Is my USB key dying?

[yoco]

Hi! I've had SanDisk 32gb usb key for a few years now, Everything was working fine, until now. Every time I try to copy any files on it, it's copying for a few seconds, then I hear that disconnect sound and I get this message

 

I tried formating, and it's always the same. Any suggestions what else I could try or is it slowly dying?

[Steven P. Administrators]

There's a couple of things you can try here https://www.easeus.com/partition-master/sandisk-repair-tool.html but first of all you should ensure that the files on the USB drive are backed up somewhere else if you can still copy them over.

 

The file system may have gotten corrupted, this can happen if you accidentally pulled the drive without properly 'ejecting' it first, so a format of the drive might be in order too.

[StrikedOut]

I would back the data up and get another in, they are very cheap these days. It may last for some time and as Steven above has said, there are a few things you can do but for the cost, get a spare in and make sure EVERYTHING is backed up.

[yoco]

Tried format with link above, and it didn't work. It's the same, starts copying, then that message shows up.

[Steven P. Administrators]

Stupid idea, but did you try another USB port? maybe an entirely different array, like instead of the front panel, around the back (if it is a PC).

[yoco]

So I uninstalled usb key from device manager and I did solution 1 from this link https://windowsreport.com/cant-copy-files-to-usb-drive-write-protected/

I successfully copied 10gb big files. I hope this actually fixed it!

[Steven P. Administrators]

Oh nice, glad it is fixed!

[xendrome]

I still wouldn't trust it.. a 32GB is $5 on amazon, not worth the risk of losing data.

[Daedroth]

I have had colleagues in my workplace in my office literally in tears because their USB pen drive or external hard drive has died and that's the only place they have all of their personal data, such as wedding photos, kids photos, etc. Data restoration can be an extremely costly (and not guaranteed) process.

 

If you think the device may be on it's way out - back it up and replace it. It's not worth the risk.

[yoco]

I'll buy a new to be sure. I was just curious about this, because it's the first time any usb key gave me any problems at all. I have 10 years old Kingston 16gb and it's still working fine!

Can anyone give me some advice at to what specs to look at when buying usb key? I've had some, which are suppose to be usb 3, but when you actually start transferring files, the speed is lower than of usb 2.0

[SnoopZ]

24 minutes ago, yoco said:

I'll buy a new to be sure. I was just curious about this, because it's the first time any usb key gave me any problems at all. I have 10 years old Kingston 16gb and it's still working fine!

Can anyone give me some advice at to what specs to look at when buying usb key? I've had some, which are suppose to be usb 3, but when you actually start transferring files, the speed is lower than of usb 2.0

Get a good make USB 3.0 one as they're backwards compatible with 2.0.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

1 hour ago, yoco said:

I'll buy a new to be sure. I was just curious about this, because it's the first time any usb key gave me any problems at all. I have 10 years old Kingston 16gb and it's still working fine!

Can anyone give me some advice at to what specs to look at when buying usb key? I've had some, which are suppose to be usb 3, but when you actually start transferring files, the speed is lower than of usb 2.0

It all depends on WHAT files you are copying.

 

Stick with Logitech. I have about 10 of them lying around here...

[Steven P. Administrators]

22 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

It all depends on WHAT files you are copying.

 

Stick with Logitech. I have about 10 of them lying around here...

While I have Logitech products, what annoys me most of all is their crappy software, and the fact that I need three different programs to operate my MX Master wireless mouse (Logitech Options) Logitech K800 keyboard (Setpoint) and G Hub for my G502 wired mouse.  Talk about bloat ffs!

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

32 minutes ago, Steven P. said:

While I have Logitech products, what annoys me most of all is their crappy software, and the fact that I need three different programs to operate my MX Master wireless mouse (Logitech Options) Logitech K800 keyboard (Setpoint) and G Hub for my G502 wired mouse.  Talk about bloat ffs!

I use M317c mouse. Mint/Ubuntu has a driver for it ootb. Not many options, but this isn't a gaming mouse, so I'm set.

[yoco]

1 hour ago, Mindovermaster said:

It all depends on WHAT files you are copying.

 

Stick with Logitech. I have about 10 of them lying around here...

I looked at out most popular online shop, and they don't have Logitech keys. Any other brand you would recommend?

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

16 minutes ago, yoco said:

I looked at out most popular online shop, and they don't have Logitech keys. Any other brand you would recommend?

Where are you looking at? Would be nice to know what they have..

[Brandon H Supervisor]

44 minutes ago, yoco said:

I looked at out most popular online shop, and they don't have Logitech keys. Any other brand you would recommend?

I've always been partial to SanDisk and Kingston USB flash-drives myself. always been reliable for me

 

I have a couple SanDisk Ultra USB3 drives like this one https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-Transfer-Speeds-s-SDCZ48-032G-UAM46/dp/B00KYK2AKO/ref=sr_1_3?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1562601432&refinements=p_89%3AKingston|SanDisk%2Cp_n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin%3A6931972011&rnid=6931969011&s=pc&sr=1-3

 

And for Kingston the DataTravelers are nice https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Digital-32GB-DataTraveler-DT100G3/dp/B00C5K8E1A/ref=sr_1_6?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1562601432&refinements=p_89%3AKingston|SanDisk%2Cp_n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin%3A6931972011&rnid=6931969011&s=pc&sr=1-6

[SnoopZ]

2 hours ago, Mindovermaster said:

It all depends on WHAT files you are copying.

 

Stick with Logitech. I have about 10 of them lying around here...

I've never heard of Logitech branded memory sticks, are we talking about the same item as even Amazon UK don't sell them?

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

8 minutes ago, SnoopZ said:

I've never heard of Logitech branded memory sticks, are we talking about the same item as even Amazon UK don't sell them?

Lexar, sorry... Had my head on backwards...

[yoco]

14 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

Lexar, sorry... Had my head on backwards...

Well that makes sense

They do have Lexar brand. Is this what you're talking about?

https://www.mimovrste.com/usb-kljuci/lexar-usb-kljuc-jumpdrive-c20m-64gb

34 minutes ago, Brandon H said:

I've always been partial to SanDisk and Kingston USB flash-drives myself. always been reliable for me

 

I have a couple SanDisk Ultra USB3 drives like this one https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-Transfer-Speeds-s-SDCZ48-032G-UAM46/dp/B00KYK2AKO/ref=sr_1_3?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1562601432&refinements=p_89%3AKingston|SanDisk%2Cp_n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin%3A6931972011&rnid=6931969011&s=pc&sr=1-3

 

And for Kingston the DataTravelers are nice https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Digital-32GB-DataTraveler-DT100G3/dp/B00C5K8E1A/ref=sr_1_6?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1562601432&refinements=p_89%3AKingston|SanDisk%2Cp_n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin%3A6931972011&rnid=6931969011&s=pc&sr=1-6

Is speed good on this Kingston?

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I have this one:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Lexar-JumpDrive-TwistTurn-Assorted-Colors/dp/B013JAYE54/ref=sxin_2_ac_d_pm?crid=32X7S6ZC2UBO3&keywords=lexar+usb+flash+drive&pd_rd_i=B013JAYE54&pd_rd_r=08d3e552-959f-4be5-8e89-0a0fbb7e70ac&pd_rd_w=LHVK8&pd_rd_wg=CnRvH&pf_rd_p=64aaff2e-3b89-4fee-a107-2469ecbc5733&pf_rd_r=RHKZMK527DDC92X7A7Y2&qid=1562603855&s=gateway&sprefix=lexar%2Caps%2C156

 

It's not USB3, but it gets my work done

[Brandon H Supervisor]

10 minutes ago, yoco said:

Is speed good on this Kingston?

Honestly I'd say all the brands are pretty similar now for speed. There was a lot of variation when USB3 flash-drives were new but now it's pretty standard tech.

 

the one I linked has about 100MB/s read, 10MB/s write (which is the standard now for your sub-$20 flash-drive) but there are faster models if you're willing to pay a little more

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JPZTD68/ref=emc_b_5_t has about 120MB/s read, 45MB/s write

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017TZBE7Q/ref=emc_b_5_t has about 350MB/s Read, 180MB/s write

 

amazon's description pages for flash-drives usually always have the speeds listed btw

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

I have had good results with Lexar, Samsung and SanDisk USB flash drives.  However, I do not use USB flash drives for backups.  I keep multiple copies of my data stored in different regions so that in the event of a catastrophic failure I can continue working.  If there's a regional event (flood, wildfire, blizzard, earthquake, etc.), I'm only a day's flight away from my data.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

[yoco]

I can't believe this! Both of my external USB hdd's are now saying "the disk is write-protected" when I try to paste any file to them. 😣

So I want to uninstall the drivers, to try and fix this, but I just wanna ask, I don't actually lose files when I uninstall drivers in device manager?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

1 minute ago, yoco said:

I can't believe this! Both of my external USB hdd's are now saying "the disk is write-protected" when I try to paste any file to them. 😣

So I want to uninstall the drivers, to try and fix this, but I just wanna ask, I don't actually lose files when I uninstall drivers in device manager?

no you wouldn't lose data. the driver is just how the computer reads the USB; it doesn't effect the physical media.

 

some USB drives have a read-only switch on them; I'd look it over to see if yours has one and flip it to see if that helps