Problem formatting USB flash drive

owains · 19 Jun 2009 at 06:23

Hi.

I recently bought a 16GB flash USB drive from eBay which I believe is faulty. Initally, it seemed to work, but as I tried copying a large file on to it, it caused an error. I removed the device and plugged it back in, and now it appears to be unformatted. When I try and format the disk to access it, I'm told that the disk is write protected, so cannot be formatted.

Does anyone know of any methods I can try using windows, or some specialist software to attempt a fix?

Thanks!

owains · 19 Jun 2009 at 18:01

Just tried a few different programs after some googling with no success. Can anyone suggest another route to explore?

owains · 19 Jun 2009 at 19:32

I'm not sure it's "genuine"... it's unbranded. As I said before, it seemed to work OK for about 2 minutes.

The drive is 16GB. I believe it was formatted as FAT32, and that is the only option available when I attempt to format it using windows.

owains · 20 Jun 2009 at 16:56

Coxyis said:
If the file in question is over 4GB, your problem is probably the fact the drive is formatted in FAT32.

I can't actually copy any files over as the disk is unformatted.

IAmATeaf said:
Try this utils http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197

Thanks for the link. I gave the program a go but just get exactly the same error as the windows formatter brings up.

optitech-uk said:
Send it back, contact the seller stating it was ok for alittle bit then it just coming up with errors, print screen the results and send it too them.

I have contacted the seller who has agreed to refund if, when I send it back, it proves to be faulty. I suppose this is what I'll end up doing, but I just want to make sure that it is actually faulty first!

owains · 20 Jun 2009 at 19:23

miniyazz said:
You bought a large capacity flash drive on ebay, it had the firmware modified somehow to make the drive appear bigger than it actually is, to con idiots out of their money p), so when you tried copying something larger than the physical size of the flash drive, it died. At which point many unsuspecting people would have left feedback etc. It's illegal and you should report the seller to eBay.

Edit: And don't let him con you into you paying postage either, if he refuses to pay postage, just get your money back through Paypal and keep the drive.

If that's what has happened then it's a pretty nasty trick. I will ask for postage costs as well as the refund before I send the item back, as you've suggested.

The guy did seem cooperative though, so maybe it is just a genuine fault. If he does start trying to mess me around then I guess he probably is up to some funny business, and I'll report him to eBay.

Thanks for the advice chaps!