memory stick issue
 

Bought a new memory stick to back up files from my old pc and transfer to either laptop as & when required. doc files and other document formats fine, photos fine, video files not fine! They all save to the stick ok but when plugged back into any machine at a later date some of them can't be "seen" at all, no icons but the memory is still used to store the data just the same. I've tried the "repair" facility (whatever that does) and reformatting the stick but it makes no difference. Is this a duff stick or is there something obvious I've overlooked? Thanks for any advice you may have. Btw I use vlc player on the old pc would that make a difference?

What operating systems are on the machines you want to transfer files to & from ...?

I know this doesn't answer your question per-se but ....

Word from the wise.... the use of the words "back up" in conjunction with "memory stick" is something that should never, ever happen. :cool:

CDs,DVDs,External hard drives,DAT/DLT/LTO tape ... fine.... but memory sticks.... only if you've got a death wish... they are only (just about) fit for ultra short-term storage.

Irrespective of storage medium, anything important should have multiple independent copies and preferably on different storage media / different manufacturers.

Ah thankyou. Yes I have an external hard drive as well, but it doesn't have its own power source so i'm a bit concerned a laptop won't power it so I tried the flash stick option. Thanks for the info

Go for it. My laptop is quite iffy on power from it's USB ports (lots of warnings in the early days with USB thingees) but I've never had an issue with recent external drives, up to 1tb. Take you lappy into the shop; they could try a an external drive in it for you.

I've used a USB Y cable that has two plugs on one end to overcome lack of power on an early netbook that was known for underpowered USB ports.

would an external drive work using the mini USB port on my Asus Infinity tablet do you think?

just get a powered usb hub and all these sort of problems disappear.

Think the last one I bought was 10 UKP.

The problem with powered USB hubs is that they aren't all equal. I've got a drawer full of "less than adequate" ones. I suppose I should bin them.

My external USB drives are all "powered". Some of those are better than others, too. I tried a couple of eSATAs, but they played very badly and were relegated to being USB.

The right answer is the old (XP) PC up in the attic, networked and used only for backups.

Some memory cards are low-capacity models running a program which simulates a higher capacity version.

The program keeps a check on details of files supposedly uploaded so that everything seems ok.

I suggest you try -

Dubious Memory Card? Check it with H2testw | DashCamTalk

CDs,DVDs,External hard drives,DAT/DLT/LTO tape ... fine..

Another cover-all statement from mixture that is as leaky as an old sieve.

My LaCie external hard drive failed three days after the guarantee expired. A new defninition perhaps of the word "fine".

Au contraire, I have had a dozen USB flash drives in use over the past few years; not one has ever failed.

In my dim and distant memories of Windoze I recall settings which allow you to 'see' files listed in different ways, for example with/without suffix. There may be other items on the menu which permit you to see 'all files' even if they come up with road cone icons. Try all the drop-down menus until you find a likely one. Start with the 'view' menu.

Curious, that, OFSO. I had the same. I bought a LaCie because it was said to be the best on the market. When it failed (a few months after the warranty ran out) I opened the snazzy LaCie case, and found a Maxtor drive inside.

Were any of the files hidden or protected on the old PC when they were copied to the stick?