flash drives

I thought they were called memory sticks, at least, but it seems every time someone hands one over at work, they're called something different... Flash drive? Thumb drive? And other things that didn't register on my radar. What's the coolest geek term for these doovelackies?

If any of you smart computer savvy people could help me out, I'd greatly appreciate it. My USB flash drive isn't being recognized. I know it's the flash drive and not my computer because I have tried it on several different computers and another flash drive I have works on those computers...

I was using a 512 MB flash drive that I'd gotten free as part of a Staples promotional offer. It was working fine and I was using it to back up my schoolwork and writing projects-- up until just yesterday. All of a sudden, when I tried to copy files to it, Windows Explorer gave me the message...