... to fry the PC by sticking the USB pendrive into the USB port the wrong way?

Well, I know now. I did this to a friend's PC today and the whole PC died!

We don't know what's exactly wrong with it, but if the motherboard got fried, I'll have to pay $500 I just don't have...

*bangs head against the wall*

How do you even do that? Surely it wouldn't fit?

Isn't the USB port built so that things will only fit into it one way round?

In reply to Varsovian (msg # 1):

I would say that in fact it is not possible.  The pen drive does not have the power (a powered external drive *might*, but I doubt it) and munging the port by going in the wrong way should not be able to break anything in a short inducing way.  If I had to guess I would say you have been bitten by coincidence.

What suggests to you that the MB is fried?

Actually, I have an USB drive that's designed to be very flat... so, its port is built without the usual protection USB drives have. It is physically possible to fit it into the USB port the wrong way. It happened to me before on other computers, but the only effect was some sizzle... this particular PC, though, wasn't as resilient. :(((

As to the PC's symptoms, well... it can't be turned on. It's totally dead. It could be everything, from burned power source unit to fried motherboard. If it's former, it won't be too costly to replace. If it's the latter... I'm screwed.
This message was last edited by the user at 16:10, Wed 23 July 2014.

So whats the make of this USB drive?

I think i will avoid them to avoid any risk of this problem.

http://www.betterlivingthrough...nal/lacie-petitekey/

This is not *the* USB drive I have, but mine is pretty similar: key-shaped and very flat. As this one, mine doesn't have the usual rectangular cover - so, you can stick the wrong way. And then... boom!

I admit I was wary about this design choice from the beginning, but I got this drive as a present. Plus, I didn't have money to buy another one... So, I kept using it.

God, I really hope that that PC will be fixed without too big expenses. I really can't afford to buy a new motherboard right now... :(((

I will have to take your word for it. Sounds like a load of crock. Ask your buddy the Last time he ran virus scans and such! I remember moving once. My computer crashed on hook up and had to be scrapped, it was fried. Before I moved it worked perfectly. I am betting it was from a virus since I forgot to scan it for months.

In reply to Varsovian (msg # 7):

I have smaller ones that I have used for years.

http://www.kingston.com/us/usb...onal_business#dtse9h

You could stick them in upside down just like any usb drive, but all that might do is break the connector.  It will not fry anything - the drive does not supply power.  What sort of PC was it?

Guys, come on. This particular PC was working for over a year now without any problems. Now, it crashes in exactly the same second it put the UBS drive in? What are the chances of some virus activating at that moment?

Also, I know what virus attack looks like. I can break your system, but it won't stop your PC's power source from working! And that's what's going on here...



Note that those drives have the port area covered. You can't put it in the other way around - not as deep as my drive.

Also, it doesn't matter that the drive isn't supplying power - the PC is, via the USB port. Note that you can charge gadgets through those ports. Stick something metal in there and you'll get a short...

And the PC was an ordinary PC, purchased at respectable shop.
This message was lightly edited by the user at 18:55, Wed 23 July 2014.

I have never seen such a thing occur and I have been in the IT field since the invention of the USB key.

There are a myriad of other things that could have happened such as static shock or the port on the computer being faulty or some such but a USB key frying a motherboard is very, very far-fetched.  If your friend wants you to pay then I would demand that you be allowed to take it into the shop yourself to determine what the root cause is.  Sure as heck wouldn't pay based on him/her saying it was my USB key.

One of my parents shoved a USB thumbdrive into the front of their desktop the wrong direction and killed that specific USB port.  The problem: their computer wouldn't start after that.

The solution was going in and disconnecting the front USB panel from the motherboard.

That said, their computer wouldn't start-up, but it would switch on.  Possible just the power-supply overloaded?  Is there a little fuse reset on it?

I do not know if something in this line can help in this situation, but worth a shot?
This message was last edited by the user at 19:39, Wed 23 July 2014.

For all you folks - here's the photo of an ordinary pendrive (left) and that stupid pendrive of mine (right):

http://s1273.photobucket.com/u...zps619ba6a9.jpg.html

Note that my pendrive has bare connectors - it doesn't have the protector around them. It makes it much thinner - so, it can be put into the port the wrong way.



Well, we took the PC to the shop - we'll see what the repairmen will say. That said, I'm pretty sure myself that it was the USB drive that caused that screw-up. Maybe there were some other circumstances that helped, but the fact remains that the PC broke when I put the drive in the wrong way...



Yeah, in this case, the PC isn't just not starting, it doesn't switch on at all. As if there was no power going in. I pray that means that it was the power source that got damaged... and that the power disruption didn't fry anything deeper.

And yes, we tried turning the power source on and off with its switch, we plugged the power in and out... nothing worked.