However, sometimes viruses and improper ejection of these drives lead to corruption. And in that case, Windows can’t format your portable memory drive properly.
Best Ways to Repair Corrupted Memory Card/USB Pen Drive
So to resolve this issue, we are here with the best methods to repair corrupted memory card or USB drive. With these methods, you can easily repair your drive and use it.
Connect The USB Device To Other Computer
We mainly face SD card or Pendrive issues due to incompatibility or related issues. So, before you conclude that your USB or SD card is damaged and useless, try to connect it with other devices. If the USB device works fine on other devices, you need to work on your computer rather than a USB or SD card. So, this is the very first step that you should take to check or repair your SD card or USB flash drive.
Using Troubleshooter
Well, troubleshooting is the best way to short out any Hardware problem. You need to ‘Troubleshooting’ in the start menu and then under ‘Hardware and sound’ select the option ‘Configure a device’ and follow the on-screen instruction to sort out any USB device or other hardware problem.
Updating USB Driver
If Windows fails to read your USB drive, outdated drivers might be the reason. Sometimes updating the device driver could fix any existing problem. Here’s how you can update the device drivers
First, you must open the RUN dialog box and type in devmgmt.msc. It will open up the Device Manager.
Now you need to expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Here you will see the corrupted or unrecognized USB devices as ‘Unknown Devices’
Right-click on the ‘Unknown Devices’, and then select Update driver. Or else, double click on the Unkown device and click on the Update driver option.
If the connected USB device needs an update, the Drive update wizard will let you know. Update it, and it will fix any existing problem.
Changing the Drive Letter
Sometimes your computer cannot assign the drive letter to your storage media. This might be the reason the files on it can’t be accessed. Therefore, make sure your drive has a letter, or you need to assign the drive letter to your device. Here’s how you can fix your pen drive or memory card by assigning a correct drive letter.
First, click on the Windows search and type Disk Management. Next, open the Disk Management utility from the list of matching results.
On the Disk Management tool, right-click on the drive whose letter you want to change. Here you need to pick your connected USB drive. On right click menu, select ‘Change drive Letters and Paths’
On the Change drive Letter and Path for prompt, click on the Change button.
On the next prompt, select ‘Assign the following drive letter‘ and select the drive letter from the drop-down.
Now you will see a confirmation prompt, click on the Yes button to change the drive letter.
That’s it! This will change the drive letter of your Pendrive.
Reinstalling the Drivers
Sometimes, your computer may fail to install the appropriate drivers for your USB device. You won’t see the connected USB device on File explorer if this happens. It can be fixed by reinstalling the drivers; follow the steps below.
You need to right-click on My Computer/This PC and then click on Manage.
You need to click on Device Manager on the left.
You need to select Disk Drives in the list and select your pen drive.
Now you need to click on Uninstall and click on OK.
Now remove your Pendrive and restart your PC. Now connect your Pendrive again. Your PC will detect it.
Repairing PenDrive using Windows Explorer
If you want to repair the USB drive from Windows Explorer, you must forget the data. Because in this method, we need to format the USB drive, which will lead to data loss. Therefore, you can follow the steps if you want to repair the PenDrive.
First of all, open My Computer or This Pc and then Right click on the corrupted drive.
Now you need to select the Format from the drop-down menu and click on Restore Device Defaults in the pop-up box.
Now click on Start to begin the format process. You can uncheck the Quick Format option for a deeper scan.
Now press Ok and you will have the error-free SD card or Pendrive.
Using CMD
First, connect your Memory Card/USB Hard Drive to your computer and remove all other drives if you have connected.
Now click on Windows search, type CMD, right-click on the CMD, and select ‘Run as administrator‘. Next, on the Command Prompt, type diskpart and press Enter. A pop-up may appear asking for permission; click on ok.
Now type list disk, and you will see all the disk will get listed there. You will see your external drive; note down its disk number.
Now type select disk disk_number (for ex-select disk 1) and press enter.
Next, type clean and press enter.
Type create partition primary and then press enter.
Now type active and press enter.
Next, enter the command select partition 1.
Next, type format fs=fat32 and press enter.
That will take some time, and after that, your drive will get formatted successfully and ready to use.
Format SD Card Partition
Follow this method only if the CMD method shows you an error while formatting the disk partition. This method comes in handy when Windows was unable to complete the format. In this method, we will use EaseUS Partition Master to format the SD card completely. However, it’s worth noting that this method will delete all files stored on the SD card.
First of all, download & install the EaseUS Partition tool on your Windows computer. You can get the download link from here.
Connect the SD card to your computer and launch the EaseUS partition tool. Select the card which you want to format and then choose the option ‘Format Partition’
In the next step, you must select the file system to format. You can choose from FAT/FAT32, NTFS, EXT2/EXT3.
Now, click on ‘Apply’. The tool will now format the unreadable USB or SD card. That’s it. Now, your Disk Manager can recognize your SD card without any issues.
Using USB Fix Software
There are several reasons why your USB Drive might be corrupted; this can be due to viruses, malware, or hardware issue. However, the USB Fix tool scans your USB drive for potential viruses and malware. If the tool finds any malware or virus, it removes it instantly.
Download and install USBFix software on your Windows computer and then run it.
Once installed, it will ask you to restart your computer. Restart your computer and then again run the software and click on the Clean button.
Wait for a few minutes or seconds until the tool completes the scan. If USBFix finds any problem, it will fix it for you.
This is how you can use USBFix to repair your corrupted Pendrive. So, these are some of the simple steps to repair a corrupted memory card or pendrive in Windows. If you have followed all methods carefully; you’d have already fixed your corrupted USB drive. If you need more help in repairing corrupted memory card or Pendrive, let us know in the comments below.
