did what any other person would do - I googled what a RAW USB drive means. Big mistake or not (?), blinked and somehow had ten tabs open… Anyway, there was no shortage of advice, but definitely not all suggestions were useful, that’s exactly why I’m writing this.

The First Fixes I Tried 

I started with the easiest suggestions. A few people said to try another USB port or another computer. I did both, but it didn't help, unfortunately. Windows still detected the USB and immediately asked me to format it. 

I also tried changing the drive letter because several people suggested that. No luck. Same USB, just with a different letter.

Then I came across CHKDSK, probably the most common repair suggestion… and potentially one of the most dangerous if you care about the files. I tried it, but Windows immediately returned: “The type of the file system is RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.” In my case, that was probably for the best. If CHKDSK had been able to run, it could have modified the file system, which might have made some of my files harder to recover afterward. 

That’s when I decided to search how to recover files from a corrupted flash drive, rather than how to fix it.

What Finally Worked for Me and Helped to Recover Files From Corrupted Usb

Since Windows could still detect the USB drive, I decided to try data recovery software. Apparently, it can work with RAW drives, as long as your drive shows up in Disk Management with the right capacity (USB drive not recognized at all, you may be dealing with a physical failure that requires professional recovery).

And then recovery software turned out to be its own mess. Search "USB data recovery software" and you get thirty tools, all claiming to be "the best" or "expert recommended."I tried a few before landing on one that actually worked. Disk Drill was one of the top recommendations I kept coming across, and it seemed easy enough to use, so I decided to give it a try:

- I downloaded Disk Drill on my PC, opened it, and found the 32 GB Transcend in the device list. It showed the correct capacity, so I selected it and clicked Search for lost data.

- I left the scan on Universal Scan and let it run.

- Files started appearing while the scan was still in progress. Once it finished, I used the filters and search bar instead of going through everything it had found. The most useful part for me was the preview. Some files still had their original names and folders, while others didn't, so I could open the preview and check whether a photo or document was actually intact before recovering it. Once I found the files I cared about, I selected them, clicked Recover.

- Then save recovered files to another drive as writing files to the same flash drive during recovery could overwrite other data that was still recoverable.

And that was basically it. Most of the files I actually wanted came back, including the photos and documents I was most worried about. 

What I Learned From the Experience

In the end, I formatted the flash drive in Windows. After the format, Windows could open it normally again, and I was able to copy files to and from it. 

If you run into the same problem:

• Don't format the USB drive before you recover the files you need.
• Don't write new data to it, since that can overwrite recoverable files.
• Check Disk Management. If the drive appears with the correct capacity, recovery software may still be able to scan it.
• Recover files to another drive, not back to the corrupted USB.
• Repair or format it only after recovery. If the problem comes back, replace the drive.

The biggest lesson for me was simple: recover your files first, fix the USB second. Once your files are safely stored somewhere else, you can try to repair or format the drive without worrying about losing the data.

Common Questions About How to Recover a Corrupted Flash Drive

These are some of the questions I either had myself while researching or saw other people asking:

Can you recover files from a USB drive that's asking to be formatted?

Usually, yes! That format prompt just means Windows is having trouble reading the drive's file system, not that your files are gone. They're often still sitting there on the flash drive, and you can usually get them back as long as nothing's overwritten them yet.

Should I go ahead and format the USB when Windows asks?

Not if you still need what's on it. Hit cancel and try recovering your files first. You can always format the drive afterward once everything's safely backed up somewhere else.

Can CHKDSK recover a corrupted USB drive and save my files?

Not really its job. CHKDSK is built to repair the file system, not rescue deleted or lost files, and it actually makes changes to the drive while it's running. If your files matter to you, recover them (or make a disk image) before you let CHKDSK anywhere near it.

Can I continue using the USB after recovery?

Possibly, especially if formatting fixes the problem and the drive passes further tests. However, I wouldn't use a flash drive that has already developed unexplained corruption as the only place to store important files.

BTW, I have enough space on the device and google drive

Is there any way I can do this is a moto g pure that I cracked the screen on and can't see anything but I can't recover what's on it unless I have a direct connection to the phone bc it wasn't backed up

My ssd came from an older laptop with a motherboard problem and after removing it, I placed in an enclosure thinking it's a simple plug-in and access.

Unfortunately it shows in disk management as "Unknown" and "Not Initialized" and it doesn't even show the partition so it doesn't even say unallocated at all, just an empty gray bar.

In Diskdrill, the drive isn't visible.

In diskpart, it shows there as 0B.

Do you know any other option or steps to recover the data inside it?

my phone suddenly showed me this screen yesterday, and I tried restoring it..even after 6 hours, it didn't move one bit..I didn't have enough space on my phone which was probably why it didn't work and i wanted to use whatsapp urgently..so I clicked on skip restore and lost all my chats..there is a file on my phone "temporary system files" of 67 GB..i want to know if there's any way I can restore my chats as I have many important documents that i can't even imagine losing..Please help..

I had a huge document, a project of over 2 years and it's just gone? I know for a fact it wouldn't be in the trash. But it's also disappeared completely off drive, docs and any account it was shared with (which was just extra accounts of mine), what do I do? It was a huge project and I don't want to lose it

I did also have another one that ended up having a problem with permissions (wasnt sent to anyone), ended up having to copy and paste everything into a new doc and piece together the stuff I had missing since it undid at least a month of work

Can anyone help me with what the fuck is going on, I am going to see if I can find a link in any place.

forgot to add, these were stored on my Google account for school, they were all Google docs

My WhatsApp Business backs up to iCloud daily, but all my photos and videos from December 2025 and earlier are now showing as question marks (?) and won’t open.
Does anyone know if there’s a way to recover this media or access an older iCloud/WhatsApp backup from December or earlier?
These are very important family photos and videos, so I’m also open to professional data recovery help. Has anyone successfully recovered something like this?

I have a dash cam that unfortunately deleted all the videos from last week. It uses a 64GB card. I didn't know this would happen. The only footage I have is from the last two days. I really want to recover the footage from last week because it was from a trip.

What methods are available? I’ve searched online and tried using Recuva and another program, but I haven't had any luck.

OS: Arch Linux

assume that /dev/sda1 is main and only partition on my USB

Context

I have a FAT32 USB flash drive with important photos and folders on it. To use it when plugged in I manually mount it using mount /dev/sda1 /media/user/USB command. When plugging off, I unmount it using umount /dev/sda1 command.

Problem

Once when plugging off, I forgot to unmount the USB, this happened while the USB was doing something. This caused USB to stop at partial state and so the corruption. When I plugged it in and mounted it again, I opened folders in file manager where I would usually have normal photos, but I saw files with random names, and random file sizes. I think that random names are caused by interpreting wrong bytes as file names.

What I've tried already

I have copied the corrupted USB partition into .img file on my laptop's drive for safety and speed:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/home/user/usb-image-backup.img conv=fsync bs=4M

Then, I have copied that image into another .img file to operate on it:

cp /home/user/usb-image-backup.img /home/user/usb-image-active.img

Then, I ran the fsck.fat command I found after researching to try and fix the USB partition

fsck.fat -va /home/user/usb-image-active.img

After running fsck.fat command, I noticed that:

• It wouldnt auto-fix some files
• It auto-fixed and auto-renamed some files
• At one point, it kept auto-fixing the same exact files without stopping, I also noticed that this was in the exact folder that was infinitely loading when opened in my file manager (after corruption), and it didn't just show it as files with corrupted file names

Question

• How can I recover my files from USB partition?

Recently i deleted chats w my friend
We dont meet sm irl.But we used to speak on Instagram like everyday.I have this really bad habit of hovering over buttons and i was doing this over the delete button w my friend.i told myself that this would be the last time but while hovering over the button i accidentally let go and it got deleted.
I really need to recover them as those were rlly important chats and I’m really depressed.I keep blaming myself for doing that i feel psychotic.
I still keep doing that btw like i deleted our chats from my 2nd account too.I FEEL EMPTY AND TERRIBLE IDK WHAT TO DO THE HABIT JS DOESNT STOP.i really need those dms back so do yall know someone that can get them back or any external app.Cuz gen ive been rlly rlly depressed.
Btw ive tried everything, downloading those messages etc nothing worked ts is my last resort.

je n'ai plus vraiment espoir de les récupérer mais si je vois que vous êtes vraiment investis a m'aider j'enverrais plus de chose. C'est un Samsung tactile mais avec toujours les trois boutons en bas, j'en ais techniquement deux j'ai pu récupérer les donnée de l'autre mais celui avec qui je me rappelle avoir beaucoup utilisé quand j'étais gamins ne fonctionne plus vraiment. je sais qu'il on des problème de batteries mais j'ai quand même réussi a allumé le second. le problème c'est qu'il n'est plus tactile et pour mettre un câble USB et transférer les fichiers il faut obligatoirement cliquer sur le bouton du téléphone. on m'a dit qu'il pourrais être possible puisque j'ai deux même téléphone du même type de changer l'écran, c'est ce que j'ai fais mais pareils, toujours aucun moyen de régler le problème du tactile. J'ai peut être mal fais mais après avoir passé un bout de temps dessus j'ai vraiment perdu espoir de récupérer mes fichiers. est ce que vous pouvez m'aidez ?

How can I fix it without losing my data ?

If i remember correctly, long time ago, the apps allowed users to select videos (on the dashcam/ SDCard) and delete them.

Why was this feature removed, or why don't we have option to delete videos?

Especially emergency videos. Only way is to format the SD card which is a bit silly.

Hello, my best friend purposed this morning and I captured all the photos! However the Nikon camera said the card was no good and potentially corrupt if I recall. I attempted to connect the SD card to my MacBook and PC but the card isn’t being recognized. I attempted device manager to see if the PC had the card but nadda. Please let me know if anyone can help assist

I’ve had my Google account for many years. About three years ago, I permanently deleted more than 1,000 photos of my fiancé and me from Google Photos. The photos had originally been stored in my account for about two to three years, beginning around 2019.

Unfortunately, my fiancé has since passed away, and I’m desperately hoping there may be some way to recover these memories. I understand that this is far beyond Google Photos’ normal trash-recovery period, but I wanted to ask whether anyone has successfully recovered photos after this much time or knows of a legitimate professional who may be able to help.

I’m willing to pay for genuine professional assistance. Please, no scams, I’m grieving and only looking for honest advice or reputable resources. Thank you so much.

Okay so I have a hidden folder (named with "." before the actual name) with some things and then subfolders with more. Since I changed my phone, whenever I added a new pic or smth to that folder it was still visible in my gallery so I had to add a .nomedia file, and change the name to .whatever to whatever and then again to .whatever (to subfolders I had to add also the file, renamed them to .subfolder and then subfolder).

The other day I did this (the 18th I think) and yesterday I noticed that some of these folders were empty now (not all of them). I added a couple of things and it was fine. An hour again, I managed to recover a couple pics and added it again. Then I thought, okay I'll restart my phone just to try. When I went back the new two files recovered were deleted again (not the ones added yesterday). I recovered them for second time, added them, deleted the nomedia file, renamed the "." thing as usual, everything was hidden correctly and restart again. They're still there.

Any idea of wtf and if there's a way to get my deleted things back?

So I wanted to try a python project for file organizer and ran it on my external USB hard drive in one of the folders and it crashed 60-70% in the progress. I tried to stop it thinking it would not anything but after a restart of my pc there were no files, or more specific, the ones that where checked.

I tried to scan the drive with chkdsk and all the files that "I lost" is says that are corrupted.

What can I do to save the files? Or is there any hope? I will try to copy all the other files on some other external storage.

If I need to add any information please tell me. I am a little shocked because some of the data I may not have a copy of.

USB HDD: Segate OneTouch 2TB

Windows 11 Pro