usb stick not detected

[lowik]

i had this nice custom made 1 gig usb stick ( pen drive) and it doesnt get detected anymore by the system ( xp or vista) is there any way of formatting it when it doesnt get detected, i remember there was an app that did the trick but cant find it anywhere

[Joe Forster/STA]

Does the hardware get detected (see Device Manager or Disk Management)? If so, can you read onto the disk with a disk editor (WinHex, whatever)? If so, probably "only" the file system is damaged. Also, check whether the drive has been assigned a letter (Disk Management).

[DABhand]

The best way to test it is if you have access to another PC, try it on that also.

If it doesnt on the 2nd PC, the drive itself could be on the way to hardware heaven.

For other people, try not to get into the habit of leaving a USB stick in a slot when you switch on your PC, some brands have been known to die because of this.

When finished with your USB stick, take it out before shutting down the PC.

[lowik]

1st of all, thanks so much for the replies

@Joe nope its not getting detected under windows at all,
@DABhand i tried different PC's

when u plugg it in to the computer , and out u can hear the beep so it is recodnised by the motherboard just not by any windows :/ i think it hapened when i had a virus, and it was on the USB and avast removed it and it stopped working

[DABhand]

The only reason it wouldnt work because of a virus is if it rewrote your USB sticks ROM chip with manufacture info etc

But if it did that to the USB stick, your Drives would have gotten the same treatment and motherboard (anything with a ROM chip on it) and those virus's are very very very few and far between.