HELP!

[pete_c]

My niece (teacher) keeps all her personal / school data on one 2GB USB dongle.

Not really sure what she did to it but one surface mounted IC (don't think it the memory) came off the main USB Memory dongle board.

One side looks to be desoldered but the other side looks to have been torn off the main board (no traces left).

She kept all her info on the USB dongle and didn't have it backed up anyplace.

I suggested that maybe she could purchase a new 2 GB dongle and maybe the memory chip from the old one can be soldered in place of the new one.

Any suggestions regarding repairs of the 2Gb USB dongle?

 

[electron]

What make/model is it? Do you have any pictures? If the information is truly that important, then your only option is a data recovery service. While a DIY repair might be tempting, it isn't worth the risk in this case.

 

[pete_c]

Thanks Dan

Its a Memorex 2Gb USB dongle. Little bitty thing.

Just called up a place called FlashDrivePros.

They have a fixed price for data recovery. I asked about a physically damaged USB dongle and the customer service person told me that they could recover the data from it.

I wasn't aware that a physically damaged USB dongle could be fixed that easily (guess for a price anything is possible).

The prices are $97 (Student), $147 (standard) and $297 (express).

It is her entire fall teaching curiculum (that she authored). So well worth the price of recovery.

 

[electron]

Reviews of that service look promising, and you can't beat that price. Let us know how it turns out. Good luck!

 

[pete_c]

Yeah she dropped it off before leaving on vacation. Just called her and she is thrilled about the repairs.

 

[KentDub]

That price is extremely reasonable. I've had friends drop as much as $5000 on data recovery. I'd have it professionally done rather than attempt to do it yourself.

 

[electron]

Pete, how did everything work out?

 

[pete_c]

Worked out well. I sent the dongle to "Flashdrivepros" dot com. Thanks to all here for your suggestions.

She is a teacher and had her entire curriculum / misc data on the USB dongle and was in panic mode.

She wrote a nice thank you card; funny scanned it (edited a bit).