AUSB Flash Drive or USB Drive is a flash memory data storage devicecombined with a USB interface. They have, in a way, replaced thefloppy diskette. Their storage capacity is very high with some drivesgoing up to 256 GB storage. However, USB flash drive being atechnical device is prone get affected from virus. The file system ofthe USB flash drive becomes corrupt after a fatal virus attack, whichfurther results in inaccessibility of its stored data. This is thereason why it is always advised to maintain two copies of all photos,audio files and video clips on two different storage media.. However,if you don't have a back-up of the lost data, then you will need touse a picture recovery softwareto recover your lost files.

Imaginethe excitement of a budding fashion designer, who has designed a newcollection. He stores the pictures of the collection on his USB Flashdrive and goes out of town to show-off his new collection. Heconnects his USB drive to a computer to rehearse the presentation,but gets an error message saying that his pictures are inaccessible.

What couldhave gone wrong?

It'shard to imagine something like that happening to anyone. The cause ofthe problem is ignorance towards computer viruses. Most people arequite careless when it comes to checking a computer for viruses.

Inthis case also, the USB drive is connected to a system that is virus infected. The virus in the computer damages the files systemof the USB Flash Drive, which further renders in inaccessibility ofdata.

What to donext?

Thefirst thing to do is run a virus scan to check and remove the virus.Ensure that the anti-virus being used is up-to-date and from atrusted company. The next thing after any virus infection, is toformat theUSB Flash Drive. This is an additional step done to double check thevirus removal. Formatting a device erasesall the information from it. This includes your picture and othermultimedia files.

Afterformatting thedrive,use a picture recovery software toretrieve your formatted photos, videos and other files. Ensure to usea trusted tool that is known to perform safe and efficient picture recovery.These applications are specially designed to recoup audio-visual datafrom various storage devices, even after they have been formatted.

Whom totrust?

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery Software v3.2 is one of the most trusted software in this field. It is a picturerecovery software thatcan recover lost, missing, deleted, or formatted data from all typesof storage devices. It is a read only software, which does not modifyor overwrite the original contents of USB Flash Drive and otherstorage media. The software supports Mac and Windows OS.