Hardware
by herikhi Accepted solution
by older mycroft Accepted solution
Many usb sticks come with a pre-installed program that either aids the stick in being identified by the computer or aid the file management for the usb stick.
Should you go ahead and delete this to gain space, you may very well lose the entire usb stick. If this happens you will render it useless forever.
Check the documentation that accompanied the stick when you bought it.
by valenberg.mark Accepted solution
First thing you should do when getting a new USB stick is to do a complete wipe. If you are familiar with command line i recommend wipe.exe http://www.gmgsystemsinc.com/fau/
- Sometimes you have to do a uninstall, mostly provided with software from producers website, or fix it from *nix OS.
Lots, and even more every day, of pre-compiled software distributed with USB sticks are dangerous and potent hazards for your system. Some can be useful, yes, but then be sure to check it out first. Most of it is only a pain and make the use of the stick only painful - especially when moving between different OS (win,mac,linux).
As said. Reformat - Store. When you buy a USB stick from the store it should be a clean storage media (lik eold floppy's). Not filled with "spamware". (Yes I know a lot of it is "legal software" but they could have given a informational document or similar instead of trying to force users to adapt to a seemingly necessary pack of useless software.) Portable software are widely distributed, - only boot software require special measures. Uninstall and format of USB sticks does *not* render them useless.
Mark Valenberg
IT Consultant
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