Search
  • For Individuals
      « Back
    • Windows Data Recovery

      Recovers lost or deleted Office documents, emails, presentations & multimedia files.

      Free Standard Professional Premium

    • Mac Data Recovery

      Recovers deleted files, photos, videos etc. on Mac.

      Free Standard Professional Premium

    • Photo Recovery

      Recover photos, videos, & audio files from all cameras and storage on Windows or Mac.

      Free Standard Professional Premium

    • Video Repair
    • Photo Repair
    • iPhone Data Recovery
  • For Business
      « Back
    • Email Repair & Converter

      Repair for Exchange Converter for EDB Converter for OST Converter for NSF Converter for OST MBOX Repair for Outlook

    • Database & File Repair

      Repair for MS SQL Repair for Access Repair for QuickBooks Software Repair for Excel Extractor for Windows Backup Repair for MySQL

    • Data Recovery & Erasure

      Data Recovery Professional Data Recovery Technician Mac Recovery for Technician Virtual Machine Recovery File Erasure Software Mobile Erasure Drive Erasure File Eraser Software File Eraser Software for Mac

    • Toolkit

      Exchange Toolkit Outlook Toolkit File Repair Toolkit MS SQL Toolkit Data Recovery Toolkit

    • Forensic

      Email Forensic Exchange Auditor Log Analyzer for MySQL Log Analyzer for MS SQL

  • Store
  • Partners
  • Services
  • Offers
  • Support

 

  • For Individuals
    DIY software for anyone who works with data.

    Windows Data Recovery Recovers lost or deleted Office documents, emails, presentations & multimedia files

    Free Standard Professional Premium

    Mac Data Recovery Especially for Mac users to recover deleted documents and multimedia files from macOS

    Free Standard Professional Premium

    Video Repair Windows Mac Repair multiple corrupt videos in one go. Supports MP4, MOV & other formats.

    StandardPremium

    Photo Recovery Windows Mac Recover photos, videos, & audio files from all cameras and storage on Windows or Mac.

    Standard Professional Premium

    iPhone Data Recovery Windows Mac Recover deleted photos, videos, contacts, messages etc. directly from iPhone & iPad

    Recover Erase Toolkit

    Photo Repair Windows Mac Repair multiple corrupt photos in one go. Supports JPEG & other formats.

    Standard Professional Premium


  • For Business
    • Email Repair
    • Email Converter
    • File Repair
    • Data Recovery & Erasure
    • Toolkit
    • Forensic

    Exchange Repair Repair corrupt EDB file & export mailboxes to Live Exchange or Office 365

    Outlook PST Repair Repair corrupt PST & recover all mailbox items including deleted emails & contacts

    OLM Repair Repair Outlook for Mac (OLM) 2011 & 2016 backup files & recover all mailbox items

    Exchange Toolkit Repair EDB & Exchange backup file to restore mailboxes, convert OST to PST, & convert EDB to PST

    Active Directory Repair Repair corrupt Active Directory database (Ntds.dit file) & extract all objects in original form

    EDB to PST Convert online & offline EDB file & extract all mailbox items including Public Folders in PST

    OST to PST Convert inaccessible OST file & extract all mailbox items including deleted emails in PST

    NSF to PST Convert IBM Notes NSF file & export all mailbox items including emails & attachments to PST

    MBOX to PST Convert MBOX file of Thunderbird, Entourage & other clients, & export mailbox data to PST

    OLM to PST Convert Outlook for Mac Data File (OLM) & export all mailbox data to PST in original form

    GroupWise to PST Convert GroupWise mail & export all mailbox items - emails, attachments, etc. - to PST

    EML to PST Convert Windows Live Mail (EML) file & export mailbox data - emails, attachments, etc. - to PST

    Office 365 to PST Connect to Office 365 account & export mailbox data to PST and various other formats

    DBX to PST Convert Outlook Express (DBX) file & export all mailbox data - emails, attachments, etc. - to PST

    SQL Repair Repair corrupt .mdf & .ndf files and recover all database components in original form

    Access Repair Repair corrupt .ACCDB and .MDB files & recover all records & objects in a new database

    QuickBooks Repair Repair corrupt QuickBooks® data file & recover all file components in original form

    MySQL Repair Repair MyISAM & InnoDB tables and recover all objects - keys, views, tables, triggers, etc.

    Excel Repair Repair corrupt Excel (.XLS & .XLSX) files and recover tables, charts, chart sheet, etc.

    BKF Repair Repair corrupt backup (BKF, ZIP, VHDX and .FD) files and restore complete data

    Database Converter Interconvert MS SQL, MySQL, SQLite, and SQL Anywhere database files

    PowerPoint Repair Repair corrupt PPT files and restore tables, header, footer, & charts, etc. like new

    File Repair Toolkit Repair corrupt Excel, PowerPoint, Word & PDF files & restore data to original form

    Data Recovery Windows Mac Recover lost or deleted data from HDD, SSD, external USB drive, RAID & more.

    Technician Toolkit

    Tape Data Recovery Retrives data from all types and capacities of tape drives including LTO 1, LTO 2, LTO 3, & others.

    Virtual Machine Recovery Recover documents, multimedia files, and database files from any virtual machine

    File Erasure Permanently wipe files and folders, and erase traces of apps and Internet activity.

    Standard Corporate

    Mobile Erasure Certified and permanent data erasure software for iPhones, iPads, & Android devices

    Drive Erasure Certified and permanent data erasure software for HDD, SSD, & other storage media Windows Mac

    Exchange Toolkit 5-in-1 software toolkit to recover Exchange database, convert EDB to PST, convert OST to PST, restore Exchange backup, and reset Windows Server password.

    Outlook Toolkit Comprehensive software suite to repair PST files, merge PST files, eliminate duplicate emails, compact PST files, and recover lost or forgotten Outlook passwords.

    File Repair Toolkit Powerful file repair utility to fix corrupt Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents created in Microsoft Office. It also repairs corrupt PDF files and recovers all objects.

    MS SQL Toolkit 5-in-1 software toolkit to repair corrupt SQL database, restore database from corrupt backup, reset database password, analyze SQL logs, & interconvert databases.

    Data Recovery Toolkit Software helps to recovers deleted data from Windows, Mac and Linux storage devices. Also supports recovery from RAIDs & Virtual Drives.

    Email Forensic Advanced email forensic solution for cyber experts to audit, analyze, or investigate emails & gather evidences.

    Exchange Auditor Exchange Server monitoring solution to automate audits, scans and generate reports ìn real-time.

    Log Analyzer for MySQL Analyze forensic details of MySQL server database log files such as Redo, General Query, and Binary Log.

    Log Analyzer for MS SQL Track & analyze MS SQL Server database transactions log files.

    STELLAR EMAIL FORENSIC

    Advanced email forensic tool to analyze and collect the mailbox data of email clients

    Learn More arrow


    All Products

    All Products

    All Products

    All Products

  • Our Partners
  • Lab Services
  • Trending Searches

    Data Recovery

    Photo Recovery

    Video Repair

    iPhone Data Recovery

    File Erasure Software

    Exchange Repair

    OST to PST

    PST Repair

    Raid Recovery

    MS SQL Repair

  • English Deutsch Français Nederlands Italiano Español 日本語 简体中文
  • Support
Photo Recovery 7 minute read

Solved: SD Card/USB Drive/Pen Drive Shows 0 Bytes Error

Updated on August 12th, 2021
Nishat Paiker
Written By
Nishat Paiker
Rohit Arora
Approved By
Rohit Arora

Summary: Are you facing 0 bytes error or USB no media problem? This post shares 8 ways to fix USB drive, SD card, or pen drive showing 0 bytes error. Also, learn how to safely recover lost photos and videos from 0 bytes drive using Stellar Photo Recovery. You can free download the software here and recover 0 bytes files.

Solved: SD Card/USB Drive/Pen Drive Shows 0 Bytes Error Solved: SD Card/USB Drive/Pen Drive Shows 0 Bytes Error

The 0 bytes error is not new. Many users complain about facing this error while trying to access their SD card or pen drive on the computer.

Zero bytes implies no data in the storage drive. The error is bound to make you panic as it points towards data loss from the removable storage media.

However, there are various ways to repair USB or SD card showing 0 bytes error and restore the lost data.

Contents

  • What causes USB drive 0 bytes error?
  • How to fix 0 bytes on a USB flash drive/ SD card?
  • Solution 7: Repair Damaged MBR Using Command Prompt 

What causes USB drive 0 bytes error?

Removable disk showing 0 bytes
Figure: Removable disk showing 0 bytes

Following are the probable factors that can trigger 0 bytes error in removable disks:

  1. Virus infection
  2. Bad sectors in the storage drive
  3. Failed USB connection with computer
  4. Files are hidden in the USB storage
  5. Damaged Master Boot Record (MBR) of removable media
  6. Sudden interruption during the read/write process
  7. Improper unplugging of SD card, pen drive, or USB flash drive from the computer
  8. Physical damage in your USB flash drive or memory card

How to fix 0 bytes on a USB flash drive/ SD card?

No media error does lead to permanent loss of files from the storage drive, if not fixed. If your camera card or pen drive contains important photos and videos, immediately repair the 0 byte drive and restore its files.

Follow the below troubleshooting methods to fix USB 0 bytes error problem:

  1. Connect the removable media with another computer.
  2. Change the card reader.
  3. Install anti-virus on your computer.
  4. Unhide files in 0 byte SD card using CMD command.
  5. Run CHKDSK command.
  6. Create a partition in Disk Management.
  7. Repair Damaged MBR Using Command Prompt.
  8. Format USB/ SD card showing 0 bytes error.
  9. Restore 0 bytes photo and video files from SD card/ USB pen drive.

Solution 1: Connect the removable drive with another computer

Connect your SD card, USB drive or pen drive to another computer. Check if the 0 bytes error appears or not.

If you can access the storage media without error, it means the issue is with your computer. Immediately backup the files stored in the removable disk and format the media to fix the issue.

In case you still see the 0 bytes or empty media on another computer, then move to the next solution.

Solution 2: Change the card reader

If the SD card is showing 0 bytes error, try by changing the card reader. The SD card error may be due to the damaged card reader.

Solution 3: Install anti-virus on your computer

If the SD card or USB drive error is not a hardware issue, it could be a virus in the computer or the storage media.

Install a trusted anti-virus software to scan your computer and the removable media. The anti-virus would delete malicious software causing 0 bytes error.

After which, you should be able to access the photos, videos, or music stored in your pen drive or memory card.

Solution 4: Unhide files in 0 byte SD card using CMD command

The files may be there in the USB or SD card but hidden due to corruption in the media. Unhide and view the files by using CMD command in Windows.

Steps to run CMD command in Windows 10:

  1. Connect the removable drive with PC.
  2. Note the drive letter name of USB/ SD card/ pen drive in the drive list.
  3. Press Win+R and in the Run box type CMD and hit Enter.
  4. A command prompt window opens. Type the following command: attrib -h -r -s /s /d g:\*.* Here ‘g’ is the drive letter of your removable media.
  5. Press Enter.

Once the process completes, check the storage drive if you can access its files.

Solution 5: Run CHKDSK command

You can run the Check Disk Utility (CHKDSK) command to fix storage media corruption and view the files on SD card/ USB or pen drive showing 0 byte error.

CHKDSK utility can repair the file system errors which may be the cause of the USB 0 bytes problem.

Steps to run CHKDSK command:

  1. Connect the removable drive with PC.
  2. Note the drive letter name of USB/ SD card/ pen drive in the drive list.
  3. Press Win+R and in the Run box type CMD and hit Enter.
  4. A command window opens, type “chkdsk” followed by the drive letter of USB/ SD card/ pen drive, then a colon and /f. (e.g., chkdsk G: /f). Here G is the drive letter.
  5. Press Enter. 
  6. Chkdsk will check for possible errors and try to fix the file system errors in the removable media. Next, follow the subsequent message prompts.
  7. Once the process is finished, restart your system. Now access the storage media. The 0 byte error should be fixed.

Solution 6: Create partition in Disk Management

Use this method if the 0 byte SD card or pen drive shows its data unallocated in disk management.

Steps to fix SD card/ USB error in disk management:

  1. Connect the USB/SD card to PC.
  2. Right-click on This PC > Manage > Disk Management.
  3. Right-click on the unallocated space of the SD card/ USB and select New Simple Volume.
Unallocated drive in Disk Management
Figure: Unallocated drive in Disk Management

4. Set partition size, drive letter, and file system (FAT 32 or NTFS).
5. Click Finish.

Solution 7: Repair Damaged MBR Using Command Prompt 

Master Boot Record or MBR contains information about the logical partitions on the storage drive. When MBR of a drive gets corrupt or damaged, it may show disk errors such as 0 bytes.

Windows allow you to rebuild and fix damaged MBR. Automatic MBR repair tools are also available that can fix removable media MBR. 

But, if you are a novice and not familiar with command lines, avoid this method to fix the 0 byte error.

Steps to fix MBR in Windows 10

  1. Boot your PC using the original Windows bootable CD or DVD.
  2. At the first screen, click to follow Repair your computer > Troubleshoot >Advanced > Command Prompt.
  3. In the Command Prompt window, type the below commands lines. Press Enter after each command:
  4. bootrec /FixMbr bootrec /FixBoot bootrec /ScanOs bootrec /RebuildBcd
  5. Wait for the process to finish and exit the Command Prompt window.
  6. Remove the CD/ DVD and restart your PC.

Now check if the removable disk 0 byte error is fixed or not.

Solution 8: Format USB/ SD card showing 0 bytes error

If the above methods don’t fix the ‘no media or 0 bytes problem’, try to format the removable media. Formatting fixes all kinds of corruption and errors in a storage drive.

Steps to format USB/ SD card/ pen drive in PC:

  1. Connect the storage drive to PC.
  2. Right-click the removable drive showing the error.
  3. Select Format.
Format options for removable drive in PC
Figure: Format options for removable drive in PC
  • In the Format box, choose file system that you want to format – NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT.
  • Select Quick Format.
  • Click Start.

Note: Format camera or smartphone SD cards within the device.

Solution 9: Restore 0 bytes photo and video files from SD card/ USB pen drive

The 0 bytes error makes your files inaccessible. You cannot open and view your stored photos and videos. Even formatting, which fixes the drive error, results in data loss. There are some best USB and SD card recovery tools available, but all may not be capable of recovering 0 bytes files.

Here we recommend Stellar Photo Recovery software that recovers photo and video files from SD card or USB drive showing 0 bytes. It can restore lost files from formatted drives as well.

You can restore lost files from all brands and types of SD card, USB drive and pen drives showing 0 bytes error. The software works on SDXC, SDHC, CF card, USB flash drives, memory stick, XQD, SmartMedia, and more.

The free version of Stellar Photo Recovery software scans the drive and let you preview the recoverable photos, videos, and audio files.

Photo Recovery Photo Recovery Mac

Step-by-step: Recover photos and videos from drive showing 0 bytes error

  1. Download and install Stellar Photo Recovery on Windows PC or Mac.
Stellar Photo Recovery Standard
  1. Connect the SD card/ USB/ pen drive to the computer and launch the software.
  2. Select your removable disk giving 0 bytes error.
  3. Turn on ‘Deep Scan’ at the bottom-left corner.
  4. Click Scan.
  5. Preview and select the required photos, videos, and audio files and click Recover.
Stellar Photo Preview Screen
  1. Next, click Browse to select a location and save the recovered files. Note: Do not select the same storage drive that shows 0 bytes or no media error. Choose a different location to save the recovered photos, videos, and music.

Conclusion

No media or 0 bytes error in the SD card or USB drive makes your photos and videos inaccessible. You may also lose data on your USB drive permanently. But you can try the above methods to fix the 0 bytes error in USB flash drives, SD cards, and other media.

However, don’t forget to recover your photos and videos from the storage drive that shows 0 bytes error. Always use professional software, such as Stellar Photo Recovery that efficiently restores videos and photos from corrupt or formatted SD cards, pen drives, USB flash drives, etc.

A free trial of the software is also available that allows you to preview the found media files before recovery.

Photo Recovery Photo Recovery Mac

About The Author

Nishat

Nishat Paiker is an expert technical writer and editor with over 8 years of experience. She has deep knowledge about data recovery and loves to explore new technology and DIY tools. Nishat has keen interest in photography. You will often find her giving photography tips and hacks.

Best Selling Products

Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows

Stellar Data Recovery has the right Windows Recovery tool for all your data recovery

Read More

Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac

Stellar Data Recovery for Mac program performs safe..

 

Read More

Stellar Photo Recovery

A comprehensive photo recovery software to restore photos, music & video files

 

Read More

Stellar Repair for Video

Powerful video repair tool for repairing corrupt or damaged MOV and other video files

 

Read More

Table of Contents    

  1. What causes USB drive 0 bytes error?
  2. How to fix 0 bytes on a USB flash drive/ SD card?
  3. Solution 7: Repair Damaged MBR Using Command Prompt 

Categories

Related Posts

recover old photos
Photo Recovery

Solved: How to Recover Old Photos Deleted Years Ago

Stellar Author Nishat Paiker May 13, 2022 Read More
fix SD card reader not showing up on Windows
Photo Recovery

How to Fix SD Card Reader not showing up on Windows?

Stellar Author Sumona Chatterjee May 2, 2022 Read More
Photo Recovery

Deleted Partition Recovery on SD Card/ USB Drive

Stellar Author Nishat Paiker April 15, 2022 Read More

Stellar Official Website

Stellar Data Recovery Inc.
48 Bridge Street Metuchen,
New Jersey 08840,
United States

ALSO AVAILABLE AT

About

  • About us
  • Career
  • ISMS Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • License Policy
  • Refund Policy
  • End User License Agreement

RESOURCES

  • Blog
  • Articles
  • Product Videos
  • Knowledge Base
  • Case Studies
  • Whitepapers
  • Software Catalog

NEWS & EVENTS

  • News
  • Events

PARTNERS

  • Affiliates
  • Resellers
  • Distributors

Useful Links

  • Contact Us
  • Support
  • Special Offers
  • Student Discounts
  • Awards & Reviews
  • Downloads
  • Store
  • Sitemap
Follow Us

Stellar & Stellar Data Recovery are Registered Trademarks of Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. © Copyright 2022 Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. All Trademarks Acknowledged.

DMCA.com Protection Status
We use cookies on this website. By using this site, you agree that we may store and access cookies on your device Read More Got it!