Flash USB Memory Device?

Forget to transfer files ! What's wrong.

[tomda]

Hi,

I do not know what is wrong with my USB memory device, it just ignore subfolders or corrupt my files (excel and jpg).
When trying to delete blank folders or format the Flash, I get a alarm message telling me that the folder is not empty. I even had an empty folder of 29 Gb although it is a 62 Mb Flash.

Is it time to change it? It is just 2.5 years old, is it normal? Any advice on how to trace the problem?

Thanks

[giggle]

just a guess, could it be hidden files?

[tomda]

No, there are not... In fact, it is two days that I am struggling with it, I have tried everythin I can. Loosing files is terrible but I luckily managed to finish a project in time.

Am I the only one to have problems with Flash USB Memory device? Can it be a CPU problem?

[HowlingWizard]

I have seen similar problems with a couple of USB flash drives. Appeared to be corrupted file system. may have come from unplugging with without doing the stop the device first.

I ended doing a check disk then reformating each. they are now ok.

[g1smd]

32MB cards normally show as 30.5MB in Windows.

What has happened if one shows as only 29.2MB instead, even after full reformatting?

Normally 31 997 852 bytes, but this one is only 30 330 882 bytes instead.

[tomda]

I have tried everything (full scan system, defragmentation of the device, check for malicious spyware and malware, etc..).

HowlingWizard said "I have seen similar problems with a couple of USB flash drives. Appeared to be corrupted file system. may have come from unplugging with without doing the stop the device first."

In fact, I should correctly stop the device at all time, even before shutting down Windows. When the device is not removed and I shut down, I get a warning msg saying that Windows Explorer is not responding (that still in use).

Now, I am just wondering should I plug the device before or after starting Windows? lol

[tomda]

I have hard search on Google to try resolving my problem.

It is true that files get corrupt when the device is removed without safely removing the hardware.

It is true that Flash memory stick start to misbehave after 1000 full copying/deleting.

But it seems to be an Operating System (OS) problem as people using the Flash to transfer files from different OS (e.g. from Mac or Linux to Windows (and vice-versa)) encounter the same problem than I.

Same as I just that in my case both OS are identical (both XPPro)!

[SEOMike]

Do you have access to a WIN 98 machine? You have to load drivers in WIN 98 in order for that OS to recognize the card and maybe you could re-format it there.

[g1smd]

Win 98SE was used for the problem I documented above.

Any answers on that one at all?

[tomda]

I found some content in message board regarding your problem in Google. In the best of my knowledge, it is normal and there is nothing you can do.

But found this page this morning and it is great for USB technical problem (specially Flash memory stick).
Go and have a look.
[pcbuyerbeware.co.uk...]

But it seems that the solution of my problem is there

Reinstalling Windows XP over itself by booting from the CD will not remove the customised settings and data, but if the NTFS instead of the FAT32 file system is installed, it will create a new user account - even if you use the same user name as you did when XP was first installed. A new user account will not be created if XP is using FAT32. (XP's native file system is NTFS, but it will automatically use FAT32 if upgraded to from a Windows 9.x system.) Because of this anomaly, if Windows XP is using NTFS, after the reinstallation you won't be able to access the old user' s My Documents and e-mail files, etc., since each user account is associated with a different Security Identifier (SID) - a unique 128-bit random number generated during the installation process.

[vincevincevince]

Just to be clear - have you actually reformatted the drive, a full reformat (not 'quick')?

[tomda]

Sure, I did. A full format. I also did an update of the device. I will give my CPU to a technician soon to find out what happened (anyway, my XP is buggy so it is time for a check-up).