Fake USB Flashdrives

[gertrude]

This may not be news for some, but it was for me. I recently purchased an 8GB USB flash drive for my husband. He duly copied data onto it, thinking all was well. Yesterday, he put the drive back into his computer to copy some more files only to find out that there was nothing on it, although the properties reported the space had been used.

Of course, my first thought was that this was a typical Zimbabwean rip-off, although I had purchased it at a fairly reputable shop. After doing a great deal of research on the internet, I discovered it is a widespread problem.

The fake drives come under a number of different brand names - Kingston, SanDisk and Sony but to name a few.

See the following link for more information:

http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com

[Nyala]

Thanks for that, Gertie. It musy have cost you a small fortune to buy an 8GB, I won't even buy one here in Oz coz it's too expensive. I see why you'd be upset about it.

[Exzim]

This tool, will give you the actual Size of the USB drive. Very usefull bit of software.



http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197

File here (http://www.eocfiles.com/bdc86eb1ed2989c30dcd1902e84939ae/bootdisks/SP27608.exe)

[gertrude]

Nyala...was US$32, which is not exactly cheap really!!

Ex, thanks. Have downloaded it and will check a bit later.

[igundwane]

OK, so does it free up any extra space on it, or anything special like that ?

[gertrude]

If you mean the software, I don't know. Haven't had a chance to try it yet. Otherwise, not sure what you mean.

[pennymac]

damn it, I have a kingston, If my files aren't really on it, I've lost all my photos from my last 3 or 4 holidays etc...
I'll check when I get home.

[gertrude]

Penny, if you've used it before and been able to read the files on it, then you're okay. There are, apparently, ways to tell if it's real or not. The real ones have the capacity stamped on the end that goes into the computer, from what I've read. If it doesn't, it might not mean that it's a fake, but I would be very suspicious.

Easiest way is to put it into your computer and see if you can read the files with no problems.

[pennymac]

yeah, I'll do that as soon as I go home.