Memory stick - USB Pendrive

Last Kartik in Vrindavan I bought a USB Memory stick (128 mb portable harddisk), but it seems to have gone defunct already (after 5 months time for 1250 Rupees). Files downloaded from the internet, regardless of format, .txt, .doc, or .pdf, turn blank at 2nd opening! That means, the first one opens the file on the memory stick one can see the contents, the second time you open the file the window is blank though the title bar displays the title and the format of the file! Images downloaded refuse to display after opening. My daughter suggests that perhaps there are settings to this memory stick that could be tweaked. The brand is Olympia, made in China........
Anyone?

With your other note, it sounds like you have PC problems as opposed to problems with the stick. A USB stick is a USB sick, should never need anything extrra to make it run unless its one that has the drivers if using it on older win machines.

You prolly got something in your machine if you are having trouble with ALL of your media players and even your USB port. Run all your spywaares, run all your antivirus and then run defrag. Also go and make sure you empty all your temp and cache files.

If all else fails, vack up and reinstall your OS.


Thats just what I would do, Hope it helps
brajamani

No no you dont understand! The weird things with the USB stick started in Govardhan, in an internet Cafe, not on my own pc. The problem remains here on my home pc, so the fault definitely lies with the Stick not with the PC. My PC is in a good state - that the media players went AWOL and the memory stick too is just coincidence. I have drivers with it for win98 but no need, because that cyber cafe there also ran XP. So there is no settings on it that can be tweaked - its just broken? I realise it is Chinese and cheap - 1250 Rupees is about 21 euros ( $ 28) while in the shops here in Holland they cost 60 euros ($ 80).

Def sounds like a problem with the stick. Remember, it is just a material device, and they go bad. When you buy something like this, you are usually purchasing the warranty with the extra money. If you had purchased a big brand name, there would probably be a 1 yr warranty on it that would cover replacement...

Unfortunately, there is no fixing a USB stick... gotta get a new one.

>Unfortunately, there is no fixing a USB stick... gotta get a new one.

Thats the truth!

I am however looking into a mp3 player that uses a USB stick. 50 is easier to pay than a few hundred for something like the rio karma.

Just wondering a bit about the cause of my USB stick's demise. Could it be that if you jam it into the PC's USB slot in the opposite direction the interior of the stick's USB plug gets damaged? Just asking to prevent the breakup of future USB sticks...

Perhaps... they stick out from the side of a computer (esp a laptop), and are prone to being banged & bent. It could also be a fault of the medium, corrupting the data once opened. I'm not sure how magnetic fields affect USB sticks, but when you go through an airport, you may want to give it to the security people instead of having it pass through the detectors. It could also be a fault of the manufacturing process... when you buy another, keep an eye on the replacement warranty. If its long enough (1+ years) its worth the extra money.

Oh, yes.. be careful of how you put it into the machine! The wrong direction would def damage it!

Hmmm. There are a few possible causes here of the breakdown. I did travel with the thing through many an airport scanner.... Also, is there any way to see in advance how to keep the stick before inserting it into the back of a PC, so that one does not push it in the wrong way?

No it just takes patience. I always look for the ports on the front of a machine and try to insert it in face up at school.

ports on the front of a machine? face up at school? Explain..

Modern system blocks often have 2-4 USB ports at the front panel (or, as variant, at the side panel, near the front panel). My PC is old, so I bougt a standart USB cable ($0,5) and insert my USB Drive into it. It lies on the top of my system block.

OK Thanks. And what does 'face up at school" mean?

He means he uses the USB stick on his school computers.

You just have to be patient & look at how to put it in. It should slide right in. If you have to apply much force, something is wrong.

I mean, the rectangular plug of the stick is half filled up with a hard substance and the other half is cavity, and the slot in the PC is of course vice versa. It doesnt seem to be possible to damage the hard sustance inside the plug, even if you jam it into the slot with force. Indeed I dont see any physical damage to the stick's external or internal. Could it then be destroyed by the radiation of airport security scanners?

Right.. you just don't want to scratch the contacts that exist in the connection slot.

Again, anything is possible, but I'm leaning towards media corruption.. there is something wrong with the physical media that the data is stored on. As such, you need to get a new one.. can't fix it.

Sure I understand but I want to learn what went wrong so that I can avoid it next time and save money (BTW here in the supermart they sell sticks with a 3 year warranty, whoopee! ). The older files (on my old stick) can still be read and opened, the younger ones not. The thing started to malfunction when I used it in a cyber in Govardhana, and all files written to it there and from then on are blanks. That is mysterious. The malfunction seems to be caused neither by scanner radiation nor disk- or plug-damage.