So, I’m given a knackered USB drive with lots of important information on that hasn’t been back up. When plugged in, windows can’t tell what it is so it either asks you to “Insert disc” when clicked or shows as “unrecognised USB device”. So I have a closer nosey at the pen and see the case isn’t quite closed around the internals. I open it up and notice straight away what the problem is: The memory chip has been broken loose at one end and is hanging off the board. Two scraps of paper, two paper clips and a pair of fold away pliers later and BINGO! Pen recognised, data saved Franken-pen created:
