# [SOLVED] My flash drive went through the wash



## PancakeLeaf

It went through the waher and dryer I really need the files that are on there I plugged it in and all the files were there and every thing worked perfectly I tried again the next day and it didn't even show up on my computer that there was a flash drive plugged in.


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## koala

*Re: My flash drive went through the wash*

Hi, welcome to TSF

Test the drive in another USB port or computer.

If you can see the drive in Windows Explorer, but the files are corrupt, try some free data recovery software - Recuva


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## MPR

*Re: My flash drive went through the wash*

Water per se usually doesn't usually doesn't hurt electronic components all that much. However, applying power to a wet component can irreparably damage it. If you wash a thumb drive again place it in a paper bag with a handful of rice for a few days to dry out before trying to use it.


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## Laxer

*Re: My flash drive went through the wash*



MPR said:


> Water per se usually doesn't usually doesn't hurt electronic components all that much. However, applying power to a wet component can irreparably damage it. If you wash a thumb drive again place it in a paper bag with a handful of rice for a few days to dry out before trying to use it.


same advice as above, if you can try to get it out of the case as well...

Rice will soak up all the moisture and hopefully repair it...

Dryers can do a lot of damage to electronics but I have never had mine kill my main flashdrive... (I have washed it numerous times by leaving in my pocket :laugh


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## LMiller7

*Re: My flash drive went through the wash*



> Water per se usually doesn't usually doesn't hurt electronic components all that much


On that I must differ, based on many years of experience servicing electronic equipment. Any electronic equipment exposed to water must be considered unreliable, no matter what precautions are taken following the exposure. Water is a deadly danger to all electronic equipment.

Flash drives are the least reliable of modern storage media and should never be trusted with long term storage of important files. They are designed for and should be be used primarily as a transport media, not for primary storage. You should always have a copy of files stored on other media, such as a hard drive. Of course you should always have a backup of important files no matter the media on which they are stored.


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## jaythorpe522

*Re: My flash drive went through the wash*



LMiller7 said:


> Any electronic equipment exposed to water must be considered unreliable, no matter what precautions are taken following the exposure.


Any oversimplified generalization usage must be considered inadvisable, no matter how accurate it seems to the declarer at the time.

I have several microphones that were subject to snow-melt (watertight bags inside non-waterproof duffels must be sealed, jay, SEALED). I very carefully took them apart, used a hair-dryer at low setting not-too-close, reassembled, and left them in rice bags (sealed... ... ...). They have worked for 4 years. One is a brand name not known for reliability, but, at this point, I'm calling all 3 mics 'reliable'.

Water is no harm, briefly. Water + voltage = harm. Remove the water if you can. Don't turn it on if you can't.

Back to OP, you may be toasted, but it can't hurt to try drying it out. Next time you do it, dry it out for longer than you think it'll take. Plus 8 hours. And an extra day... And what LMiller7 said is way-too-true -- important stuff doesn't hang out on flash drives, it's transported via them and dumped onto something reliable...

jw


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## MPR

*Re: My flash drive went through the wash*

My suspicion is that the heat and mechanical banging around in the drier may have caused as much or more damage than the water. If the drive has important data on it you might open it up and look for broken connections or moisture still in the case.

Here's an article showing how it's possible to get a flash drive with a snapped-off USB head back in working order long enough to retrieve its data.

Broken Universal Serial Bus (USB) Thumb Drive | CompuInfoSystems

Re data recovery:

That free recovery software linked by koala is pretty handy, as one should expect because its from Piraform, the authors of Speccy and CCleaner. I threw some .jpgs up on a new flash drive, deleted them, then did a quick format of said drive and Recuva was still able to recover the files (a full format wiped them but this is to be expected).


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## LMiller7

*Re: My flash drive went through the wash*

My statements regarding water damage were meant as a warning. Water is a deadly danger to electronics. I know, because I have seen the results many times. In many cases the damage will not be significant and the device will continue to operate for years and eventually fail for some other reason. But you have no assurance of this. It may also appear to be undamaged and operate for years, only to fail without warning because of hidden damage caused by the exposure to water. I have seen this as well. It all depends on what the water contains, the nature of the circuitry that was exposed, etc. Thus my warning that the device must be considered unreliable, it's reliability is in serious question and cannot be relied on.

Thus, if a flash drive is exposed to water and it contains the only copy of important files (it shouldn't), you need to get the data off ASAP. It may be non-recoverable tomorrow. Or it may work for a year or more, but you never know.

I will not argue this as I know the futility of that. But I thought it important that people be aware of the very real dangers of mixing electronics and water. I know.


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## PancakeLeaf

*Re: My flash drive went through the wash*

Thank you all for this useful data 
-ps i have all the files on a different flashdrive i always have my most important files on two flash drives i know its weird but hey look you never know when Murphys law might happen. Murphys law is when something goes wrong at the worst possible time. i have tooken apart the flash drive kudos to MRP your advice helped me most of all.


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