Buffalo/Novatech Memory Stick Problem

[Topper]

Hi,

Ive recentley purchased a memory stick which started out ok.

About a week ago i noticed some changes in the way it performs.

When i plug it into my xp laptop,go into My Computer and then double click on the drive to open it up...nothing happens.

It appears that i cannot open it that way,i have to explore it.

When i right click on it the top 2 in the menu list are in what looks like hiroglyphics (sp) ? just looks like a load of squigally writing.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7624/88317577vi4.jpg

Also,when i plug it into my imac crossover trys to install something,and on the memory stick are 2 files, 1) autorun.inf & 2) pagefile.exe. but these only appear when its on the mac.

No matter how many times i format the drive wether in fat32 or ntfs nothing changes.

Could the problem be with xp or maybe a virus on the memory stick.

I have 3 of these buffalo/novatech 8gb sticks and they all do the same,they never used to though :roll:

Thanks for your help.

Chris

*EDIT* Just to add to this,i have done a complete re-install on my laptop,formatted the hardrive and re-installed windows back to the factory settings and the problem still occours :?

[system7]

Sounds virus-like, but it may just be you've put the sticks in a Vista machine that is set up for superfetch, which might explain the page file.

Regardless, go into control panel/accessibility options and disable the hotkey shortcuts that interfere with the shift key. Reboot.

Now insert your USB stick whilst pressing Shift to prevent autorun.

Now see if you can do a format or erase in right click My computer/manage/Windows Disk Management.

If still no luck, try format FAT32 in Gnome Partition editor on a Ubuntu Live CD.

Linux should be immune to any Windows nasties. 8)