How old is it, how much use has it seen? NAND flash - almost certainly what's in the stick - gradually wears out over time. If the driver is sane, bad regions are identified and put out of use. However if it's an unbranded stick then it may not do this or, worse, may conceivably have a crap flash translation layer, which would mean you're out of luck.
I'd go for a bad blocks scan if I were you, that should tickle all the sectors, identify bad ones and put them beyond use. You don't need to download anything to do that: http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2005/08/fix-format-usb-flash-drives/ .
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Date: 2011-01-15 12:45 pm (UTC)I'd go for a bad blocks scan if I were you, that should tickle all the sectors, identify bad ones and put them beyond use. You don't need to download anything to do that: http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2005/08/fix-format-usb-flash-drives/ .