Problem With Flash Drive

[Medusanycm]

one of my clients has a SanDisk 2 GB USB flash drive that he uses to work on files in and out of his office.

it seems that he is able to create and add data to the drive without a problem, he then goes home and is able to plug in the drive from his home pc and read and write to the drive with no problem at all.

the flash drive is readable in every other machine in his office without any issue BUT

when he comes back to the office, he plugs in the drive into his pc, it shows up under my computer and in disc management (healthy/active). BUT he gets the following error when he clicks on it under My Computer "ONLY PART OF THE READ PROCESS MEMORY OR WRITE PROCESS MEMORY REQUEST WAS COMPLETED" and is unable to see any folders on the drive. however, a search for a known file on the drive, shows the files which he can then click and open.

this happened to 2 drives already (we replaced the drive last week with another-transfered his data and it was okay). the first drive was recently reformatted and we then transfered his recent data from the "unreadable" drive to it (on a second pc) he was able to once again read from it. helpful, but a lot of work each time he gets to the office.

what can be done at his office machine to address this. i have suspicion about the home pc but have to think the problem lies with his office pc only as it is the only one having an issue reading flash drives

suggestions/help??

 

[Spyder_1386]

hi Medusanycm

The system sounds like it has Malware on it .... please follow the 8-step virus/malware removal tool here... https://www.techspot.com/community/...lware-removal-preliminary-instructions.58138/ ... get back to us as soon as the system is clean. I'm pretty sure the flash disk will start working on that computer as well.

Spyder_1386

 

[Medusanycm]

i will run checks for malware next time i am at the office but other than the flash drive problem it is displaying no other signs of malware/virus infection and according to the user has no other problems other than the flash drive issue.

would love for it to be malware. will let you know.

 

[LookinAround]

Is this a Sandisk U3 flash drive? I have a hunch it's related to U3 Launchpad functionality (or failure of it's functionality on their PC!) Can they disable or remove U3 functions while on a different computer (or do they really need it?)

/* EDIT */
Altho, following that line of thought, have they also applied all the latest MS updates/fixes/etc to their computer?

 

[Bluemouse]

IF it is the U3 garbage, they offer a U3 removal tool on their website. Just google it.

 

[Medusanycm]

the u3 function works just fine. will see if removing it makes a difference. will be there on monday. welcome all other suggestions.

all updates are installed. made sure of that the last time i was by. i assume the u3 removal tool removes U3 from the flash drive.

 

[xehqter]

SanDisk and a few other flash drive manufactures have very poor power management designs that over time (1 or 2yrs) lower the voltage too much. I’ve had a “hunch” that some of these (works in one computer, not the other) might be from the fact that many computers don’t provide a stable 5v rail on the USB ports, most are between 4.5v an 5.5v. Perhaps computers sending more power are giving it just enough so the drive can operate.

If you use a brand new flash drive on the computer does it work? Word of advice from the data recovery guy, don't use SanDisk... ever

 

[Medusanycm]

this happened with a brand new drive. uses it in office-no problem. uses it at home-no problem-brings it back to office-readable on any computer you plug it into except his office pc. this has occured 2x once with an older drive and the second time with the new one.

 

[xehqter]

I still wouldn't rule out the flash drive, I've seen brand new SanDisks fail after 2 weeks. The drives are very sensitive to power fluctuations.

I have seen AntiVirus programs which lock up the flash drive when they're loaded, especially if there are large files in the root folder. Try disabling the AV software on the office desktop?