Flash Memory Stick

I have a Sony 64Gb flash memory stick, but recently have found that after transferring folders containing zip or rar files from my laptop to the stick, the folders or individual files on the memory stick are showing empty. The system records that the appropriate space has been used on the flash memory, but there's nothing showing up. Could this be a hardware problem, a driver problem or somehting else? I've tried disk checks and reformatting but the problem is still there

Did you buy this stick from a reputable company or from a private seller such as eBay? Did it work in the past and you actually read the information back? The reason I ask is because memory sticks / pen drives are very often counterfeited; I have been burned myself on eBay but I got all but $3, which I paid to send a return package, back. They basically take a 1GB chip or smaller and they reprogram it so that it constantly overwrites to the same location - it looks like it is working but it will not read back the data.

All Flash drives have a limited number of writes before they become unable to maintain the data; estimated in years of use, but because of the constant writing and overwriting of the same location these hacked flash drives have often used much of their lifespan, even if you are able to restore the drive to it's correct size. Plus they tend to use inferior parts and chips which didn't pass inspection in even their original capacities.

To test your flash drive download and run h2testw. For a drive your size it may run 12 hours or more.

Read more HERE

h2testw page translated into English HERE or follow the links on the webpage

Thanks for the response. I bought it from eBay, but the price was pitched about right for it to look like it was genuine, but still a bargain! I downloaded h2testw as you suggested and after write testing the drive for over 15 hours, discoverd that it was a 2Gb drive faked to read as 64Gb. I also initially used a tool called Hacked-USB, which froze at 16Gb, giving me a slight amount of encouragement that I had something half decent. never mind. At least i now have the tools to check immediatly in future. Thanks again.

File a "Item not received as advertised" claim with eBay. Mine was to look like a Kingston 128GB and I called Kingston and they told me how to identify it was not theirs over the phone but wouldn't issue me any affidavit or certificate to prove to eBay it was counterfeit. eBay told me that without proof I must return it WITH delivery confirmation for them to issue a refund. Please understand it is a Federal crime to send counterfeit goods through the mail, EVEN to return them. You are supposed to file a fraud report with the post office and since I used a credit card I could have also tried that.

Instead, it cost me $3, but I sent my jerk an empty doggie doodie bag on which I had written Clean up your $#!T WITH delivery confirmation (some suggested it should have been a full used bag ) and eBay issued my refund. Probably NOT the right way to go but some people at eBay don't seem to know their own rules; supposedly there is to be an eBay location where we ship the item and they confirm it is counterfeit, issue a refund, and destroy the counterfeit merchandise (even so, how do we ship it there legally?) Then I negged the jerk and told everybody he was selling counterfeit items; I even emailed several people that had left positive and instructed them to verify it was good with the tool I told you and to file a claim when they discovered it wasn't.

I had a similar thing happen, I called eBay to resolve a counterfeit Win XP Pro SP2 (OEM) OS that I received. I was not asked to return the item, in fact was asked to destroy it.

My money was refunded without a single shred of proof of evidence that it was counterfeit. Perhaps the seller burned others, they do keep track of these things closely. After my money was returned, I called MS, they made things right for $0. That's right, $0. I told them that I had bought it from a "street vendor" hanging around Best Buy. It was a "quality" counterfeit, and MS wanted it. Within a week, I had a full retail copy of XP Pro, in the end, at no cost to me.

The same problem exists with flash drives, even if the amount of storage is there (mine was, 16GB), it was of poor quality. It wouldn't even pass the test to be used for ReadyBoost, it was reported that the drive didn't have the read/write speeds that was required to run it.

Cat

Have read similar stories about innocent people being duped by disreputable eBay sellers. Never purchased anything from eBay. Never will.

There are many things to consider where ReadyBoost is concerned. Just because a usb drive does not pass the standards for ReadyBoost does not mean it is of poor quality.

True, but a 16GB drive for $12? I don't know of any place where you can get drives of that size, for that price. It was a no name, elcheapo USB flash drive.

There were other problems besides not being capable of being suitable for ReadyBoost. ImgBurn, a highly reliable program, had problems burning & validating the downloads stored to it. Also, I used it once to store the XP Mode (exe) file, part of the way through, the program reported file corruption.

And once, I did a Macrium backup of a small OS (Win 2K) on it, when I attempted to recover, midway through, it reported file corruption. So I've given it plenty of chances for it to show that it was worth something, other than a paperweight in a plastic case made for it.

The fact is this, you don't get 16GB of quality storage for $12, it was one of those things that I learned through experience. Now, I only buy brand name USB thumb drives (SanDisk, Kingston, PNY, etc).

And come away very satisfied.

Cat

I used to be a big fan of ebay and only once got burned, but I don't think it is what it used to be and the claim process through ebay and/or paypal is so protracted/tedious that I hardly bother with ebay purchases any more. Especially when genuine retailers and online stores offer such competitive deals these days.
Sad to say but in some cases (computer stuff especially) ebay is becoming little more then an online version of your local $2/discount store.

eBay has actually made the claims process much easier. You can file directly in eBay rather than using the old Paypal method. You still have to wait a week to file and they get like 10 days to reply but it seems better than it used to be. Unfortunately in a tough economy there are more scammers out their and I feel eBay does very little to curb it. Sure they no longer let individuals from China or Hong Kong list Louis Vutton or Gucci but I believe it took lawsuits from the companies to stop it.

You should always do your homework, check feedback and ask questions and even for more photos. Like Cat said 16GB for $12, currently the very best price at newegg runs about $24 after rebate. So if you bought one for $12 you know you are taking a risk and you sure as heck don't expect high quality. If you had certain needs like specific Read/Write rates so that it works with readyboost then it is your responsibility to ask for that information or not to buy.