Ubuntu Live USB – Finding Files Stored on Flash Drive

filesfilesystemlive-usbusb-drive

How can I find the files that were stored on my flash drive before I installed Ubuntu to it?

Edit: No, I didn't format it, my files are still on the flash drive root. I just need to know how to access them there.

Best Answer

If the files are still present in your USB drive, then just plug in the usb when you are in windows or in linux, and a file-manager window showing the existing files will appear... (ie, pretty normally)

If you want to see the files of the USB while running from the Live USB then, you will need to:

  • find out what is your USB drive dev directory (ex: /dev/sda1). Try looking with df -h (I'm not sure if the usb drive will appear there while running from a live image...try it)

  • create a mount-directory: cd && mkdir my_usb

  • mount the usb device into the mount-directory: sudo mount /dev/sda1 my_usb (replace /dev/sda1 with your usb-dev-directory)

  • see the usb-drive files by looking inside the directory my_usb

From this moment untill you turnoff the pc, you can access (read and write) the files of your USB which will appear inside the my_usb directory

Tell if you got it working - cheers

Related Question