cgsecurity.org

Hello,
I have an issue with a 4 GB USB stick that is not working correctly. I connected it to a laptop with Windows 7 to view photos, but some of them wouldn't open. Then, when I plugged the USB stick into my main computer, I got a message saying I need to format the drive to access it. The same happens on other computers – the formatting message keeps appearing.
I found some information about TestDisk, so I ran it on my Windows computer. After using the Analyze > Search option, it didn’t find anything. I also did a deeper search, but that didn’t work either. On a forum, I found a mention of the RebuildBS option. After using it, I was able to see a list of photos, but three of them were marked in red.
I copied all the files I was able to recover to a folder on my desktop, and I could open some of the photos. However, some folders had strange folders with unrecognizable symbols.
Next, I tried using the Write option in RebuildBS, but it didn’t work, so I tested it with GParted Live, which helped in writing option in RebuildBS. However, I still get the message about formatting the USB drive. After running Analyze > Search again, I got the following warning message:

Warning: the current number of heads per cylinder is 123 but the correct value may be 255.
You can use the Geometry menu to change this value.
It's something to try if:
some partitions are not found by TestDisk
or the partition table cannot be written because partitions overlap.

I’m not sure what I should do next because I want to recover my data and avoid losing it. Can anyone advise me on how to resolve this issue?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Use ddrescue as described in the manual to create an image file of your USB pen drive at a known healthy location.

but three of them were marked in red.

Where?

You can use Photorec to search within your pen drive.