USB Flash drive repair triumph

[machin05]

A student comes in to the office with a flash drive that has had the usb connector snapped off. Low and behold, the flash drive contains important coursework that is due in today and is the only place she's got it saved.

 

Right, forget the lecture on only using flash drives to transport data and always keeping your work on the school network... that can wait... Let's see what I can do.

 

So, a soldering iron, some solder, a length of cat5 cable, a steady hand and 2 hours later this is the result:

http://www.lordswoodgirls.co.uk/files/23042010067.jpg

 

Amazingly it works and her coursework has been recovered and saved on her user area.

 

Suffice to say she was a very lucky and grateful young lady who, after the prescribed lecture on file management, won't be using flash drives as her only means of data storage.

 

I let her keep the repaired flash drive as a reminder of how volatile they are...

[3s-gtech]

I did this once, but soldered to the board itself. Worked long enough to get the files off, and seriously de-stress my girlfriend the day before inspection week! Like your fix more though

[stutzmanryan]

Impressive! Great example of DIY flash drive data recovery! This solution works as long as the solder pads haven't lifted from the circuit board, or the board and/or components haven't been damaged. One way to recover the data when the solder pads have lifted is to go to Radio Shack and buy some CircuitWriter conductive ink (~$20) and retrace the traces. If you have any questions about how to do this, feel free to give us a call or send us an email and we'll be more than happy to give you some (no cost) help.

 

[email protected]

http://www.FlashDrivePros.com

888.806.6567

Edited May 4, 2010 by stutzmanryan

[srochford]

@stutzmanryan that's a good idea!

 

In the UK I don't think there are any Radio Shack stores (used to be branded Tandy but I've not seen one for ages!) Many (most?) schools have accounts with RS and they sell what I think is the same stuff Electrolube | Workshop Consumables | Adhesives, Sealants and Tapes | PCB Compounds and Adhesives | Conductive Adhesives-PCB Compounds and Adhesives |ERSCP03B or Maplin have this Electrically Conductive Silver Paint : Conductive Paint : Maplin

[stutzmanryan]

@srochford, Good point.

 

If it's worth the wait, CircuitWriter is often available on eBay: CIRCUIT WRITER, PAD,CONDUCTIVE TRACE PEN ,SILVER PEN - eBay (item 370375347091 end time Jun-02-10 14:24:48 PDT)

[danrhodes]

Excellent Job, previously I've done it by bluetacking the usb to the table and with some very stiff thin wire, seuring the wire to the table and then poking the legs at right angles onto the contacts of the usb pen.

 

D

[penfold]

Fair play thats impressive, but lets see how long it really takes before she comes back to you with a faulty/lost USB pen with her work on it and saved nowhere else!!!

[danrhodes]

Fair play thats impressive, but lets see how long it really takes before she comes back to you with a faulty/lost USB pen with her work on it and saved nowhere else!!!

 

A week??