USB Flash Drives - Protect your data!

People are buying various forms of storage these days. Most of the devices people use to store data today come in the form of flash memory devices such as USB thumb drives, or USB flash memory. These devices use NAND flash to store data. These devices are small and compact and very easy for consumers to move around. Preventing the need for USB data recovery is what consumers really need to focus on.

People fail to back up these storage devices. Consumers need to be cautious when storing data as the devices that the data is stored on tend to fail with no warning. Many of the flash memory devices also known as thumb drives or USB sticks fail with zero warning. These devices fail for many reasons. Some devices fail due to bad workmanship and others fail due to improper use. The most common failures are from obvious damage such as plugging a USB flash memory device into a laptop of desktop computer and banging it by accident causing the port of the device to become broken, bent or damaged.

Bad workmanship issues can cause USB flash memory storage devices to stop working at any moment. Manufacturers are constantly using cutting edge parts combined with outdated parts. When a manufacturer can save a few cents using say one type of circuit as opposed to the next more durable circuit on a USB memory device they will. For consumers this causes devices to fail faster and more easily.

When end users of USB thumb drives unplug devices during a read or write function the device can fail almost permanently. Devices that are made with proven parts will tend to function normally if the device is unplugged during a read or write functions. Some of the error messages some might encounter follow.

Common Windows USB Error Messages - USB Device Not Recognized by Windows - USB Error Messages


* Status: Unreadable, Unknown Device

* USB Device Not Recognized Window

* Unknown Device

* USB Unknown Device

* USB Device Problem

* USB Device Not Recognized in Windows

* USB Device Not Recognized by Windows

* USB Device Not Recognized

* USB Device Not Recognized Windows XP

* One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click this message.


Many students and teachers use USB data storage devices at school or when on the road. Many of the people that loose data are students, professors or teachers. The best method is simple, back up your device onto another medium such as your home laptop or desktop. Western Digital sells an external 750 GB hard drive. The Western Digital My Book Essential 750GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive that plugs in either by USB or fire wire. The lowest cost as of 8-13-07 was $199.99 at Bestbuy.com. We at eProvided.com use this company’s storage product as a backup device for our own clients.

We have also tested the My Book™ World Edition™ II but advise all consumers to stay away from this unless you know exactly what you want to use it for. As this device only connects via your Ethernet port the data transfer time is terribly slow. The faster the backup device you use the faster and more effective your backups will be. We also tested many free data backup software programs. Many we would never use. The one that comes free with the Western Digital My Book did not fail once. This actually shocked us as so many of them work 50% of the time. Take it from a company that performs many USB data recovery issues daily, this one is huge on brownie points.

So to wrap this up; properly back up your important data. Use the proper software to make appropriate backups and always buy brand name USB storage devices. Non brand name devices tend to lead to faulty circuits and expensive USB data recovery. Be sure that your friends, colleagues and relatives read this story to prevent them from becoming a part of permanent data loss.

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