Corsair survivor flash drive & amazon

bollidear

I bought a 16gb Corsair Flash drive from Amazon in December last year. Recently the device locked itself whereby files could not be added or deleted. Indeed, the device could not even be formatted.

A quick search on Google shows that this is a frequent issue that Corsair know about. They require you to return it to them, in Norway, to investigate and replace if required. HOWEVER, since none of the personal or business data can be removed you must trust the postal service and Corsair with the information on it. Corsair stated to me that they could not guarantee the security of the information on it and would not be responsible if those details made their way out.

Clearly unhappy with this I call Amazon. They refused to help stating that they only supply a 30 day guarantee and beyond this you are on your own. They did agree that they would not be happy sending a memory stick with private and personal information on it to Corsair themselves.

A look at the item on their website shows several buyers having identical issues. Amazon accepted they know that 15% of the reviews complain about the same fault but they are happy to continuing selling it - probably because they can walk away after 30 days and know that buyers won't want to send their personal details to a company who can't guarantee their security.

Bearing in mind I bought the device as it is described as being virtually indestructible, this is a sorry end for a £31 memory stick bought from Amazon only 8 months ago.

I doubt if Amazon buyers realise that after 30 days, you are on your own. I doubt also that buyers consider what would happen if the device locked on them - which is a pity because there is plenty of annecdotal evidence that it will indeed do just that.

Disgusting service from Amazon and a warning to would be buyers of this range of devices.

See for yourself how many reviews highlight the same issue - then make you own mind up, bearing in mind the Amazon 30 day rule. View the 16gb device on Amazon and look at the 46 reviews and 8 similar faults, with buyers in the same predicament.

santer_2

Have you tried any programmes to recover the data?

flexrider

when you say locked how exactly is it locked? is the drive encrypted by software

thanks for the heads up on Amazon i tried writing a great review on what i purchased from there last week (Livestation 2tb Nas drive) which was honest as i can be on it after reading so many complaining about my purchase but they refused my review which i found odd

when it was a strightforward non complaint one just showing what you can do
like above poster also have you tried any software at all

bollidear

Corsair suggested using an formatting programming that just didn't work. There is no software on the drive that would control a lock/unlock function. The first you know is when you go to use your drive to either add a file or delete a file and the error message comes up: WRITE PROTECTED. As I said in my post this is a common error with the hardware and one that Corsair and Amazon know all about - but obviously neither see it an issue. Bearing in mind it cost me £31 less than a year ago - this isn't your typical free memory stick you are talking about. Still fuming at Amazon saying that after 30 days - there is nothing they will do and Corsair saying we can't guarantee the security of data on it.

bribrian

30 days my ar3e... Quote the SOGA....

flexrider

have a look at this seems a few issues pehaps bios setup is a problem with your drive

have a look at this

When you down load HDD Erase there is a readme file did you read that document?

Quote:
HDDerase.exe menu
1: Secure Erase
This uses the ATA internal drive secure erase command. It offers a higher
level of secure erase than block overwriting software utilities. It can take
30 to 180 minutes depending on the drive’s capacity and speed. Drive will be
left unlocked and ready for use once the process has successfully completed.

2: Enhanced Secure Erase (if supported by the drive)
An optional ATA internal drive secure erase command. Drive will be left unlocked
and ready for use once the process has successfully completed. Not all ATA
drives support this erase method and if it does not, then you will not be given
this option.

C: Change Active HDD
An option to allow the user to switch between multiples drives.

L: Unlock a locked drive (if drive is locked)
This option automatically tries to unlock the drive with all known HDDErase
passwords. If this fails, the user is prompted for the correct user or master
password on the drive. HDDErase will try to unlock the drive with the given
password as both a user password and a master password. If your drive is not
locked then you will not be given this option.


Notes
HDDerase.exe tests whether a drive is new enough to support the ATA Security
Feature Set. If so (drives larger than about 15 to 20 GB), the secure erase
option will be available. ATA drives more than several years old (generally
smaller than 15GB) will not support the ATA Security Feature Set.

If secure erase command execution is interrupted by restart or a power cycle
before completion, the drive will be left in locked state. Run the program
again after reboot and successfully execute any of the secure erase options or
the unlock option to unlock the drive. Computer BIOS should be set to boot from
the floppy drive A:, USB drive, or CD-ROM drive, depending on which media type
is used to boot the system into DOS. The Windows Disk Management system program
can be used to partition and format a secure erased disk, for reuse.

*taken from corsair forums, here seems to be a workround depending on your setup(Raid or SATA)
http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=81089

also is it possible not to image the data on the drive?