Yesterday my USB memory stick went dead.
It was not detected any more.

Because this was not the first time I encountered this with a USB memory stick, and I like to recover my data this is what I did.
I put the stick in the freezer for 10 minutes, yes the freezer.
After 10 minutes I tried the stick, and it's was working, but stoped after 5-15 minutes.
I did this a couple of times to backup my data.:)

So I got my data back, but the stick was not usable any more.
Because there was nothing to loose, I revived my stick in the kitchen.

This is the "recipe".:lol:

Heat the oven at 200 degrees C.
Remove the plastic cover from the memory stick.
Let it "bake" for 10 minutes.
After the 10 minutes, let the memory stick slowly cool down at room temperature.

If you are lucky, it is detected now.
Reformat the memory stick.

After this the stick was working again.

This is no guarantee that it will work for you.
Don't use this stick for important data, it could fail any time.!

Great trick!

But let me improve on it. I think it is crucial (!?;) to make sure the inner parts (especially the ICs) of the stick is laying on a flat & level surface while baking in the oven, or you risk that it moves away from its solder pads. Short-circuit!

yes, i just resoldered the flash from one of my broken usb-sticks and it works again .

But I did not use an oven. I just removed the ic with a heatgun and then resoldered it with my weller .

Thank you

PS. For people using the oven trick you should remember, that the bigger components on the downside could fall down if the aren't lying on the bottom !!!