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USB MEMORY STICK PROBLEM

G

gram

Flightless Bird
hi,,,i have a 64gb memory stick with some files on it and some laptops
it works fine and on some others it dosnt open and i get a message do
i want to format it yes or no....whats the problem ...thanks
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In news:1d0dd7d3-0b1e-4ba1-a830-f8d5959e9105@3g2000yqn.googlegroups.com,
gram typed on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:20:35 -0800 (PST):
> hi,,,i have a 64gb memory stick with some files on it and some laptops
> it works fine and on some others it dosnt open and i get a message do
> i want to format it yes or no....whats the problem ...thanks


Are you using the memory stick from USB or some built in card reader? As
for the latter, some card readers can only read up to so much. My
Gateway laptops for example from '06 can only read up to 1GB memory
cards under XP. Btw, if I put in a 2GB card, it asks to reformat it.
Anything larger, it can't even see anything to format. And there are no
drivers for them under Vista or Windows 7. So I use an USB connected
card reader to read anything higher. Although the limit for the card
readers I have is up to 32GB.

So I believe you are seeing a similar thing. As the machines that want
to format them, can't read anything that large. But I have an idea that
might or might not work. That is to partition the drive and maybe those
that can't read it, might be able to see at least the first partition.

Now most partition utilities won't partition them into anything more
than one partition. I have one that will. Although I should write down
which one of mine that will. Because I forget which one allows you to do
this. And I have to try a number of them before I find out the one that
can. You might be able to find one using Google too.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3
 
G

gram

Flightless Bird
On 11 Feb, 08:28, "BillW50" <Bill...@aol.kom> wrote:
> Innews:1d0dd7d3-0b1e-4ba1-a830-f8d5959e9105@3g2000yqn.googlegroups.com,
> gram typed on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:20:35 -0800 (PST):
>
> > hi,,,i have a 64gb memory stick with some files on it and some laptops
> > it works fine and on some others it dosnt open and i get a message do
> > i want to format it yes or no....whats the problem ...thanks

>
> Are you using the memory stick from USB or some built in card reader? As
> for the latter, some card readers can only read up to so much. My
> Gateway laptops for example from '06 can only read up to 1GB memory
> cards under XP. Btw, if I put in a 2GB card, it asks to reformat it.
> Anything larger, it can't even see anything to format. And there are no
> drivers for them under Vista or Windows 7. So I use an USB connected
> card reader to read anything higher. Although the limit for the card
> readers I have is up to 32GB.
>
> So I believe you are seeing a similar thing. As the machines that want
> to format them, can't read anything that large. But I have an idea that
> might or might not work. That is to partition the drive and maybe those
> that can't read it, might be able to see at least the first partition.
>
> Now most partition utilities won't partition them into anything more
> than one partition. I have one that will. Although I should write down
> which one of mine that will. Because I forget which one allows you to do
> this. And I have to try a number of them before I find out the one that
> can. You might be able to find one using Google too.
>
> --
> Bill
> Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3


hi...thanks for reply....im using an all in one 64gb usb memory
stick.....i bought it on ebay from china....it was cheap...but its
strange it works fine on some laptops and then others cant open it and
want to format it....
 
G

gram

Flightless Bird
On 11 Feb, 10:46, gram <gramp...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On 11 Feb, 08:28, "BillW50" <Bill...@aol.kom> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Innews:1d0dd7d3-0b1e-4ba1-a830-f8d5959e9105@3g2000yqn.googlegroups.com,
> > gram typed on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:20:35 -0800 (PST):

>
> > > hi,,,i have a 64gb memory stick with some files on it and some laptops
> > > it works fine and on some others it dosnt open and i get a message do
> > > i want to format it yes or no....whats the problem ...thanks

>
> > Are you using the memory stick from USB or some built in card reader? As
> > for the latter, some card readers can only read up to so much. My
> > Gateway laptops for example from '06 can only read up to 1GB memory
> > cards under XP. Btw, if I put in a 2GB card, it asks to reformat it.
> > Anything larger, it can't even see anything to format. And there are no
> > drivers for them under Vista or Windows 7. So I use an USB connected
> > card reader to read anything higher. Although the limit for the card
> > readers I have is up to 32GB.

>
> > So I believe you are seeing a similar thing. As the machines that want
> > to format them, can't read anything that large. But I have an idea that
> > might or might not work. That is to partition the drive and maybe those
> > that can't read it, might be able to see at least the first partition.

>
> > Now most partition utilities won't partition them into anything more
> > than one partition. I have one that will. Although I should write down
> > which one of mine that will. Because I forget which one allows you to do
> > this. And I have to try a number of them before I find out the one that
> > can. You might be able to find one using Google too.

>
> > --
> > Bill
> > Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3

>
> hi...thanks for reply....im using an all in one 64gb usb memory
> stick.....i bought it on ebay from china....it was cheap...but its
> strange it works fine on some laptops and then others cant open it and
> want to format it....- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


i am only using on new laptops so its strange....works fine on xp on
asus 1000 but not on aspire 1 xp
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In
news:5c5bc0cf-c497-47ff-bb65-2a315142b542@k19g2000yqc.googlegroups.com,
gram typed on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:46:10 -0800 (PST):
> On 11 Feb, 08:28, "BillW50" <Bill...@aol.kom> wrote:
>> Innews:1d0dd7d3-0b1e-4ba1-a830-f8d5959e9105@3g2000yqn.googlegroups.com,
>> gram typed on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:20:35 -0800 (PST):
>>
>>> hi,,,i have a 64gb memory stick with some files on it and some
>>> laptops it works fine and on some others it dosnt open and i get a
>>> message do i want to format it yes or no....whats the problem
>>> ...thanks

>>
>> Are you using the memory stick from USB or some built in card
>> reader? As for the latter, some card readers can only read up to so
>> much. My Gateway laptops for example from '06 can only read up to
>> 1GB memory cards under XP. Btw, if I put in a 2GB card, it asks to
>> reformat it. Anything larger, it can't even see anything to format.
>> And there are no drivers for them under Vista or Windows 7. So I use
>> an USB connected card reader to read anything higher. Although the
>> limit for the card readers I have is up to 32GB.
>>
>> So I believe you are seeing a similar thing. As the machines that
>> want to format them, can't read anything that large. But I have an
>> idea that might or might not work. That is to partition the drive
>> and maybe those that can't read it, might be able to see at least
>> the first partition.
>>
>> Now most partition utilities won't partition them into anything more
>> than one partition. I have one that will. Although I should write
>> down which one of mine that will. Because I forget which one allows
>> you to do this. And I have to try a number of them before I find out
>> the one that can. You might be able to find one using Google too.

>
> hi...thanks for reply....im using an all in one 64gb usb memory
> stick.....i bought it on ebay from china....it was cheap...but its
> strange it works fine on some laptops and then others cant open it and
> want to format it....


OH NO! I would find a utility to check for fake flash drives and run it
right away on yours. And a lot of those sold on eBay from China are
fake. Meaning they don't hold as much as they say they do. Windows won't
complain while saving files until it thinks it has reached its capacity.
Although if it is a fake, most of the saved files are not really there.
They show in the directory, but the files themselves won't be there.

That is the first thing I would do. These utilities write data and reads
it back to make sure each cell actually works. That way you can make
sure you don't have one of those fake ones. And they will give you the
true capacity. For 64GB it could take a day or two to check through it.
At least for the one I have.

I bought a fake 8GB SDHC card on eBay from China. I kind of figured it
was a fake when I bided on it. And sure enough, it was really a 2GB
flash drive and not a 8GB one. And there is no easy fix to make them to
report the true amount. One you have to know the chipset that is used
inside. Then and only then, you might find an utility to correct it. You
can get your money back like I did if it is a fake. That is if you don't
wait too long.

I kind of cheated with mine. As I have a partition manager that can
partition flash drives (most cannot). And I partitioned the first 2GB
and left the other 6GB (that really doesn't exists) unpartitioned. So
far (knock on wood) it still works fine. Although I don't trust it for
original files.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In
news:29a65b65-c099-4773-850a-d7bb29c3b5ae@j31g2000yqa.googlegroups.com,
gram typed on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:49:54 -0800 (PST):
> i am only using on new laptops so its strange....works fine on xp on
> asus 1000 but not on aspire 1 xp


Asus is really good about supporting larger drives than many other
manufactures. So that would make a lot of sense to me. Remember what I
said in my earlier post. I would check your drive out. Here is one I
found from Google.

USB Flash Drive Tester 1.14
http://downloads.zdnet.co.uk/0,1000000375,39364218s,00.htm

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3
 
T

the wharf rat

Flightless Bird
In article <hl1nl6$dfv$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>
>OH NO! I would find a utility to check for fake flash drives and run it
>right away on yours. And a lot of those sold on eBay from China are
>fake. Meaning they don't hold as much as they say they do. Windows won't
>complain while saving files until it thinks it has reached its capacity.
>Although if it is a fake, most of the saved files are not really there.
>They show in the directory, but the files themselves won't be there.


WTF are you talking about?
 
T

the wharf rat

Flightless Bird
In article <hl1o3g$h75$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>
>USB Flash Drive Tester 1.14


Why do you need to test flash drives? They're 100% reliable. I
know a guy who's owned 12 and never had a problem.
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In news:hl1ohf$p0s$3@reader2.panix.com,
the wharf rat typed on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:15:43 +0000 (UTC):
> In article <hl1o3g$h75$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
> BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>>
>> USB Flash Drive Tester 1.14

>
> Why do you need to test flash drives? They're 100% reliable. I
> know a guy who's owned 12 and never had a problem.


True... but many of those bought on eBay from China are fake flash
drives. Meaning that most of the storage isn't real at all. And I tested
them under Windows and Windows will not complain one bit. You can save
all you want too until it thinks it has reached the full capacity.
Although with a fake, it has a long time ago. Thus most of the saved
files won't really be there. I should try one under Linux. I bet Linux
will be fooled by them as well.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3
 
T

the wharf rat

Flightless Bird
In article <hl1phh$v4v$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>
>True... but many of those bought on eBay from China are fake flash
>drives. Meaning that most of the storage isn't real at all. And I tested


What do you mean by "the storage isn't real"?
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In news:hl21m4$qg6$3@reader2.panix.com,
the wharf rat typed on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:51:48 +0000 (UTC):
> In article <hl1phh$v4v$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
> BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>>
>> True... but many of those bought on eBay from China are fake flash
>> drives. Meaning that most of the storage isn't real at all. And I
>> tested

>
> What do you mean by "the storage isn't real"?


That is exactly what fake drives are. They report a higher capacity than
what they really are. Thus some of the capacity is real and some
(usually most) of it isn't at all. No other country except China are
making them. As no other country is stupid enough to try to sell them.
Well Nigeria probably would if they were smart enough to learn how to
manufacture them in the first place. As they are only smart enough to
produce email scams. Which is about the level that almost any five year
old could do.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3
 
T

the wharf rat

Flightless Bird
In article <hl24pb$5nj$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
BillW50 <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:
>>
>> What do you mean by "the storage isn't real"?

>
>That is exactly what fake drives are. They report a higher capacity than
>what they really are. Thus some of the capacity is real and some


What's going on is that for some reason these guys think it's
necessary to reprogram the controller to sell fraudulent merchandise. They
could just as well ship empty shells and save themselves the trouble.

They reprogram the controller (reprogram is a bit of a grandiosity;
all they really do is change the identifying information the device reports)
to have the thing identify itself as a higher capacity device. Writes
appear to succeed because the stupid controllers on these things do odd and
unpredictable things when handed addresses outside of the range they
expect and typically "wrap" the address to some real but nonsensical value.
Reads then fail because they return data that's been over-written by 12
other bogus write cycles.

I guess if you're going to try and save money and flash devices
at least do an fsck (chkdsk) before you use it...
 
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