Just lost all files on a 128GB SanDisk SDCZ50-064G-B35 Cruzer Blade - HELP NEEDED

This morning I was about to encrypt new files to my USB, when it crashed and said something about a new Sandisk security upgrade.

When I restarted my USB, it asked me to create a new password, which I did, only to discover that the whole USB has been wiped and I’ve lost every single one of my files.

Has this happened to anybody else, and is there any kind of fix to this? 

Hello, 

in that case you can try to contact the sandisk support to see if there are any steps you can try to recover the vault

here you can send them a mail

http://kb.sandisk.com/app/ask/session/L3RpbWUvMTQ2MjI2NTMyNC9zaWQvUTIzWUN5UG0%3D

You could try to use a free data recovery program like Recuva, but if you were using SecureAccess, there is a chance that SecureAccess utilizes a “secure delete” by taking multiple passes over deleted data, and the primary reason it does this is to make it harder to recover & reconstruct.

If you go into the DiskPart menu and type “list disk” and then “list volume”, what do you get back?

Hello, 

thing is that he used the secure access that encrypts the data, so even if he uses a recovery software the data will still be encrypted and will not be able to open or use it. 

thats why i recommended to contact sandisk direct so not to mess up the software more and be unrecovable

I’ve contacted Sandisk, and awaiting a reply. Thank you for your advice.

@deponia wrote:

Hello, 

 

thing is that he used the secure access that encrypts the data, so even if he uses a recovery software the data will still be encrypted and will not be able to open or use it. 

 

thats why i recommended to contact sandisk direct so not to mess up the software more and be unrecovable

Isn’t it more about how the encryption programs delete data? It seems almost all of these programs take multiple “passes” for the purpose of making the data unrecoverable. If SecureAccess works that way, and the SecureAccess program was what did this deletion, wouldn’t it seem very likely that the data is gone for good?

My thought is that using the DiskPart menu to list the drives can help determine how much “used space” is on the drive. If the used space is much smaller than it should be, my thought is that the data has been erased and zeroed. However, if the used space is the size that the drive should be, there is a chance the data is still there and, for unknown reasons at the time, is no longer directly accessible. Should the latter be the case, I would probably personally attempt to clone the drive to have multiple copies prior to hacking away at it.

It seems like many hard drive makers have quite a lot of issues with their proprietary security software, and SecureAccess is no exception. I am starting to think that many or most Users could employ VeraCrypt instead of whatever software the different hard drive makers use, and make gains in terms of better security, stability, and encryption/decryption speed.

Does veracrypt require admin permission?  On personal computers that may work but on pcs owned by others it probably won’t.

-edit-

Yes, it does.  https://veracrypt.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Using%20VeraCrypt%20Without%20Administrator%20Privileges

Using VeraCrypt Without Administrator Privileges

In Windows, a user who does not have administrator privileges can use VeraCrypt, but only after a system administrator installs VeraCrypt on the system. The reason for that is that VeraCrypt needs a device driver to provide transparent on-the-fly encryption/decryption, and users without administrator privileges cannot install/start device drivers in Windows.

And whether veracrypt or some other app is better than SecureAccess is not the point.  SecureAccess is the app sold with SanDisk drives and this is the SanDisk forum.  I suggest you get a SanDisk flash drive with SecureAccess and try it.  That experience plus your technical expertice would make you very helpful to users having SecureAccess problems.  imho  I’m surprised your Extreme Pro didn’t have it.