USB flash Boot sector damaged? Not reading

[ROTS]

Please read

Okay I inserted the flash inside my Apple PPC. As you know Apple OSX writes .DS store files in every single drive unless you disable it. This means if you have an external drive and rebuild the sectors; and you need to get the data off. The moment you start to browse the drive ( even disabling write privaleges ). OSX will leave crap marks and damage the drive.

The usb flash drive I insert is an 7Gig drive. ( with tons of important and private information ).

OSX ( most likely ) read the drive and started to write an .DS store file. The drive was probably filled and the area it wrote to was the boot sector.

The Drive was damaged???? I left it in the computer for an long time.

This happens from time to time ( like an videogame with an save ). Inside windows inserting the USB flash, It says "needs to format". I have been gutlessly searching for an program

to retrieve my files in one these programs it says only 64MB ( or something along those lines ) can be found. It is unable to search the full 7GIG. Even attempting to make an copy of the

drive ( as some of these recovery programs will suggest ), it is still unable to rebuild the boot area.

Windows error check can't do it.

Mac does bs ( like an mac does ).

All it wants me to do is reformat. I am so afraid of reformating ( especially since this is an Flash drive ). Speaking of which; from I have been reading once a flash is erased it is gone forever. Other things like an broken connector inside the flash might be the cause of it. Other sources says the flash is ages and thus has a chance of forgetting the files and format.

IN MY PROBLEM the flash did not erase. I just inserted it into an OSX machine and ( I could guess ) left crap marks inside my drive ( which over wrote the boot sector.

Any help on this? THier is very small accuracy of real recovery programs just for flash drives. Also I have been reading the longer without and aid to recovery the higher the chance the drive will not recover??

It is kinda devastating for me right now. Messing with my head right now.

Thank you for reading.

Edited November 4, 2014 by ROTS

[jaclaz]

Well, make a dd copy (or "forensic sound" copy) of the whole device, then see if the previous volume structure can be found in the image.

If the partition on it was NTFS you have rather good chances, unfortunately much lower ones if it was FAT32.

 

DMDE (which is free for personal use with some minor limitations) will be able to do both the image and analyze it:

http://dmde.com/

if no volume can be found, then you can stil do some "carving", in this case Photorec is a suitable tool;

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

 

jaclaz