I've found myself in a tough spot and could really use some advice. I bought a budget USB drive from Amazon to store important videos from concerts and childhood memories. Initially, everything worked great, but today, when I tried to access it, many of the videos were lagging and glitchy. I even transferred one to my computer, and it's still messed up. The USB drive is formatted in exfat and I tried accessing it on both a Lenovo ThinkPad and a 2019 MacBook Pro, but it's the same issue. I'm worried because these are precious memories. Does anyone have suggestions on how I can recover the files or fix this?
3 Answers
I’ve had a similar experience with cheap USB drives. Usually, they don’t have the real storage capacity they advertise. For example, a supposed 2TB drive could be a cheap 16GB flash drive that just loops the data over itself. It's a real risk with those bargains, so be cautious next time!
Sounds like a frustrating situation! First, try to copy everything off the USB as quickly as you can. Tools like Recuva for Windows or PhotoRec/TestDisk for Mac can help you recover what might be salvageable. If you can't recover anything, it might be best to stop using that drive and consider taking it to a professional data recovery service. Cheap USB drives are notorious for failing unexpectedly, so be careful in the future.
Not to add to the stress, but this is a classic case of 'buyer beware.' If a deal seems too good to be true, it often is. Make sure you’re investing in reliable storage moving forward to keep your memories safe.
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