Flash Drive - dead ?
 

I have one of the keyring sized Flash Drives / Thumb drives / USB storage device, whatever today's popular name is, that will no longer open in any USB port on any computer.

It has been on my keyring for about a year, with a cover, but now appears useless. Fortunately I'd also put the data on another one that I keep at home and not on my computer ( no, not porn but passwords etc - I know, I know, but that's a separate issue ) but ..... when is this going to happen again, and why, and is there any recovery technique ?

Probably unrecoverable.

USB drives are just a cheap memory chip in a case, so no backups, no redundancy and once its gone its gone. They are static sensitive and a single spark can fry enough of the chip to render them usless.

It'll always happen when you least expect it, or need the data the most, which is why you should never rely on them. They are probably more reliable than floppy discs but their very capacity makes folks think they are an alternative to good storage systems.

I reckon I'm luck if mine last more than three or four months.
They're not very robust, though some brands seem better than others - e.g. Sandisk seem better

Usual problem I find is that the metal USB plug gets twisted at an angle and breaks contact with the circuit board, bending it back sometimes works
At present I tend to use ones where the usb plug is plastic not metal, and moulded as an integral part of the design - Sandisk do a "Cruzer Blade" which seems quite tough

Mine seem to last for ever - like five years plus. I keep them in the airing cupboard, warm and dry, so no corrosion.

But some computers simply don't respond. XP all seem ok and android never fails, but Windoze 7 will ignore a usb stick and go on ignoring it. You can poke it into all the orifices front and back, eventually one may work, but never the same one as last time. Try it in your phone via a known good otg adaptor.

mine get used on a lanyard, three at a time......various emergency softwares and my antivirus kit
they get a rough life

... and then can cause chaos...
 

The only time I've crashed W7 was with a USB stick. Was in the middle of a Skype conversation with three docs open; shoved the stick into the slot to refer to a fourth, and lo, the blue screen of death.
Worse still, I seem to remember I had to do a Windoze repair (or was that Mrs Jim's XP... it's all a blur)
But it was :ugh:annoying at the time, I certainly corrupted a couple of the open documents.

back mine up every week

sometimes it locks on a particular machine and you can get it up again on another PC