When is a memory stick full?

Jolly_Roger

On a laptop computer running XP and Word, I often send work from My Documents to a memory stick, so I can use it on other computers. However, the laptop is refusing to transfer any files from MD to any memory stick. I have used two and the results are always the same. This is in spite of the fact that neither stick is even remotely full! Bizarrely, if, when I am told that the file cannot be sent to the USB, I then delete a file on the stick, it is possible to save the document there...! It is almost as though the USB is being perceived to be full, when it quite clearly is far from being so.
Anybody have a fix for this?

custardy

where did you buy the memory stick?
is this a Sony memory stick?

davb

Did you get the memory sticks from a reputable source - there are scam ones from the far east that report a lot more space than there actually is.

Jolly_Roger

One is a Viking and the other a SanDisk. They worked fine for years, but now don't.
If I right click the Viking, for example, I see 28.5MB used and 954.2MB free, but still have to delete stuff to add to the USB. Some time back, I had a lot of photos on both sticks, but then deleted them. Could they still be there in the background, maybe, screwing things up?

davb

Does sound a bit odd, maybe there are some hidden files hanging around. It's not something I would do on a regular basis, but it may be worth reformatting one of them to see if it helps - after of course copying off anything important.

Taffybiker

You could copy all the files to your PC, then your PC will tell you the combined file size. I would then format the memory stick and transfer the files back again. This will exclude the possibility of hidden files on the memory stick taking up room.

Taffybiker

Oops. Davb just beat me to it

Jolly_Roger

Sounds like a good idea. How do you format a USB?

Taffybiker

Open My Computer, find the memory stick, right click and select Format.

Jolly_Roger

Touch wood, it seems to have worked. I refomatted the memory stick and began to pile lots of stuff onto it and the computer hasn't protested once! I will try with the second stick in the morning.
Why on earth was this necessary? Did I do something to the memory stick? The material I took off whilst formatting when straight back on afterwards, so no change in content!!!!

davester

do you tend to pull it out and not use the USB device shutdown icon in your task bar? It is possible your computer was using it temporary file dump while you had opened a document and pic. Thus mucking up the file table data. I have done the same and you just make sure you only take out the memory stick if you have closed the file you was working on first after you saved it.