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How to Repair a USB Flash Drive
Four Methods: Repairing Physical Damage Scanning for Problems (Windows) Reformatting the Drive
Testing the USB Port
Do you have a USB flash drive that just won't work anymore? Assuming the
hardware is undamaged, and you don't mind losing all your files, you could try
formatting the USB drive.
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Decide if your files are unimportant enough to risk a DIY attempt at data
recovery. If your decide your files are too important to risk, you will want to find a
flash drive data recovery company.
These companies have special hardware and tools designed to repair circuit
boards. The more advanced companies have the tools to remove the NAND
memory chip from the circuit board in order to extract and unscramble the raw
data stored inside.
The prices for data recovery can vary from $20 - $850 based on the severity of
damage done to the drive, and the type of recovery required.
Some data recovery companies offer solutions for minor to moderate
physical/internal damage costing under $200.
Get the tools. If you decide you are comfortable risking your files, you will need:
A soldering iron with solder and flux
An old USB cable
Wire cutters/strippers
A small flathead screwdriver
A magnifying glass or jeweler's loop
Note: These steps only apply if your flash drive has a broken connector.
Using the flathead screwdriver, carefully remove the flash drive's outer
Method 1 of 4: Repairing Physical Damage
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casing.
Use the magnifying glass to inspect the circuit board (PCB) and solder pads.
If the PCB itself is damaged or the solder pads are lifted, you will probably need
the help of a professional.
Note: 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.
Set the flash drive on a hard surface with the connector end facing toward
you and the solder pads facing up.
Use the wire cutters to cut one end off of the USB cable. Cut the female end if
it's not male-to-male.
Use the wire strippers to expose about 0.25 inch (0.6 cm) of each of the four
wires inside the cable. Or, if you do not have a spare USB cable to use, you may
solder pieces of small gauge electrical wire to each of the prongs on the broken USB
connector; this will create your own mini USB cable.
Solder each of the four wires to the four solder pads. The colors from left to
right are black, green, white, red. They should attach to the solder pads in that
order, from left to right, when you're holding the USB so that the two cutout rectangles
are facing up and away from you.
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Do not mix these up or your flash drive (and files) are toast.
If you used your own individual wires instead of a cable, simply solder each
wire straight across to the corresponding pad regardless of what color the wire
is.
Plug the other end of the USB cable into a computer and cross your fingers.
If it registers, great! Just save your files to your computer.
If it's still not being recognized, it's likely that there is a different underlying
problem that can't be seen with the naked eye. Either consider sending it to a
professional recovery company, or use it as a Christmas Tree ornament that
reminds you to always back up your important files.
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Insert the drive into the USB port on the computer.
Open My Computer and right click on the Removable Disk Icon. Choose the
Properties option.
Click on the Tools tab.
Click on the Check Now button.
Click on both Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and
attempt recovery of bad sectors check boxes. Click Start.
Wait for the scan to complete. Click Close when finished.
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Format with NTFS instead of FAT32.
After this, format again with FAT32.
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Sometimes it is the USB port that does not work properly, not the USB drive.
Remove the USB drive, reboot your computer, and test the USB drive again. If it
Method 2 of 4: Scanning for Problems (Windows)
Method 3 of 4: Reformatting the Drive
Method 4 of 4: Testing the USB Port
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works, problem solved. If not, try the next step.
Test the USB drive with another computer. If the USB drive works, then you
have a problem with the port on the other computer.
Sometimes one port will work on a computer, while another will not. Test each
port on the first computer, then likewise on another computer, before giving up
on this possibility.
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into an article that will help thousands of people.
USB drives are cheap and widely available. Consider replacing one
over installing operating systems as it will probably cost you much less
in time and headaches.
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.
If all else fails and your data is not important contact the flash drive
manufacturer via email or forum. They may have a utility to reload the
drives firmware and perform a low-level format of the damaged drive.
If your USB flash drive does contain important data you would like to
retrieve, do not re-format the device. While there may be no sign of
obvious damage, one or more of the internal components may have
gone bad. While it generally requires advanced and specialized
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Tips
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equipment to diagnose the exact cause of failure, one thing to try is to
check for burnt fuses. To do this, remove the outer casing/shell of the
device and with a magnifying glass, locate any of the tiny clear
cube-shaped components on the circuit board. If any of these fuses
are black instead of clear/translucent, it has burnt out and requires
professional data recovery.
Search around for a formatting tool to reformat your drive beforehand.
Re-installing an operating system is not a task to be taken lightly.
Formatting will erase all data on a drive.
If the files are at all important, do not let someone who happens to own
a soldering iron convince you that they can fix it. More often than not, in
the case of a broken USB connector, the solder pads have lifted away
from the circuit board. This means a novice solder job is not going to
do the trick and will likely only cause more damage. "Lifted pads"
simply means that when the USB connector broke off, the solder
connecting the 4 prongs to the circuit board broke off of the board and
stuck to the end of each prong. If you notice the solder pads have been
lifted, it is highly recommended to seek professional data recovery
assistance rather than continue with the steps below.
Backing up data and drivers, formatting drives and re-installing
operating systems is a lengthy and involved process and should only
be done by someone who knows what they are doing.
Avoid the confusion between a low-level format (LLF) and
reinitialization (reset drive to factory configuration). LFF was common
in the 80s due to MFM and other drive formats which were not setup
with its geometric configuration during the manufacturing process. It
has no place for modern storage devices, as they are nearly
impossible to LFF by consumers.
Warnings
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Your operating system (restore) disk.
Your operating system serial key.
A USB flash drive that is working properly for testing/comparing
purposes.
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accepted/
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Categories: External Storage Devices
Recent edits by: TheBora, Selfiequeen01, WikiHow Edicin
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Italiano: Come Riparare una Chiavetta USB, Espaol: Cmo reparar una memoria
USB, Franais: Comment rparer un lecteur flash USB, Portugus: Como Consertar
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