My Cig@r Pro 64MB thumb drive has sudenly become inoperable. When I plug it in it seems to load and the indicator light blinks as it should. However, when I click on its icon to view the contents I receive a message "Disk in Drive G: not formatted. Format now?" Of course, I do not click YES. Any hope for rescuing the contents of this thumb formerly reliable drive?

Gees, I can't imagine myself needing to transport 64MB of files on one of those. I would use a CDR. That said, the usual problem with all external drives when that message is displayed is a corrupted file system on the drive. The cause could be improper removal or unknown. I suggest trying a live version of Linux like Knoppix. Knoppix is installed to, and runs from, a CDR or DVDR. Knopppix may be able to recover the files if all that is wrong is a corrupt file system. Google for Knoppix. Be aware that the download is 700MB. If you can't download a file of that size then you can find vendors selling Knoppix already installed to CD for a nominal fee. Don't rely on ONLY one copy of any file you need, regardless of where it is being kept. IMO flash drives are the least reliable of any media you could use, other than floppy.

>> IMO flash drives are the least reliable of any media you could use, other than floppy. << I agree. Flash drives are great for transferring data from one place to another; what they used to call sneaker networks. But for storing data for more than a few hours - forget it. If the only copy of your data you have is on a flash drive you are treading on very thin ice. Flash drives are disposable items. Stuart

i agree with Stuart S, I do not regard it as safe storage, but having said that I have stuff (which is not a problem if I lose it) on my 512mb stick that has been there over a year

yes it can recover my files may work depending what the probolem it.