[Solution] How to Fix a Broken Flash Drive
- Step 1: Remove the flash drive's casing. Do so with your flathead screwdriver.
- Step 2: Use the magnifying glass to inspect the circuit board (PCB) and solder pads.
- Step 3: Set the flash drive on a hard surface.
- Step 4: Use wire cutters to cut one end off of the USB cable.
- Step 5: Strip away a section of the USB cable's wire.
- Find an old USB cable.
- Strip the newly-exposed wires.
- Solder the wires to the drive.
- Coat the solder joints with hot glue.
- Plug the drive-in, and see if it works.
How to repair a corrupted USB flash drive?
How to repair the USB flash drive on Windows 10
- Click on the “My Computer- Removable Disk” icon. Then right-click the “Properties” tab to the Removable Disk icon.
- Scan; let the computer do the task of scanning and restoring previously corrupt files.
- Finally, right-click the USB pen drive and click on eject to safely disconnect the drive from the computer system.
How to fix a corrupted USB drive on Windows 10?
To update the driver of your USB drive, you need to:
- Right click Start icon and find Device Manager. Open it.
- Find your corrupted USB drive and right click on it. Choose Uninstall device.
- Plug out your drive and plug it in again. Your computer will automatically update the driver itself.
How do you fix a broken USB?
- Check and update usb device driver. (software failure) under device manager.
- Restart/Reboot/Reinstall Windows.
- If still error prevails, it's hardware failure, try urself if it's possible, else, go to a technician.
How do you fix a corrupt flash drive?
USB Solution
- Launch Recoverit Data Recovery, select your drive which is detected on the program, and next.
- The flash drive recovery software will start scanning the device to searching your lost data which will take minutes.
- In the end, you can check all recovered files. Preview files like photos, videos, music, audio, and office file document.
Can a damaged flash drive be repaired?
Finally, if the flash drive won't work because of physical damage, you should take it into a tech department or data recovery professional; if that's not possible, you may be able to fix it yourself by soldering the broken USB drive's circuitry to a working USB cable.
How do I fix a faulty flash drive?
Method 2. Windows Utility - Check and Fix the Error on the Damaged USBConnect the USB to your PC.Go to My Computer/This PC and then the USB Drive.Right-click the USB drive and select Properties.Click on the Tools tab.Click the Check button.Step 6: Let the scan process complete, then close the scan window.More items...•
How do you fix a broken Sandisk flash drive?
1:374:17Sandisk Flash Drive Repair Data Recovery - How To Fix My Broken ...YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipYou have to be sure that you're soldering. The correct wires to the correct pads.MoreYou have to be sure that you're soldering. The correct wires to the correct pads.
Can you recover files from a broken flash drive?
Yes, broken USB flash drive data recovery is possible using either the built-in Windows or macOS tools or a third-party solution. To do this with D...
Can a damaged flash drive be repaired?
That depends on how badly it’s broken. If it’s just a case or port issue, it’s possible. If the circuit board is broken, the likelihood of repair i...
How do you fix a physically broken flash drive?
How to fix a broken USB flash drive will depend on how badly it’s damaged. If necessary, follow these steps: Find an old USB cable Strip the newly-...
How much does it cost to repair a broken flash drive?
That depends on the extent of the damage. This can cost you anywhere from $150.00 to reattach broken pads to a connector to $300-$500 for “chip-off...
Why is my USB stick not working?
Your USB stick might not be working because of a damaged file system, missing device drivers, malware or virus, or a broken circuit board.
How do you fix a USB that won't open?
You can set the RAW partition as active with the following steps: Press the WIN+R key combination. When prompted, type diskmgmt.msc. Right-click on...
Why can't I see my USB drive in Windows 10?
Most likely the device has been physically damaged, the partition table is corrupt, or the drive has become RAW.
How do USB sticks get damaged?
One of the most common paths to an unreadable card is when it’s been removed from a computer or laptop, without first safely ejecting the device. Do this once or twice, and you might be lucky.
What to do if USB is bent?
If your USB stick is bent, you can try to carefully bend it back into shape. Use caution with this method.
Why is my USB drive unreadable?
Your USB drive might be unreadable, because of the assigned letter drive. To remedy this, insert the SD/USB device and change the drive letter by following these steps: Press the Windows key + X key combination. Click Disk Management.
What does it mean when a flash card is RAW?
When a flash device is found as RAW, it means, for whatever reason, the file system is damaged.
How to eject a flash drive on Mac?
To eject it, click the eject icon next to the drive in the Finder, or click and drag it to the Eject icon in the Dock when on your desktop .
How to get files off a flash drive?
Windows - Open Start, click the File Explorer icon, and click your flash drive's icon. Mac - Open Finder and click your flash drive's icon. If the flash drive doesn't connect to your computer, you can try taking it to a tech department to see if they can still pull the files off of it.
How many gigabytes does ExFAT have?
Works on Windows and Mac, but has a storage limit of 32 gigabytes. exFAT (Recommended) - Works on Windows and Mac, and has no storage limit. If you've formatted your drive before and you're positive that it isn't broken, you can also check the Quick Format box. ...
Why won't my flash drive work?
Finally, if the flash drive won't work because of physical damage, you should take it into a tech department or data recovery professional; if that's not possible, you may be able to fix it yourself by soldering the broken USB drive's circuitry to a working USB cable.
What to do if you choose to seek the services of a professional data recovery company?
If you choose to seek the services of a professional data recovery company, be sure to describe your problems to the best of your abilities to ensure they have the tools and experience for the job.
How to fix a flash drive that won't open?
1. Plug your flash drive into your computer. The flash drive should fit into one of the rectangular ports on your PC's housing. If you're encountering errors on your flash drive or it won't display its contents, you may need to update its drivers or software using your computer's repair feature.
Where should a flash drive fit on a Mac?
The flash drive should fit into one of the rectangular ports on your Mac's housing. If you're encountering errors on your flash drive or it won't display its contents, you may need to update its drivers or software using your computer's repair feature.
What happens if you can't access thumb drive?
When you can’t access the data files on your thumb drive through its broken USB connector, there is a “Plan B.”. However, Plan B just happens to involve removing the heat pads, then the NAND chip itself, and piecing its data files together. It’s hard work, requires specialized tools and knowledge, the file recovery process is slow, ...
Why is my USB drive bent?
A bent USB drive is another very common occurrence, often caused by people sitting down and bending the drive in their pocket. The next time the customer goes to use the drive with their PC or Mac, they discover the media is damaged.
Is there a moving part in a USB flash drive?
There are no moving parts in your USB flash drive, which is a massive point in its favor for resilience, as it doesn’t have to worry about things like read/write head crashes and platter scratches. All of the data lives on a NAND chip soldered onto the device’s PCB. The flash memory equivalent to platter damage and rotational scoring would be if the NAND chip became cracked or shattered by a heavy impact or crushing force, which is very rare.
Is a jump drive bigger than a Death Star?
However, your typical USB flash drive or jump drive has one glaring weak point—bigger than the Death Star’s thermal exhaust port. The NAND chip and its controller board are soldered pretty securely to the thumb drive’s control board.
Can Gillware find a thumb drive?
They’re also easy to lose and easy to damage. And if your flash drive goes missing, Gillware’ s data recovery experts can’t help you find it. Thumb drives should only be used to transfer data from one computer to another, and never to store critical data on a PC or Mac.
Who is Will Ascenzo?
Will is the lead blogger, copywriter, and copy editor for Gillware Data Recovery and Digital Forensics, and a staunch advocate against the abuse of innocent semicolons. Articles: 218.
Can thumb drives survive a fall?
These “thumb drives” or “jump drives” can survive perilous falls that would put any spinning disk media (such as your portable external hard drive) out of commission. Some can even survive taking a trip through the wash or accidentally accompanying you when you go for a swim.
The Question
SuperUser reader Rasmus Mathiesen wants to know if it is possible to repair a friend’s physically broken USB drive:
The Answer
SuperUser contributors Chris H, tehwalris, and Annonomus Penguin have the answer for us. First up, Chris H:
How to fix a broken USB drive?
Step 1: Remove the flash drive's casing. Do this with your flathead screwdriver. Step 2: Use the magnifying glass to inspect the circuit board (PCB) and solder pads.
What is a solder pad?
Solder pads are the 4 bits of solder that connect the prongs of the USB connector to the copper lines in the circuit board. If the connector has broken away without causing damage to the PCB or solder pads, continue to the next step. Step 3: Set the flash drive on a hard surface.
How to find files on USB flash drive?
Step 1. Connect USB flash drive to your computer. Open EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and hover on USB device. Click "Scan" button to start looking for lost files on PC. Step 2. When the scan completes, you can apply the "Filter" feature or the click the search box to quickly find the lost files from USB. Step 3.
How to fix a corrupted file system?
Step 1. DOWNLOAD EaseUS CleanGenius on your computer and complete the installation. Step 2. Run the software. Click "Optimization", and then choose "File Showing" . Step 3. Select the drive with a corrupted file system. Tick the "Check and fix file system error" option and click "Execute".
What is easeus cleangenius?
EaseUS CleanGenius is a user-friendly computer fixing tool that is both safe and lightweight. It's a perfect alternative to CHKDSK command. Use this one-click tool to fix the damaged file system easily.
How to fix chkdsk?
So, perform data recovery in advance, and then continue with the CMD method. Step 1: Plug in your USB flash drive or pen drive to your computer. Step 2: Go to the Start menu and type cmd in the search box.
What to do if you have a logical error on a pen drive?
After you have checked and fixed the logical error on the pen drive, you can scan your device to see if any data was lost in the process. EaseUS file recovery software can search for any lost files on the device and, if there are any, recover them.
How to Tell If Your USB Drive Needs Repairing
Does your computer refuse to detect your USB flash drive no matter what you try? Unfortunately, in such cases, there’s not much to do but recycle and replace the device.
What Are USB Repair Tools?
Multiple solutions fall under the somewhat vague term “USB repair tools”. The term covers:
8 Best Tools to Repair Your USB Drive
The USB stick repair solutions we will see here are the best for dealing with multiple problems. If you know what you’re dealing with, feel free to pick the best USB flash drive repair tool for the issue at hand.
