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Folders transformed into files (hieroglyphs) and lost files

math1555 Posted messages 2 Status Member -  
fabul Posted messages 42284 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   -
Hello,

I really need your help. When I plugged in my USB stick earlier, and tried to access some files, I realized that all the files created and/or modified in the past week are completely corrupted/useless, while those from before are fine.

Let me explain what's happening with everything that's corrupted:
- folders have been turned into 16kb files (filled with gibberish)
- some files no longer have an extension
- pdf files won't open anymore
- odt files can't be read, I don't know how to repair them
- one of my odt files has literally been reset and is without an extension

I'm a computer science student, in other words, I've just lost 30-40 hours of work and this has just destroyed my motivation. Is there any way to restore all these files and folders?

Thank you very much in advance...

2 answers

  1.
    fabul Posted messages 42284 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   6 092
     
    Hello,

    Corrupted is corrupted, (Like mush for cats)

    Tell me more about your key, Brand, Model, Size, and create a log with right-click in the ChipGenius window > Ok > Paste (here)

    https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/ChipGenius.shtml

    If you want the latest version download it here, but your antivirus might flag it (wrongly)

    https://www.usbdev.ru/files/chipgenius/

    We might be able to prevent this from happening again.
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    1. math1555 Posted messages 2 Status Member
       
      I can't believe these files are meant to be deleted; there must be a solution, right? Especially for my .odt files, is there no way to restore a previous backup?

      Moreover, with a data analyzer, I find myself with foundxxxx.chk files (with x being a number), and I've seen online that some people managed to recover some data from these files, but I have no idea how to do that.
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      1. fabul Posted messages 42284 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   6 092 > math1555 Posted messages 2 Status Member
         
        We don't know where we're going without a log and answers to my questions.

        You can copy to save everything you can.

        You can recover everything you can with Recuva and a deep scan,

        But if the files have been copied to a phantom space, they simply don't exist.

        We don't know if you have phantom space on your USB drive.

        We'll find out as we go further

        Start by saving what you can.
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  2. contrariness Posted messages 344 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   6 243
     
    I end up with foundxxxx.chk files
    Typically, these are files resulting from an attempt to recover lost sectors on the USB drive...
    Why Windows attempted to automatically recover defective sectors is curious... usually it asks the question when you plug in the drive.

    The safety measure is to never work on a USB drive; it is meant for transfers or backups... and even then.
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    1. fabul Posted messages 42284 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   6 092
       
      Working on a USB stick is a bit like working on an SSD

      But there are bad apples, USB sticks that claim to be 2TB, but as soon as you exceed 32GB of copying onto them, they get corrupted, the files copied into the void, like the corrupted MFT.
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      1. contrariness Posted messages 344 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   6 243 > fabul Posted messages 42284 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention  
         
        hello Fabul..
        Well, I personally don't think it's the same thing.. Just like an SSD has error management like a hard drive, there’s not much of that on a USB stick..
        And it’s true that there are plenty of crappy USB sticks out there!..
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      2. fabul Posted messages 42284 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   6 092 > contrariness Posted messages 344 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention  
         
        Hello too

        USB keys also have an ECC
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