see all data on 8GB flash drive - intermittent?

Hi folks,

Its my first post on here...
I recently purchased an 8GB flash drive (which was formatted to FAT32) but then had problems trying to copy my 8gb worth of mp3's onto it (from my CDs) but it failed to copy them all to a single mp3 folder on the drive.

Next i tried formatting it to NTFS but it wouldn't complete the format (i've searched this forum and others have had that too) so i put it back to FAT32.

All the above was done on my PC at home, so i thought i'd take it to work and try there.

My work PC allowed me to copy all 8GB of mp3s onto the flash drive with no errors. I can safely unplug the drive and put it in again and it sees all of the files and directories.

I then brought the drive back home and plugged it in, and it can't see half of the folders again, some folders show duplicate folder names and some folders are even empty!!!

I'm going to take it back to work tomorrow and see what that shows me this time.

Both systems are running XP (SP2) also.

Any ideas on why i can't see it properly on my home PC ?

(Both PC's are USB2 compliant also).
Thanks
Paul

 

Here's an update...

I've tried it on the PC at work and it shows the same as at home, not all folders and some are duplicated and empty!

Looks like another format needed maybe and this time put the music folders into 2 or 3 sub folders...

 

did the drive come with a cd rom with utilities on it? if so you need to install whats on the cd and use that program to format the drive. the cd might also contain a driver you need for it to function correctly in windows xp. if you don't have a cd for it try going to the manufacturers website and put the model number in and see if they have any software or drivers for it.

good luck

 

Thanks for the suggestion, however no cd came with it, there is no branding on it, although its got a samsung chip in it, you can see this in the device manager when its plugged in (Samsung HD160JJ/P).
I reformatted it here at work and have put on 3gb of stuff and some empty directories. I'll what happens when i plug it in at home. I've got a horrible feeling that when i plug it in at home it gets corrupted.

 

Well, here's another update. I thought all was well until i came back to work with the drive updated with more mp3s on it (in more folders) but i was wrong.

Looking in the 15 new folders i've copied over isnt the mp3's i was expecting, but more folders showing the same as their parent level (i.e. the same folders) this goes on for 3 more levels down until in the last set of folders are 2 files showing these filenames (ÙXÉMSDOS.5.0,
dz), yes they do look weird.

Something has corrupted and i'm wondering if its the FAT now.

I also wonder if its anything to do with how the files are stored from where i'm copying them as they're on an external USB drive (320GB) at home. I think i'll copy them to my HD first instead of copying direct from usb HD to USB flash drive. Something maybe going wrong there...