Really Stupid USB Key Drive Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Klaatu
  • Start date Start date
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Klaatu

Yesterday, I loaned my USB key drive to someone in the office to copy
some files from one PC to another. When she told me it wasn't
working, I went over to help. I found that she had plugged the USB
key into an open Ethernet port on her laptop.

Now, Windows reports that key needs to be formatted and, when I try to
do so, tells me it can't complete formatting.

Did she fry the thing?

Thanks.
 
They only way I can think of her being able to plug the USB key
flash into a Ethernet port (RJ45-8), is if she physically broke
the connector. Therefore, it is more likely that the USB
connector on the key flash is broken, than it being internally
fried.

Does windows even recognize it as being a USB device when you
plug it in????
 
Yes, Win XP and Win 2K both recognize the USB drive and tell me it
needs to be formatted. Both report a failure when trying to format.

Thanks for your reply.
 
Then my guess is that the controller within the key is OK, but the
flash memory itself has gone bad. The controller working will allow
the key to ID itself and "talk" with Windows. However, once the
controller tries to access any data in the flash memory, all it gets
back is garage which Windows incorrectly interprets as the sign of
an unformatted disk.

I still don't know how she got it into a RJ45-8 connector, and
inserted well enough that electrical contact was achieved.
 
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