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Reformat a failing microSD card or HDD?

Posted: 12 Sep 2017, 16:53
by SyncroScales
Hi.

I was wondering what can be done when a microSD card or HDD keeps disconnecting from a computer? Testdisk will not recognize the media. It cannot due to the fact the media is just disconnecting. A different USB cord has not helped.

If there are no other options, is it advisable to re-format the media and then use testdisk, photorec or other programs to access what might be left?

How can the format be done? Does a re-format need to be done a certain way for certain types of media?

E.G.: Should a NTFS system be the re-format since the original was? Or should a exFAT system be the re-format since the original was?

Will it make things harder to recover data if a different format is done? E.G.: Originally NTFS then re-formatted to exFAT? Or Originally exFAT and reformatted to ext4 or FAT16?

Would a Quick format and Error Checking be a better option that will not destroy as much of the data compared to a Full format?

Thank you.