Data recovery help

This doesn't have anything to do with the game, so forgive me, but I know that my fellow players here have a wealth of knowledge to offer. I'm trying to help a friend recover data from a usb flash drive that appears to have gone bad.

When trying to access it by clicking on it, Windows (xp) says it needs to be reformatted. My friend needs these files for work and doesn't want to lose them. So I've tried to find a tool to recover the data, with the additional limitation of it being free (since I'm financially strapped). The only tool I've managed to find that not only lets me view the files but actually copy them is Zero Assumption Recovery.

The problem is that I can only copy 4 files at 1 time. There is around 119 megs of data and at the rate at which I can work on it, I guest-imate that it will take me anywhere from 15 to 19+ hours do retrieve everything and copy it to a new flash drive. One of the problems I've had is that even though the tool is supposed to avoid repeat entries, it ends of making multiple copies of the same files at times, so I've had to manually copy them and keep track between sessions of where I left off.

In case you need it, its a 128 memorex usb flash drive, the file format I believe is FAT 16. Thanks for any help or advice in advance.

I've used a program called spinrite in the past but that is for hard drives. I've never tried recovering data off of a USB.

If you can't find any free programs that do a reasonable job then you may have to purchase something. I bet you can find something for under 50 bucks.

And I'm not saying you spend the money on it (I know you mentioned you were strapped for cash), but if recvering the data is important enough to him he'll have to purchase it. And if he doesn't have the money either maybe he can borrow some from friends or family.

My recommendation would be to find a program that has a guarantee otherwise you run the risk of spending money on something that doesn't work. I don't know if such a program exists.

Maybe someone who has some recent experience with data recovery can chime in but "knock on wood" I haven't had to do any sort of recovery in quite some time.

Good luck.