Can someone help me retrieve data from a damaged thumbdrive?
 

My laptop slipped off the couch while a thumbdrivde was hanging out its side. the fall broke the thumbdrive's outer case. It continued to work for a while, but will no longer register with the computer. I'm looking for someone to get the data off this USB stick and load it onto a new one for me. I'm willing to compensate, but have balked at the $100.00 the Geek Squad is asking.

Please respond if you have the knowledge, capability, and willingness to help.

Thanks!

I would call Gizmo Depot, 352-641-0435. They will probably be cheaper than the Geek Squad. Also, have you tried connecting the thumb drive to the computer using a cable instead of a direct connection? Or, connect it to an adapter using a micro or type S usb connection and plug it into a smart phone or tablet. Good luck.

Thanks, I'll call Gizmo Depot. I'm not savvy enough to try your other suggestions, but appreciate them a bunch!

The villages also prides itself on a wonderful computer club with lots of very smart geeks.

OP, if the outer case broke, there is a very real possibility the circuit board inside the thumb drive was damaged. If you have a USB extension cable (male on one end female on the other) you could try plugging in the cable to the computer, then plugging in the USB to see if that works. Also, if you have another computer or another USB port on your computer try that, the fall could have damages the laptop USB port. Good luck.

I have used Jacobs on 301 in wildwood.very fair and honest.

Jacobs Computers in Wildwood on 301 near City Hall. If he can't do it no one can.

$100 to transfer data from a broken flash drive to a new one is dirt cheap. Depending on how much data needs to be transferred, this can cost upwards to over $1000. Next time, don't leave your laptop on the couch.

Seriously? $1000 to transfer data from on usb drive to another? Don't walk, run from anyone who quotes you that much for the task.

WOW you always give such excellent advice

It depends on the size of the drive, and what type of repair is needed to access the data. And OBB is exactly right.

What do you charge?

I wouldn't charge anything and just do it for the challenge. Size of thumb drive really doesn't matter because if you can get it to connect, all data can be copied pretty much instantly with GB taking just a little more time than mb.

Unfortunately, when physical damage occurs, the drive is not able to simply be connected. Without having seen the OP's drive, it's hard to know the shape of it. The costs come from repairing the drive (soldering, etc) to get it to the point of recovering data.

Bottom line, data recovery can be expensive.

Seem's like the info is not important to you since you are complaining about the $100 fee. Start reconstructing the data yourself from the original sources, then let me know if the $100 would have been worth it.

I'm sure or hope this post was meant as a joke...... :22yikes:

Thumbdrives can be very simple
 

Many thumb-drives are merely a solid state IC with contacts sticking out. The case just goes around the IC (integrated circuit - electronic components encased in epoxy).
If it worked for a while it sounds like one of the leads is broken. Ten minute job for a good tech with a small soldering iron.
If the data itself is not damaged then it's a simple cheap job to transfer it after repairing the IC.
Where high cost comes is if the data has been damaged by overwriting, deleting or physical damage to the actual medium. Even at $45/hour a $1000 (22 hours) is a big job.

Take it to U-Break We-Fix. See what they say. They'll give you a fair price on the spot. Many clubs recommend them for phone repairs too. They're off 441 in Wedgwood Plaza.
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Thumb drive should be a back up to hard drive. Then it would not be such a problem

I'm a redundancy addict. I save all my files to my USB. I have all my programs on my USB. I basically use my USB port as a primary file drive, and my hard drive as my bootup disk. I also have everything on my hard drive in a sub-directory. I also have it in the cloud. I also have several programs and files replicated on my tablet, laptop, and cell phone. The files on those I update occasionally - maybe a couple times every year. But they're all up to date on my USB and the cloud, and my hard drive.

Plus I have everything backed up to a different cloud server, AND in another partition on my hard drive.

With or without power, with or without internet, I can read a book, watch a movie, access all of my files, including a cookbook that I'm writing, so I can still make all my recipes even if my computer breaks.

I'd add an SSD drive to all of this, but I think that's a bit over the top :a040::1rotfl:

Gizmo Depot has repaired two iPhones for us. Very good work, very fast, and reasonably priced.