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How to detect counterfeit flash drives


md3city

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My first 32 gig drive was purchased at tigerdirect.My second from ebay.

 

My first drive was more solid and bulky with a blue led.

Also the usb wire extension has black ends.

 

My second drive seems to have a red led and is not as solid at the first.

It basically looks like the first one after starving itself for a week.

(Thinner in all angles.)

usb cable extension has clear ends.

 

The packaging seems to have all detail, serial number sticker, but i do not see a code number on the tick of the usb like the first purchase.

Also a bit more size on the drive. (Example: 31.000 vs 30.000)

 

Has corsair changed their units or is this a fake drive?

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My first 32 gig drive was purchased at tigerdirect.My second from ebay.

 

My first drive was more solid and bulky with a blue led.

Also the usb wire extension has black ends.

 

My second drive seems to have a red led and is not as solid at the first.

It basically looks like the first one after starving itself for a week.

(Thinner in all angles.)

usb cable extension has clear ends.

 

The packaging seems to have all detail, serial number sticker, but i do not see a code number on the tick of the usb like the first purchase.

Also a bit more size on the drive. (Example: 31.000 vs 30.000)

 

Has corsair changed their units or is this a fake drive?

 

You might consider H2testw, http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/h2testw-14-gold-standard-in-detecting-usb-counterfeit-drives/

 

In addition to what is discussed at this website, the README file states:

 

H2testw was developed to test USB sticks for various kinds of errors.

It can also be used for any other storage media like memory cards,

internal and external hard drives and even network volumes.

 

The executable file H2testw.exe needs no installation and can be

directly run. It was developed for Windows XP and Vista. It should

also work under Windows 2000 but was only tested on XP and Vista.

Windows 9x/ME is not supported. You can use the older command line

program H2test under these operating systems.

 

The function of H2testw is quite simple: It fills the chosen target

directory with test data and then reads it back and verifies it.

 

H2testw does not overwrite or erase any existing data. It doesn't

do any low-level tricks so administrator privileges are not required.

If your hardware is working properly H2testw will not harm any

existing data.

 

BUT: _If_ the hardware is defective then H2testw is designed to find

that defect and might as a side effect damage existing files.

Therefore: IF YOU SUSPECT A USB STICK OR OTHER STORAGE MEDIA TO BE

DEFECTIVE, EMPTY IT AND TEST IT COMPLETELY WITH H2TESTW. Only empty

media can be fully tested with H2testw. In order to be able to

reproduce the results we recommend to format the media (quick format

will do) and then test it.

 

H2testw writes files of up to 1 GByte to the chosen destination and

names them 1.h2w, 2.h2w, 3.h2w and so on. If the target directory

alread contains such a set of files H2testw will offer to verify them.

If there are any other files named *.h2w it will refuse to work. In

that case please erase all files *.h2w and hit the Refresh button.

 

After it is done the software leaves its test files on the medium.

You can erase them if you like or verify them again -- if it's a USB

stick for instance with another PC.

 

The check box "endless verify" does just that: It puts the verify

routine in an endless loop that stops only if an error is found. This

is meant to be used as a long-time test to find sporadic data transfer

errors.

 

A remark on the estimated time remaining: For intact flash memory the

estimate should be pretty exact since it has a constant data rate.

With defective media we have seen massive drops in the transfer rate

resulting in the estimate increasing instead of decreasing. Hard

drives are slower on the inner tracks than on the outer tracks so when

testing a hard drive the estimate is never precise.

 

I think this utility may work for you, and would recommend giving it a try.

 

Anna

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  • Corsair Employee
The best defense from this is only purchase our products from an Authorized reseller or at least a reseller who is and has been doing business and has a good reputation. So stay away from EBAY!
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