USB memory stick

[mitmaks]

so I buy one of these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=003" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and now it says USB device not recognized. could I just download a driver from somewhere and see if it works...

[se7en]

hmm, sounds like it is broken. what version of windows are you using? xp and newer should just pick it up no problem.

7

ps. correct me if I am wrong though people

[shameem]

Its a U3 drive - you may have to download a u3 software to get it to work or disable u3 functionality to make it act like a regular flash drive.

[wytbishop]

The ad says it's compatable with USB 2.0 which your pc probably is equipped with...almost all are now. Some USB devices are not detected until start up. Try plugging it in and rebooting the pc.

[Custommx3]

Try it on another PC.. chances ae its a bad one. I have one that has a bad connection inside, and it gives the same message.

[SuperK]

I also say try it on a different PC. sometimes USB controllers fail.

If that doesn't work, what do you expect from a hong kong ripoff? You deserved it

[Custommx3]

I dont think anyone deserves failure.

[Vanished]

Yah there are alot of crap flash drives on ebay. Just go and buy one from futureshop, they're cheap liek borcht

[lost_mx3]

does it light up when plugged in? if not try another port/pc. listing says it has a protection switch on the side. flip that and see what happens when you plug it in.

[mitmaks]

I also say try it on a different PC. sometimes USB controllers fail.

If that doesn't work, what do you expect from a hong kong ripoff? You deserved it

I hope that was a joke cause next time you buy something made in China (I hope it breaks on you) And I'm sure you will buy stuff from China cause 90% of s--- on the market is made in China.

[SuperK]

It was supposed to be sarcastic, yes, but I was trying to get a point across.
Shifty "Hong Kong" sellers peddling debranded items on ebay is very shady business and should be avoided at all costs. Or rather, if you avoid them, it won't cost you anything.
In general, these shady "Hong Kong" sellers are taking second-hand, trashy items and trying to sell them as a big name-brand item for a high price. It's nothing more than a scam.
There's a huge issue of hong kong ebay sellers taking slow SD flash media (16x or 32x speeds) and rebranding them as 133x or 150x
In your case, the U3 branding tries to indicate it's like top-brand, reliable USB media from sandisk, (or toshiba) since many individuals tie U3 with a popular name. But they're not lying, technically, since U3 is simply a software frontend for security that comes bundled with most sandisk flash media.

I am just trying to say, you get what you pay for on ebay unless you're REALLY careful. If you don't pay attention, you're going to get screwed.

[mitmaks]

well nowadays even top brands are made in Chine. There's not much choice to buy anywhere else. Id buy japanese electronics since they're best reliability/performance. Im supposed to send it back and see if he'll send me another one that works. What I did is I reformatted it, maybe that screwed it up?

[SuperK]

I understand 90% of all NAND flash is made in hong kong, but here's what you must realize:

top manufacturers like sandisk, toshiba, sony, apple, ect. run stringent tests on their flash products to ensure they're reliable.

these small hong kong factories that are making "in-house" products like the one you've just bought, don't run through any quality assurance processes, they're assembled and sent out the door.

I'm curious, will you have to send it back to hong kong, then? Will that be expensive, or will it take a long time?

all that's in the usb stick is the flash memory chip and a small microcontroller. It's possible the microcontroller could have failed during operation.

Have you tried using the device in another computer? make sure you use it in a self-powered usb port, preferrably on a desktop.