e-salvage e-salvage Salvage of Electronic Equipment and Documents Pocket Protector More info:

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "e-salvage e-salvage Salvage of Electronic Equipment and Documents Pocket Protector More info:"

Wilfred Evans
9 years ago
Views:

1 e-salvage Salvage of Electronic Equipment and Documents e-salvage Marilyn Murphy Like a Clockwurst Orange Pocket Protector More info:

2 TURN OFF UNPLUG REMOVE BATTERIES! The sooner you do this, the better chance you have for recovery. If the device is wet or full of ash or soot particles, components may short out, further damaging the device or causing shock or fire hazard. SALVAGING ELECTRONIC DEVICES Generally, seriously-damaged electronic devices are cheaper to replace than to repair. However in an emergency situation it may make sense to take the time to attempt to recover a wet or damaged communication device such as a cell phone or radio. Assess the importance of having use of the device as soon as possible. If the recovery attempt fails, the device may be damaged beyond repair. Do not attempt recovery of AC powered devices yourself. Electrical shock from damaged AC devices can injure or kill you. Damaged battery-powered devices may still pose risk of overheating or fire. Test outside, away from combustible materials. ELECTRONIC RECORD RETRIEVAL Having your data backed up off-site is like money in the bank in the event of a disaster or even a garden-variety hard drive crash. But don t assume all is lost, even if your equipment has been flooded or burned. Professional data recovery is expensive, but valuable data can often be recovered from drives that have crashed or been damaged. 4 4 Assess the importance of the data contained on the storage device or media before taking the risk of trying to retrieve it yourself. If it is vital data, seek professional assistance. Do not do anything that will further damage the device or media on which your data is stored. 4 Stabilize the equipment and properly store it until you can get professional assistance. About water for cleaning Many of the instructions in this booklet call for clean water. Tap and bottled waters often contain minerals that may be deposited on your items. Distilled or deionized water are always preferred, then filtered water. Otherwise, use the cleanest water available.

3 HARD DRIVES Desktop Computer Be sure computer is unplugged. If computer is wet, pour out residual water. Do not attempt to dry this may further damage a hard drive. Open computer case. Unplug, unscrew and remove hard drive(s), being careful not to touch the circuit board. Seal drive in ziplock bag or wrap in plastic and tape shut. Do not freeze; store as close to room temperature as possible. Take or send the drive to a hard drive recovery specialist for data recovery. Notebook Computer Be sure computer is unplugged and battery is removed. Remove and bag the hard drive as above or bag the entire notebook computer. Flash Drives and Memory Cards If drive or card has been in salt water or other contaminates, rinse thoroughly in clean water. Place in a plastic bag with silica gel or, if that is unavailable, dry (uncooked) rice for several days until dry. If drive works, download files to another device immediately in case the drive later fails. If drive does not work, try further drying. CD/DVD Disks Be careful not to scratch disk, especially the shiny non-label side or data may be lost. Rinse dirty disk in clean water. Do not scrub. If dirt will not come off with rinsing, soak in mild detergent solution, then rinse. Air dry label-edge up in racks or label-side down on a sheet of clean wax paper. Dust and smudges can be cleaned with a soft lint-free cloth using light strokes from the outside edge toward center only.

4 Floppy Disks, Zip Disks, Back-up Tape If the data is valuable, seal in plastic and send to a data recovery specialist. If you want to attempt recovery yourself, take disk out of enclosure. Rinse in fresh clean water. Dry on lint-free or microfiber cloth. Place in new enclosure. Magnetic Tape (Analog or Digital except old paper-backed tape put in ziplock bag.) If wet and dirty, do not let tapes dry out. Rinse as soon as possible in clean water to remove contaminants; if necessary, tapes can stay wet for several days. Avoid use of extreme heat or cold-both can damage tapes. Open Reel Tapes If covered with mud, or other contaminants, rinse in clean water. If needed, add a small amount of mild dishwashing detergent to the cleaning water. Rinse in clean water. Air dry vertically in racks. Tape in Cassettes If only case is wet or dirty, wipe clean. If inside is contaminated, open cassette, remove tape reel and clean and dry as with open reel tape. Cell Phones and Radios Remove battery as soon as possible! Do not turn the phone on, even just to test! If the cell phone has a removable flash memory card, remove it. Data recovery software and data recovery services are available to recover data from damaged storage media. Follow the directions under Flash Drives if you decide to attempt to recover the card yourself. Remove battery covers and any shell parts that are removable. If device was in contact with salt water, mud, sewage, or other contaminants, rinse thoroughly in clean water. Avoid extreme heat that may melt or damage components. The phone can be safely dried by sealing in a plastic bag or container with silica gel or dry (uncooked) rice. Once phone is thoroughly dry inside (may be difficult to determine) replace battery and test. If phone does not work, remove battery and try drying again. Also, battery may need to be recharged. Hint: In a disaster, text messaging service is sometimes restored before full voice service.

5 For more information on these topics see: Computers Computer and other electronic equipment can sometimes be repaired after becoming wet. Testing and repair should be done by a trained professional. You can take some steps to increase the chances of recovering this equipment. Do not turn on the computer for any reason! As soon as possible, unplug computer and attached devices from the wall and from battery back-up units. Open computer case and let air dry. If you have experience with the internal workings of your computer, you may wish to remove individual cards and plugs to facilitate drying. If the computer was submerged in salt water or other corrosive material, rinse the parts in clean water and then dry. Follow instructions for recovering hard drives. Do not let wet hard drives dry out! Take computer to trained professional for testing. ARTISTS EMERGENCY RESOURCES 2009, Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+). All rights reserved. CERF+ does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or sufficiency of the information provided.

RECOVERY PROCEDURES FOR LIBRARY MATERIALS

RECOVERY PROCEDURES FOR LIBRARY MATERIALS Read and understand all steps thoroughly before undertaking recovery procedures below. DAMP OR WET BOOKS CAUTION: All air drying MUST take place in a cool, dry