Any ideas on retreiving data from a flash drive that went through the wash?

1. 80

   Mitch Alanposted 11 years ago

   Any ideas on retreiving data from a flash drive that went through the wash?
   
   Lots of important files (many not backed up) and the flash drive got washed...any ideas?  My laptop doesn't even recognize the drive...

   replyreport
2. 85

   innerspinposted 11 years ago

   I accidentally washed my son's mobile phone. We left it to dry on a windowsill for several days, it eventually started to work again. I've no idea how a flash drive works, but it may recover in time. Let's hope.

   replyreport
3. 80

   Mitch Alanposted 11 years ago

   Thanks, Apparently it now works...air dried...crisis averted.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      innerspinposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yess! Glad to hear.

      replyreport
4. 85

   CreeVikingposted 11 years ago

   Ensure it is totally dry before you even attempt it. This could take a few days.Do not try to dry it artificially as this could damage the device beyond hope
   
   If you tried this when it was wet then you could have toasted the circuitry  inside as electrical current was provided to a wet circuit board. You should still try it when it is dry to be sure.
   
   I have done this type of thing before and i find that if you let it dry completely then you could still get it to work long enough to get data off of it. But it's touchy, especially with the smaller cheaper hand held drives you can buy for next to nothing today.
   
   if you really need the data then you can try accessing the device from machines with different operating systems. for example: If your drive will not be recognized anymore on your windows 7 machine then try it on a XP machine or a VISTA machine and the older drivers may be more fault tolerant than the newer drivers that ship with windows 7.
   
   I feel for you though, water and tecchnology do not mix well
   
   Just a tip: do not use the hand held usb drives for backup, these are flimsy in construction and are suited to transport files you do not wish to email. Use the bigger USB external hard drives for backup purposes.
   
   Good luck my friend!

   replyreport