Sandisk ultra fit 128GB low in size, slow and defective

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1

I just bought 3 USB sticks from amazon. One 128GB PNY (very fast) and 2 Sandisk ultra fit (32GB and 128GB). The Sandisk 128GB has errors about 114GB in to 115GB total space. I consider replacing in with amazon, but wonder whether it is possible to download some Sandisk software to attempt to “repair” the defective device. I have never done this before, hence my question. I read about some overheating problems on this forum that might be the cause of fried cells in the flash. I don’t know anything about that, but it raises concern about the ability to keep the device stable for the 5 year warranty that you provide. I have been looking at downloadable software on your website for the repair, but could not find any. Could you please respond to whether it is possible to fix it or if I am better off returning it for a refund and get another brand or maybe even just a simple replace. The 4K speed of the 128GB one is half that of the 32GB one (read and write - 3½MB/s vs. 7MB/s and 2MB/s vs. 4MB/s). Useable storage of the Sandisk 128GB is 115GB. Useable storage of the PNY 128GB is 126GB. The size issue is of no concern, just bringing it up now that I had a problem. The speed issue however might be related to the flash error and do raise some red flags.

Thank you

Kasper Lindvig

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I’m not aware of any fix it software  for your problem and even if there was I wouldn’t recommend it for a new purchase.  What you bought sounds used or defective and I would return it.  And I would buy the next one from a different source.

You also have the option of sending it to SanDisk for a replacement, which will quarantee it’s not a used one.  :smiley:

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Thanks for the reply. I returned it and my findings yesterday also revealed that errors were not fixable on USB flash drives. I did however narrow the location down to within the last 2½MB of the total space in the device. Making the device report back a size 2½MB less than it’s actual 128GB seems to be able to solve the problem. I however do not know how to do that. A lot of scammers seem to make use of an opposite method of making the device report back a size that is higher than the actual size, so apparently such a fix would theoretically be possible.

Here is a onedrive link to my findings:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B03E7D4395E57B90!642&authkey=!ABRVhKR-RGzMD3g&ithint=file%2cpdf

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It looks like someone reformated the drive to NTFS, which requires space for journalling.  What did the original exFAT format show.