Free copy of "The Economist" magazine + memory stick

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patman99 wrote: »

Is it the same phone number/offer for the headphones?.

Its 0845 286 3103.

volcano99

Hi there.

The memory stick has got a PDF file in it.
Your computer is obviously set to 'auto play' for CD, DVD or memory stick.
That is why the Acrobat Reader launches automatically to read the PDF file inside your memory stick when you plug it in.

It is a bit strange though that Acrobat still launches 'after' you have formatted the USB memory stick because the PDF document should have gone by then.:think:

For you second problem, what operating system (OS) are you running? I hope that it is not older than XP SP3. Even for XP SP1/2 or older, you may have to install a USB v2.0 driver to get your USB2 ports functioning at high speed 480Mbps vs 12Mbps (USB1). If the OS is relatively new, either you have a problematic USB port(s)/hub because the memory stick is USB2 compliant. This is common if you connect a USB1 hub to a USB2 port and then connect a USB2 memory stick to the hub. The error message tells you that there is a bottle neck in the middle. Buy a USB2 hub (some cheap 'USB2' hubs are in fact only USB1 compliant) or use a long USB cable to connect the memory stick to one of your USB2 ports at the back. Also, check that you USB cable is not one of those early USB1 cables which may not be compatible with a USB2 connection.

Hope this helps:D

Chomeur wrote: »

When you plug this in, an Adobe Acrobat document opens up automatically. This document can't be seen if you examine the contents of the drive. And I can't format the drive. Anyone know how to get rid of it?

Also it would be nice if I could stop my computer from telling me every time I plug the stick in that it could run faster if I plugged it into a USB2 connection. I was happy to be told this once, but why does it have to tell me every time? The drive works perfectly well in the USB1 connections on my laptop, and I don't want to look into getting a USB2 connection. I have better things to think about.

volcano99

Hi there.

It is strange that Windows formatting didn't get rid of the data in the memory stick. Somehow your computer fails to wipe out the info in the file allocation table (FAT) and Windows still sees the PDF file data and launches the Acrobat reader for it.

Can you still see the PDF and other files in the memory stick now? Try to delete those files in the memory stick inside Windows Explorer.

Alternatively, you can use the memory stick formatting tool by HP however this tools doesn't work straight away under Windows 7 (required the 'administrator' right to execute, the Windows 7 pain or top security feature?).

Link: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/HP-USB-Disk-Storage-Format-Tool.shtml

This downloads the executable file. If you launch it under Windows 7, it will pop up a message like 'this programme requires administrator right to execute' or something similar, even you are a user with administrator right. Strange eh? This is Windows 7 for you. To overcome this, right click on the programme and select 'run as administrator'. It now works as it should. :T

Not only it can format USB memory sticks, it can format memory cards too............. and auto-detect them from the drop down menu as you insert them into the computer. However there is exFAT option for the formatting - only FAT or NTFS.

Enjoy!

Chomeur wrote: »

The choices I've got are Fat32, Fat and exFat. When I tried it with Fat and exFat it didn't work. I just tried Fat32 and it did format, but the Adobe file still opens up when I plug the stick in. Any other ideas?

Chomeur

The pendrive shows up as two drives - F which is one I can use normally and E which is described as a "CD Drive". E contains the Adobe file and an autorun file. I can't delete anything on E and it doesn't show up in EASUS Partition Drive nor the HP utility for me to format it. So I'm still stuck.

As for the second problem I don't have a USB2 port and would like to leave it like that.

Mondez

http://www.hak5.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=8614 appears to have various solutions to this sort of problem depending on what hardware the pen drive is using.

volcano99

Hi there.

It appears that Economist has become more clever on their promotion memory sticks, with a protected CD/ISO partition. :mad:

I obtained mine from previous promotion and therefore it was easy to get rid of the PDF + other files, no formatting needed.:rotfl:

Well, if Mondez's link (quite a lot of tools and steps) did not solve your problem, perhaps you can try this one:

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/boot-multiple-iso-from-usb-multiboot-usb/

This programme produces a Unix bootable USB stick i.e. format the whole stick with protected partitions with it. Just choose memtest86+ iso (the smallest that will fit into a 1GB USB stick) option and download the latest memtest86+ iso file from here:

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

Once you have finished creating your multi-iso boot able USB stick, re-format it under Windows or with the HP tool.

Please let all of us know whether this works.


QUOTE=Chomeur;41481314]The pendrive shows up as two drives - F which is one I can use normally and E which is described as a "CD Drive". E contains the Adobe file and an autorun file. I can't delete anything on E and it doesn't show up in EASUS Partition Drive nor the HP utility for me to format it. So I'm still stuck.

As for the second problem I don't have a USB2 port and would like to leave it like that.[/QUOTE]

volcano99

Instead of the USB memory stick (1GB) now you can get a free headphone (stereo, modern plug in ears type) to try a copy of the Economist. From a leaflet in the Sunday Times.

Just quote HDP1.
Same phone number: 0845 286 3099.

Chomeur

volcano99 wrote: »

Hi there.

It appears that Economist has become more clever on their promotion memory sticks, with a protected CD/ISO partition. :mad:

I obtained mine from previous promotion and therefore it was easy to get rid of the PDF + other files, no formatting needed.:rotfl:

Well, if Mondez's link (quite a lot of tools and steps) did not solve your problem, perhaps you can try this one:

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/boot-multiple-iso-from-usb-multiboot-usb/

This programme produces a Unix bootable USB stick i.e. format the whole stick with protected partitions with it. Just choose memtest86+ iso (the smallest that will fit into a 1GB USB stick) option and download the latest memtest86+ iso file from here:

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

Once you have finished creating your multi-iso boot able USB stick, re-format it under Windows or with the HP tool.

Please let all of us know whether this works.

No it doesn't. It renames the drive "Multiboot", adds a load of files I don't understand and has no impact on the pdf that opens up.

volcano99

Chomeur wrote: »

No it doesn't. It renames the drive "Multiboot", adds a load of files I don't understand and has no impact on the pdf that opens up.

Sorry to hear that .
Apparently someone has asked this question years ago when he got a similar USB stick(y situation).

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Storage/Removable_Backup_Media/Q_22926994.html



A 'Smart App' has been incorporated by the manufacturer during the production of the USB stick i.e. in the ROM. This App locks part of the 1GB RAM into a CD-ROM-like partition. When you plug it into the PC, this App may even copy itself somewhere in your PC - watch out for some strange sub-folders.

Sadly, there is no easy software solution to this problem as the smart App is built into the ROM (Read Only Memory) . If the ROM is not an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), this is it. Even if it is an EEPROM, you may have to beg the original manufacturer for tool/utility to remove the App from the ROM to unlock the CD-ROM-like partition.

You can still use the rest of the RAM. However you may want to set your anti-virus software to prevent the launch of this App e.g. smartap.exe. Hope this helps a bit.

Mr_Brainly

great offer, thanks