Cannot access data in my SanDisk Cruzer U3 32GB

… 

" I plugged it in again and ran the fix and recover option, as recommended"

What “fix and recover option”??   “as recommended” by whom??

" I disabled the password, ran the fix again (this time it took a very long time to complete), with no luck of my data reappearing."

If the files on the flashdrive are important to you I recommend you take the drive to a local pc repair shop and see if they can recover your data for you. 

In the future, should you encounter a similar problem with a removeable drive being in use when you want to remove it, shut the pc down, remove your drive, then reboot the pc.

Dear Professor,

You have not tried using your flash disk with a PC running Windows, well … I think at least since their XP version, have you?

When windows is accessing the drive after the device was unsafely removed, it will pop up a message saying that the drive should be checked, and the button is marked ‘Fix and Recover’ or something similar…

:slight_smile:

Actually I have several pcs running versions of Windows from 2K to 7 32 & 64-bit.  But I have never seen the “the button is marked ‘Fix and Recover’” that you refer to.  But I suspect that is due to my never removing a USB stick when Windows said it was in use.

Regardless, I still think your best course of action is to get local professional help.

If you want to see what’s occupying the space on your USB drive follow the instructions in this link: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-see-hidden-files-in-windows/#win7 but I don’t think you will see what you want to see.  :cry: