Help Connecting Arduino Uno To Computer
I have shorted my bords a few time and they always came back to "life" after a minute. Maybe you should be more concern about the voltage you supply to the board. Even if it can take up to 12 volt I never use more then 9 volt on the board. And if you run motors on them its always good to supply them with an external power source and use something like a H bridge to power your devices. I made mistakes and my board are still in mint conditions.