Some “ultraportable” laptops, particularly Sony Vaio Z-series models from around 2010, are equipped with an unusual type of solid state drive, which is actually two SSDs in one. With these drives, each side of the PCB houses a distinct SSD, which both share a single 29-pin (15mm) LIF connector to connect both devices to the […]
Data recovery customers ask me all the time: “What’s the best flash drive to get? What is the most reliable thumb drive?” They’re looking for the one perfect USB drive that will never fail, and though not all flash devices are created equal (you can bet that free goody-bag flash drive with someone’s logo printed […]
I’ve written before about some things to consider before attempting “DIY” or letting a friend or computer shop fix your flash drive. We recently recovered a SanDisk Cruzer USB drive which serves as another great example of the risks that come with these attempts. One assumption many people make is that computer repair shops are […]
The single most common failure for USB flash drives is a broken USB connector. Accidents happen easily; the drive is plugged in the side of your computer and somebody bumps into it, or your toddler knocks your laptop off the table, or you forget about it and shove the laptop in your bag without taking […]
Last year was our busiest year to date at Blizzard Data Recovery, with a 66% increase in data recovery cases since 2019. As I gathered up the numbers for this 2020 retrospective, I remembered a number of blog posts I’ve seen from other companies “warning” about flat rate data recovery pricing. Some people make claims […]
We recently completed data recovery for a customer with a 32GB Lexar Jump Drive which had taken an impact while plugged into a USB port, and, as is the case with many of these Lexar flash drives, the impact flexed the circuit board enough to lift the controller (Silicon Motion SM3267L AB) and tear solder […]
When it comes to flash memory devices – whether USB flash drives or memory cards like SD and MicroSD – there are two main types of construction: surface-mounted technology (SMT) and monolithic. SMT type devices are made of distinct components soldered to a printed circuit board, which requires a certain amount of space to fit […]
There are all kinds of ways to accidentally break a USB drive – accidents happen, and these little devices can be fragile. When they take a bad hit, the most common damage is just a detached USB connector, and if you’re going to experience a broken flash drive, that’s the way you want it to […]
Lexar, along with SanDisk and PNY, is one of the more common brands of USB flash drive we see in the data recovery lab. While many flash drives that we recover suffer from either a broken connector or a bad component (which can range from a simple blown resistor to a failing NAND), we’ve known […]