My memory stick was left in some flood water. I've tried drying it out using rice. Will this USB drive memory stick damage my computer if I try to use it?
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Obviously no one can say for 100% sure, but it shouldn't hurt anything. The USB ports on your computer have the capacity to shut off if a device draws too much power. – Michael Kohne Sep 06 '17 at 18:43
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Clean water is usually not a problem... dry the USB stick out completely and it's fine. Flood water, however, is very dirty with a wide range of possible contaminants, and those can short out the USB stick. Dry it out further and try it again. You may be able to take it apart partially and use cotton swaps to gently clean it if that doesn't work.
Christopher Hostage
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Taking it apart is a really good idea. Water + electricity might be enough to short it out forever (even if it were clean, it's probably not free of electrolytes), but drying it out completely avoids such risk. – jpaugh Sep 06 '17 at 20:55
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If the device is completely dry (inside and out) it should be fine! If there is data/documents/photographs etc, that you need on the stick, get it off and replace the device with a new one, if you're not sure about it. These devices, as a rule, are not that expensive.
John Piers Cilliers
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