8 gig USB Pen Drive formatting problem

[DellHater]

Hi
Just bought this, plugged it in and seemed ok, went to copy data to it and it failed with a cyclic redundancy check.
Now it won't let me format it, it looks like it is, but it fails right at the end of the format (quick or normal). I tried a chkdsk E: /f but it said it cant because its RAW.

Guy at work said it could be something to do with it being a large capacity pen drive, or is it just the pen drive it knackered ?

Thanks

Steve

 

[AP81]

Personally, i'd remove the partition and create a primary partition then try formatting it again.

You can do this in Windows by going to:

control panel > Computer management > Disk Management > Right click > Delete partition > Right click > New partition (primary)

Then format the pen as normal.

 

[roland63]

I'd take that drive back for an exchange - look for a different brand for replacement.

Why try to fix something that may never work right?

Hope you still have your receipt...

 

[DellHater]

AP81 - Tried all that, I don't even get the option to do anything to the partition.

Rloand63 - i got convinced that things were ok to buy on ebay from Hong Kong !
needless to say I am chasing a refund, won't bother buying off there again.

thanks

Steve

 

[AP81]

So you right-clicked on the USB drive and you have no options in the right click menu?

 

[DellHater]

only the usual format etc, try to do that and it fails.
in computer management it won't let me delete partition thats greyed out.

coming to rapid conclusion its a pile of sh*te !

 

[AP81]

Sorry, I actually meant this:

control panel > Administrative Tools > Computer management > left click on Disk Management

In the right hand pane, you should see a graphical representation of your USB pen. It will most likely have a filesystem type of RAW.

Next, Right click on this drive, then select 'Delete Partition'. After you have deleted the partition, right click on the drive again, then select 'New partition'. Follow the prompts, then select 'Primary partition', then type 'FAT32'. Then right-click again then format.

 

[DellHater]

Yeah already tried that one.
Can't do anything with the partition either, thats greyed out.

Thanks for your help but I think the drive is a pile of twonk !

 

[kjv1611]

ut I think the drive is a pile of twonk !

If you got one of those generic, no-name ones, then yeah, I'd guess that is right.

I've tried the Hong Kong super cheap method on a handfull of items. A couple came out okay, but most of the time, I was left wishing I had never tried them.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[xwb]

The problem with pen drives is that they assume that they have been formatted as FAT. If you've formatted it using NTFS, you're stuffed. You can reformat it but make sure it is FAT: not NTFS.

 

[biglebowski]

Why was my earlier post deleted?

I'll repeat then.

There are counterfeit usb sticks floating around ebay at the moment. They come from china and have used some sort of app to falsely report their size. A work colleague purchased an 8GB one and after investigating found that physically it was only 1GB.

maybe we aren't allowed to mention ebay and counterfeit goods???

When I was born I was so suprised I didn't talk for 18 months

 

[roland63]

That practice of scamming the buyer on the mentioned auction site is nothing new...

That's why I wouldn't buy such item from there.

Plenty of sales locally.

 

[AP81]

DellHater,

You can always try re-partitioning it using FDisk or using Linux partition tools. If you use FDisk you will need to load a USB driver so you can access the USB key for partitioning.

If you download Damn Small Linux (it is only 50MB), you can then use cfdisk or fdisk to remove the partition, create and new partition and then format it.

 

[DellHater]

its ok.
after running kill disk and encountering 99% errors on disk, I have concluded that this is one of those piles of junk being sold on ebay.
Getting one from the UK that actually works.

Thanks for everyone's help, sure as hell wont be buying off ebay again!

 

[jurgen36]

Well I don't really know. I bought 16 8 Gbyte pen drives from four different suppliers in Hkg. All worked ok, enable them in cmos, then boot your machine with a win98se floppy, use Fdisk afterwards Format the pen drives, never had any failure. Just as a test I formated one in winxp. NTFS, this drive failed and could not be fdisked again. If you format this pen drives in XP then you can scrap them permanently. May be I was lucky in my purchase but at the price of 8 dollars each I thought I take the chance.
Regards

Jurgen

 

[xwb]

Can't remember how I worked out the FAT format solution. Think it was because all forms of windows could read it which meant it had to be FAT.

My son formatted his removable disk as NTFS and now that one is dead too.

 

[jurgen36]

I just got a 32 Gbyte pen drive from HKG, used fdisk in win98se, then format. No problems at all, so I really believe the issue is that you can not use NTFS for this drives. NTFS seems to ruin them permanently.
Regards

Jurgen

 

[kjv1611]

Note to self: Do NOT use NTFS on thumb drives.


--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[xwb]

Is it possible to push manufacturers to issue a warning not to format these drives as NTFS? Lots of school kids have them and they're going to format them eventually.