16GB Usb Flash Drive shows as 16MB and is unusable

Question

i have a sandisk Cruzer 16GB usb flash drive but it started to show up as 16MB. and i cant use it , it tells me that i need to format the drive or "Please insert a disk into drive X" does anyone have any recommadation for any software so i can check the flash drive?

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Edit: i cant format it since the format fails and well the idea is that it shows as 16MB instead of 16GB

Answer 1

If all else fails, boot an Ubuntu CD, plug in the USB drive, and format it there. Ubuntu seems quite good at formatting things that Windows considers otherwise untouchable. Once formatted, eject and reboot into Windows and attempt to use it.

Answer 2

Many models of the SanDisk Cruzer flash drive come with U3 security software which you need to run to access the drive. The smaller partition contains the U3 software itself, so you can launch it from there.

U3 uses the rest of the space to store your data in an encrypted format.

Answer 3

This sounds like a partition issue, but if you bought it from the likes of Japanese sellers on eBay, be aware that some people are selling tiny (possibly old/refurbished/rebranded) USB drives, which report their size as much more. I poked around one a few months ago, and it even acted like it was still working past its real size, but just got a lot slower, and didn't actually store the data. I've only seen this done with cheap looking drives and unbranded or unusual brand names; not faking a reputable brand/product like Sandisk's. I suspect they've done that too though, or will try it soon enough.

Answer 4

It seems like you have to allow and create a partition on your disk, if you are using windows, go to computer -> manage -> Disk management the right click your disk -> format and create a new partition, you can also check if it's inactive.

[Edit]

You need to delete the partition then allocate the space again, if this doesn't work, please post more details about your problem

Answer 5

I am getting the same issue with a PNY 16G Mini Attache. Seems like it has a MBR but shows up as a 16MB -- SanDisk S3 UCL Mode Device -- stops there. 16MB unreadable partition. Is that the encryption partition?

I have data on this device that I don't want to lose but something is up here, be it security partition or a bad flash drive, it should show up eventually. Usually unplugging and re-plugging the device in 3 times passed up the 16MB partition and allowed me to read and write to the 16G (14.xGB) pre-formatted partition. The exact procedure, 3 different computers, PITA -- now it won't work here at all. I guess I'll reboot.

The last PC I wrote to this with was running Windows 7, anyone introduced that factor? If reboot of my XP system doesn't resolve this I'm going to look into repairing or finding a way of bypassing the security/encryption partition, if that doesn't work, return to wal-mart, if that doesn't work I'm going to huck it off the roof into oncoming traffic.

It's a suicidal drive to be treating me like this!