How can I unlock my Nokia Lumia 900 if the screen is black?

[Windows Central Question]

Nokia Lumia 900 black screen can't enter pin code to sync with Zune

I dropped my phone in water dried it off and continued using it that day but when I charged it the screen went black and only the three white lights for the bottom icons light up and the phone vibrates. I tried connecting to Zune to retrieve photos on the phone but Zune wants me to unlock the phone's pin code which of course I am unable to do since the screen is black. Any solutions?

 

[RumoredNow]

Hard Reset... But you loose your data? So that defeats the purpose.

The water probably did you in there. Maybe try the rice trick. Power down if you can. Submerge the device in uncooked rice for 72 hours or so and hope it comes back on...

 

[jmshub]

As RumoredNow said, the rice trick would probably be the first and best step. If it doesn't work, you could try to plug the phone into your PC to sync the pictures with Zune. When it asks for your PIN, you could try to guess where the keyboard is onscreen and see if it will let you unlock it just to get your data off. The touchscreen may not even work if the screen doesn't, but you might get lucky and your phone will unlock and you'd get your pictures saved off the phone.

 

[Nurse Jones]

Did you ever get thru... im in the same position. My phone fell and wont come back on and now i have no way of unlocking it to retrieve my music and photos