USB Flash Drive Errors!

Frozenwolf150

Formerly SilentKnight
Frozenwolf150
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
4,134
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 that the drive was not formatted. Would I like to format it? Since I had copies of the files elsewhere, I decided I might as well, so that I could restore it to working function. I formatted it using the default FAT file system and it seemed to work once again.

Earlier today however, I tried to back up my files again and it gave me the SAME ERROR it gave me yesterday. I read that an incompatible file system might be to blame, so I tried formatting it this time in NTFS. Windows could not complete the operation. I tried formatting it in FAT again. This time, Windows could not read the drive at all, and Windows Explorer locked up on me, forcing me to reboot. Twice.

Now when I try inserting the flash drive, Windows outright fails to detect it at all. So I'm now [expletive deleted] out of luck.


Is the problem that the drive is simply broken? I wouldn't expect a freebie to last very long, but goddamn it, I expect it to last at least a couple of weeks. Is there something wrong with the USB port itself? The light goes on when I plug the flash drive in. I can't call their tech support because it's one guy and he's not there at this late hour.

I'm asking if it's simply that the flash drive is a piece of crap, because I don't want this error to repeat itself if I get a new flash drive.
 
That's not his point, though. The question is, is this a general characteristic of flash drives, or just this one?

To try and answer that, flash drives do have a limited number of write cycles. This can be easily found by a Google search; What is the life cycle of a USB flash drive states that it is between 10,000 and 100,000 writes, depending on the technology used.

That same link also says the connector can be rated at 1,500 insertions.


Note that doing things like "defragmenting" a USB drive are not appropriate, as a) it doesn't have rotational latency (which is what defragmenting helps with) and b) that causes extra write cycles anyway, which are A Bad Thing.

In your specific case, it depends on what you were doing with the drive. I would suspect, though, that it's most likely mechanical failure of the connector or innards, unless you were doing at lot (i.e. 10,000 cycles) of writing to it.
 
Well, yes, but I can see the concern. If you're relying on a drive like that as a backup, it's a bit of a worry if they're unreliable. I was just about to buy one to use for backup files, because I have no intention of repeating the debacle of the fried hard drive and the bill from the data recovery company. This makes me wonder, is a flash USB drive sufficiently robust for that purpose?

Rolfe.
 
Um, there are probably a lot of ways to goober up a flash drive. One would be a virus or worm.
Another would be the flash drive 'breaking'.
Given that it is a new drive I doubt it is a compatibility issue.

Chips fail. Happens a lot, and given the dirt and dust in many USB ports it is often a suprize that they do work.

It always helps to have multiple back ups in any case. And it helps if you can find a 'slim' USB flash drive, the they fit in the front of most machines. I use mine for convinience, I have my cleaners and utilities on it for work. (ATF Cleaner, CCleanet, Autoruns, and user profile files, and of course easy to carry storage)
 
Rolfe said:
Well, yes, but I can see the concern. If you're relying on a drive like that as a backup, it's a bit of a worry if they're unreliable. I was just about to buy one to use for backup files, because I have no intention of repeating the debacle of the fried hard drive and the bill from the data recovery company. This makes me wonder, is a flash USB drive sufficiently robust for that purpose?

Rolfe.
Click to expand...

Sad but true, most likely not. But burning CDs and external hard drives are available.
 
External hard drives - which are typically 5-10x the price but also 20x or more larger - would be suitable, as they are pretty reliable.

However, any backup option is subject to failure; even CDs and DVDs can fail or have write errors. The best choice, for critical stuff, is multiple backups. In my case, when I backup our home storage, it is first backed up (as an archive) on another hard disk, then copied to an external hard drive, and then burned to a DVD which I keep at work. With this, it's pretty unlikely that I'll loose anything, plus - provided the DVD backups don't fail - I have old backups I can go back to in case something gets deleted.
 
grmcdorman said:
External hard drives - which are typically 5-10x the price but also 20x or more larger - would be suitable, as they are pretty reliable.

However, any backup option is subject to failure; even CDs and DVDs can fail or have write errors. The best choice, for critical stuff, is multiple backups. In my case, when I backup our home storage, it is first backed up (as an archive) on another hard disk, then copied to an external hard drive, and then burned to a DVD which I keep at work. With this, it's pretty unlikely that I'll loose anything, plus - provided the DVD backups don't fail - I have old backups I can go back to in case something gets deleted.
Click to expand...

One external only connected when I want a backup - after I have defragged/scanned and checked the hard drive. A portable hard drive which is only loaded from the external hard drive and 8G and 16G pen drives loaded from one or the other. All important items are backed up 4X in that manner. Last summer a virus killed both of our (networked) computers. And the data in them I had not pen-drived. If it happens again, all program and data files are backed and not in line.
 
grmcdorman said:
The best choice, for critical stuff, is multiple backups. In my case, when I backup our home storage, it is first backed up (as an archive) on another hard disk, then copied to an external hard drive, and then burned to a DVD which I keep at work. With this, it's pretty unlikely that I'll lose anything, plus - provided the DVD backups don't fail - I have old backups I can go back to in case something gets deleted.
Click to expand...


How often do you do this?

Rolfe.
 
Weekly (if I remember; sometimes I forget). It's not a full backup; things that are not critical (like saves from games, or downloaded programs) are not backed up.
 
I guess it was due to the cheapness of the drive then. As ServiceSoon post said, what do I expect from a freebie? There was probably a reason Staples was simply giving them away. I'll have to run out and get a good flash drive to replace this one.

This ancient desktop didn't come with a CD writer drive, but it did come with a zip drive, which I've used to back up important stuff after my floppy drive ran into Microsoft's planned obsolescence. So not all is lost. I'm still no less incensed, mind you.
 
First of all, make sure you detach it safely from the operating system. Don't just yank it out, whenever you feel like it, because if it is either in the middle of a write OR there is a cache of data waiting to be written to it, that was not written, yet; it will mess up the file system.
Use the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon, in the Windows system tray, if you are using Windows, or whatever is the equivalent in MacOS.

In Windows you can often diagnose and fix problems with USB flash drives, in the Disk Management screen.
 
If you're looking for reasonably safe off-computer storage and not concerned about size, consider a USB case for a conventional hard drive. You can get these for not too much money, and since these days computers often hit the trash with drives anywhere from a few gigabytes to hundreds, you can probably get a good sized drive either free or very cheaply.
 
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