anyone ever have a portable USB flash drive fail on them?

[skdsp]

mine stopped working...possibly because ive dropped it so many times

 

[calvinbiss]

Originally posted by: dullard
Yes they can and do fail. They have a very short lifetime (maximum number of writes). But more often when I see this problem, it isn't the drive's fault. Windows sometimes gets messed up. Try it on another computer. If it works, then uninstall and reinstall your USB port drivers.

This happened to coworker yesterday, just reinstall drivers

 

[y2kc]

sure, after multiple cycles in the washer and dryer.

 

[RossMAN]

I don't really put mine in my pants and carry it around with me.

4 month old Kingston 512MB hasn't failed me (yet).

 

[claydawg]

I've got the same one. I've thrown it, dropped it, beat it, washed it, and it hasn't failed me yet.

 

[Tiamat]

yes, says it was locked, but there is no locking mechanism. It was a Kingston 128mb stick. Their FAQs stated that if it gives this specific error, the drive is fubar (paraphrased)

 

[B00ne]

only when I forced my notebook back in its bag with the flashe drive still attached to it :Q

 

[edprush]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: edprush
there must be some type of data recovery service out there.........

Have you tried in in another computer yet?

yes, different Operating Systems too and still no luck

 

[brxndxn]

I got an odd problem...

I have 3 USB flash devices, a cruzer mini 128mb, a cruzer titanium 512mb, and one of those IBM freebies. I always used them in the same USB port on my 7 port USB 2.0 Belkin hub. One day, the 128mb quit working in the hub and would give an error. However, it works in the hub if I plug the hub into another computer's USB 1.1 port. Also, the 128mb works in any port on any other computer. The other flash drives still work in the hub. But, no matter what, the 128mb will not work in my desktop computer when it's plugged into my hub.. It's so frustrating because my hub is right near me at my desk so it is convenient..

Any suggestions?


BTW, IMO, flash drives are pretty durable. I have washed and dried both my Cruzer mini and Cruzer Titanium and they still both work perfect.. except for that little issue with my hub

 

[WildHorse]

Cruizer that I bought at Fry's failed.
Locked & could not be unlocked or even reformatted.

When I contacted the company about it, they said it was a known bug, it could not be unlocked, and it was out of warranty, too bad.

 

[jessicak]

YES and mine was a lexar too. I tried bringing one of my lab reports to lab with me so that I could finish it and I was pretty mad when I got there and found out that my flash drive didn't work anymore...

 

[CraigRT]

I have a Kingston datatraveler and it works perfectly too.
many months old now, take it everywhere i go.

 

[illusion88]

I used to have it on my keychain. Once I was at this party, way out of town, and got really drunk. Well, needless to say I dropped my keychain (with the drive) in the ditch. It got snowed on, frozen, and ran over. Well, 6 weeks later it returned to me (someone ran their car into that very ditch and found the keys, knew they belonged to someone at my school and returned them to the front desk).

Fvcking thing still worked. All my data was still intact too. I drained water out of the danm thing.

 

[edprush]

There must be some data recovery services, right?

 

[SpecialEd]

mine went through the wash (left it in my pants pocket). I took it apart to let the innards dry. Still works great!

 

[Juno]

i had a generic 128mb flash drive failed on me then i went on to purchase iomega 256mb flash drive and it worked perfectly. go with the better name brands instead.

i don't think lexar's a good brand.

 

[BigB10293]

Originally posted by: dullard
Yes they can and do fail. They have a very short lifetime (maximum number of writes). But more often when I see this problem, it isn't the drive's fault. Windows sometimes gets messed up. Try it on another computer. If it works, then uninstall and reinstall your USB port drivers.

It's not that short. They usually are rated to the 10k to 100k write-erase loops for the ENTIRE card. You would have to completely fill and erase the card this many times to pass this point. The most common problem that kills these drives is people ripping them out while some writing is going on.

 

[edprush]

Originally posted by: BigB10293
I've seen 100's of them. But then I work for a company that makes them.

Your company doesn't do data recovery?

 

[BigB10293]

Originally posted by: edprush

Originally posted by: BigB10293
I've seen 100's of them. But then I work for a company that makes them.

Your company doesn't do data recovery?

No. I could do it, but it is a pain and very time consuming. Describe your problem.. maybe it' could be fixed another way.

 

[oogabooga]

i tend to lose them before they break

 

[edprush]

Originally posted by: BigB10293

Originally posted by: edprush

Originally posted by: BigB10293
I've seen 100's of them. But then I work for a company that makes them.

Your company doesn't do data recovery?

No. I could do it, but it is a pain and very time consuming. Describe your problem.. maybe it' could be fixed another way.

The light on the USB jump drive still comes on when I plug it in to the USB port but neither Windows Explorer nor the Device Manager display the drive.

I'd bet the data is still on the chip but the connection on the USB drive is cracked or something.

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: edprush
Could my not being able to access the files on the USB jump drive be due to me not 'stopping' the device before I removed it last time?

Nah. I've had that cause it to recognize and demand to format the drive, killing my files, but it didn't kill the drive itself.

That I've had.

 

[MX2]

Does this mean the same could happen to SD, CF, MMC, etc. cards?

 

[Anonemous]

I had a usb flash drive fail on me. Used a software recovery to recover any files. Found out that later those files were corrupted...

 

[DaFOBulous1]

This is my 4th Lexar JumpDrive, first time my fault, second time just died, 3rd one seemed like it was already used and started failing and now my fourth. Luckily, their RMA service is top notch but I lost a lot of valuable files.