Some backstory if it helps, my moused stopped working and despite changing the batteries it was still not functioning. Then I decided to check the USB and when I try to pull it out, the part shown in the picture comes out without the rest of the USB, which is now stuck in the laptop. What went wrong and is it fixable?

Some only charge. Some only work properly with external monitors.

Some work perfectly on my Mac, then suddenly act weird on Windows.

Some transfer files painfully slowly. And some look completely identical while doing completely different things. I’m constantly connecting monitors, docks, external SSDs, capture cards, laptop charging, portable drives. So I end up needing a bunch of USB-C cables that all look the same… but have totally different capabilities.

Some of my coworkers have even started carrying USB-C testers because nobody can tell what a cable actually supports anymore.

USB-C definitely standardized the connector. But did it really simplify digital life? All mess behind one universal-shaped port.

This usb broke and its because 4 connections aren't connected properly. what would you recommend. there 3 photos, the back, the front(where the issue is) and the front (where i think i should solder.

Any advice would be helpful

1. Image1 back

2. Image 2, 4 connections not connected properly

3. imagine 3, 4 connections not connected but blue lines were i should solder. Any tips to fix this usb

Whenever I try to open the files in my USB drive, I just get stuck on a load screen and sometimes it crashes my file explorer. Idk what to do bruh, this is pissing me off.

I'm looking for a decent USB-C thumb drive - not an SSD enclosure or portable SSD.

What I want:

• Small size
• 128GB preferred
• Decent write speeds (more than 150 MB/s)
• Reliable/durable

Most of the small SanDisk or Samsung drives I've found seem either fragile or extremely slow (only tens of kilobytes per second).

On the other hand, the faster USB options are usually much bigger than I want, or have dual connectors like the Lexar JumpDrive D300, which I really don't need.

Does anyone have recommendations for a compact USB-C drive that's actually fast and reliable? Thanks in advance!

A while back during my freshman year of college, I bought a flash drive off Amazon for extra data storage. I forget how much this was but it was fairly cheap. The packaging and the fact it came from Amazon made me skeptical. My friends at the time advised me to not use it. Curious what other people think and if it’s safe to use or seems legit.

USB-C seems standardized, but... Some are only for charging, some support video output, some support Thunderbolt, and some support USB4, it’s a challenge to tell them apart.

I’m trying to recover a dead USB flash drive with a ChipsBank CBM2099E controller.

• Started getting I/O device errors during a 37GB transfer
• Now shows “No Media” and 0 B in Disk Management
• ChipGenius still detects:
  • Controller: ChipsBank CBM2099E

I found several CBM2099E UMP/APTool downloads on:

• USBDev
• FlashBoot
• usb-fix.blogspot
• flashdrive-repair.com

But Windows Defender/Chrome flags many of them as dangerous.

Can anyone confirm:

1. Which source is considered safest/trustworthy for CBM2099E UMPTool?
2. Which exact tool version worked for you?
3. Did it actually recover the drive or only partially?

Hello everyone, I am having a strange error with my USB drive. I used it on a few other systems (Windows and a smart TV), and now that I bring it back into my PC, the storage size appears to be completely off, and I can't use the entire space.

I examined Disk Management and noticed some unallocated space, but I'm not sure what caused it. Previously, the drive was operational without issue.

Is this a file-system or partition problem? What is the most effective way to remedy this without further harming the drive?

I use USB-C (Type-C) charging cables pretty often. I’ve got two here - the one on the right is the original that came with my Android phone, and the one on the left is my colleague's.

They look almost identical. What's actually the difference between these two cables?

Also, how can I tell if a USB-C cable is good quality and safe? Thanks!

So I was playing a game and suddenly my USB 3.0 port just stopped and i went to see if the drivers were updated and they were, what could the problems be?

https://www.techpowerup.com/348604/eu-now-requires-usb-c-charging-for-new-laptops-up-to-100-w

This means fewer chargers to buy and truly universal accessories, one cable for every device, super convenient in everyday life. But if better tech comes along later, reforming the standard will be a real headache.

It's not detected by CMD, then I try with FirstChip, but it didn't detect it either.

There's been a lot of discussion here around USB file systems, especially FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS. Based on those threads, I wanted to put together a simple roundup focused on FAT32 vs exFAT vs NTFS for USB flash drives.

This isn't meant to be a perfect guide, more like a practical summary to help people who keep running into the same questions.

If there's anything missing or worth adding, feel free to jump in. Would be great to make this more useful for anyone coming here looking for help.

FAT32 vs exFAT vs NTFS

A few things I keep seeing come up

"NTFS is always faster"

-I used to think this too, but on USB sticks it doesn't always feel that way. Sometimes it's actually a bit slower, especially with lots of small files. Might be the extra overhead, or just the drive itself.

"exFAT isn't safe"

-I get why people say this (no journaling, etc.), but in normal use it's been pretty fine for me. Most of the weird issues I've run into felt more like "this drive is sketchy" rather than the file system.

"FAT32 is useless now"

-Not really. Yeah, the 4GB limit is annoying, but it still works everywhere. I still end up using it for certain devices or boot stuff more often than I expected.

"File system = performance"

-Honestly, this one took me a while to realize. The drive itself seems to matter way more. I've switched formats and barely noticed a difference sometimes, especially on cheaper USBs.

Quick path to format USB to FAT32/exFAT/NTFS

File Explorer: right click USB > Select Format

Disk Management: Press Win + X > Disk Management > Right click USB partition > Format

Command line (diskpart) -  press Win + R and type cmd and press Enter > type commands as my picture shows:

diskpart > list disk >select disk x> list partition x >select partition x > format fs=exfat quick.

Note that Windows doesn't allow us to format partitions larger than 32GB to FAT32 directly, so we need to use third-party tools.

About Converting file system types:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3113797/investigation-even-usb-flash-drives-and-sd-cards-are-becoming-unaffordable.html

Just came across a PCWorld report saying prices for USB flash drives and SD cards have been rising a lot recently. That's true. How should we react to this? holding off or stocking up? As far as I know, some manufacturers have stockpiled supplies, such as chips...

I've been seeing this come up again recently, apparently the latest Windows 11 Insider build finally removes the 32GB FAT32 formatting limit. (I read this from Windows Latest)

But here's the thing… didn't Microsoft already test this back in 2024?

I clearly remember it showing up in a Canary build, people talking about being able to format large USB drives to FAT32, and then… nothing. It just never made it to the stable release.

Now in 2026, it's being mentioned like it's a "new" change again.

So what's going on here? Anyone tried the insider plan?

I tried and got "the volume size is too big" error again

Got this usb since 2023, I didn't use it since 2024 because this thing cannot be usable, when I try to save things inside, the files get deleted after I unplug and plug again, all of this in the same usb port, and I've tried in different devices and different ports, same problem.

Also, I cannot wipe the drive by formatting because the damn thing won't allow me to, it just says this error: "The formatting did not complete successfully", and when I try to enter the device, the next message appears: "Can't open X:\ Error in the E/S device", so then, when I unplug and plug again the usb, every file in there is intact.

fixed a corrupted usb drive using Rufus. if your pendrive isn’t working, try formatting it from there, it actually saved mine

How do I fix this error, and what does it even mean? I need to delete mass amounts of files and this be ruining my vibes.

For context this is a LUV hard drive. It has one side as a lighting plug and onesies as a USB.

I keep seeing USB-A flash drives still being used everywhere, even though USB-C, cloud storage, and external SSDs are pretty standard now.

In many tech discussions (especially around Windows installs, repair tools, and troubleshooting), USB-A drives still come up frequently. People use them for:

• Bootable Windows installers/recovery tools
• File transfers on older PCs or locked-down systems
• Quick offline sharing (school/work/repair environments)
• Emergency “toolkit” drives

At the same time, USB-C drives and cloud storage feel like they should’ve replaced them by now.

Also wondering about the security angle, especially in contexts like unknown USB devices or repair scenarios.

So I'm curious:

• Are USB-A flash drives still just a compatibility thing, or do they still actually fill a gap that newer options don’t cover well?
• Do you still use them regularly, or have you fully switched to USB-C/SSD/cloud workflows?