USB Flash Drive Data Was Overwritten
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When asking for technical support:
- Search for posts on the same topic before posting a new question.
- Give clear, specific information in the title of your post.
- Include as many details as you can, MOST POSTS WILL GET ONLY ONE OR TWO ANSWERS.
- Post a follow up with a "Thank you" or "This worked!"
- When you learn something, use that knowledge to HELP ANOTHER USER LATER.
Before posting, please read https://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk.pdf
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DragonFire
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Yesterday, 17:21
USB Flash Drive Data Was Overwritten
I'm trying to resolve a major issue and hope that I can do so. A family member grabbed the wrong USB flash drive and they downloaded Windows 10 ISO to it. It's a Sandisk 15GB flash drive and there was tons of room on it, but it seems like it just overwrote the data that was on it. The extremely important things on there were text docs from Windows notepad, and pictures. I'm doing my best to try to follow the TestDisk PDF, but it's a bit overwhelming. I could really use some assistance to help if possible.
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recuperation
- Posts: 3063
- Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
- Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)
Re: USB Flash Drive Data Was Overwritten
According to a google search a Windows 7 ISO file has a size of approx. 3 GB.
Most likely all important metadata has been overwritten.
I don't see any chance using TestDisk to restore the overwritten partition (if you had just one).
Try out PhotoRec and check the resulting files if they are useful. Typically there are no folder and file names, though.
Before recovering anything useful, your recovery location will be filled with content of your ISO file.
For better results, try out commercial software.
PhotoRec is the last line of defense.
Most likely all important metadata has been overwritten.
I don't see any chance using TestDisk to restore the overwritten partition (if you had just one).
Try out PhotoRec and check the resulting files if they are useful. Typically there are no folder and file names, though.
Before recovering anything useful, your recovery location will be filled with content of your ISO file.
For better results, try out commercial software.
PhotoRec is the last line of defense.