New USB Flash Device Problem

[CityThrille]

Guys. I need help.
I got a problem here about these newly-bought flash drive.

Let me tell the story.

Last days of December, 2011, my sister bought a new
Transcend JetFlash V30 8 GB USB Flash Drive as a gift for New Year's Eve.

Then two days later, when I tried the USB Flash Drive,
(and also, in order to use it, I must format the flash drive.)
I plugged it to one of our PC's front USB Port.

Then..
After I plugged it, a taskbar balloon pops out, saying that it identifies the new hardware.
(I expect that when I plugged an new device, Windows automatically finds and installs the driver for the hardware.)

Unfortunately, as I expected that it must show the device name "Transcend JetFlash V30",instead the name of the device I have plugged in is "Generic USB Flash Device",
which must not be. (Because removable storage devices, such as Kingston Flash Drives for example, automatically shows their real device name when plugged in.)

I tried to identify if the problem is in the USB port or on the USB drive itself,
so I plugged another Flash Drive (in my case, I plugged my second Flash Drive, Kingston Data Traveler) to test. The USB Drive identified itself sucessfully and correctly, plugged on the same USB Port where I plugged my Transcend drive.
So i think the problem now is in my Transcend drive.

Then...
I thought these things why, and tried some of them to solve it...
(because it is a new drive, tinkering it might void the warranty, especially if we should tinker the flash memory chips and other innards.)
* Right-click the ailing drive, to Properties, and go to Hardware Tab. Check for problems. (Never solved my problem.)

* Formatting the drive. (Already tried, formatted successfully, but never solved my problem.)

* Checking Device Manager (Already did. No problems, except for the name of my drive as "Generic USB Flash Device", which is wrong.)

* Updating the USB Driver. (usbstor.sys) (Already did. Windows said it is up-to-date.)

* Used, tried many techy utilities such as SisSoftware Sandra Lite (Tried, but failed to solve my problem.)

* Going to their Website. Downloaded almost anything from the site.(I've got nothing. I'm now planning to write an e-mail to contact support..)

* Get angry at their customer service support. (Planning to do it... Just kidding.)

* Ultimately, tinkering the innards as an ultimate last resort.
(I suspect that it's a memory chip problem, which is now beyond my scope of thinking.) I have read articles on flashing/re-flashing the Flash Memory Chips, and other sorts of "frustratingly" weird hard-core nerd stuff. But i will never try it for now for fear of tampering my warranty.)

I need to fix this problem immediately, in order to use the Transcend JetFlash Elite Program, which requires a real plugged-in Transcend USB flash drive. The program says that my USB Drive is unrecognized. (Even if my Transcend flash drive is actually plugged in)
This is ugly.
I also need to fix this because of my thinking fear that it might not read or recognize on other computers.

Any ideas? Suggestions? Solutions? or else, anything?
Please anyone help me solve my problem.
Any help will be appreciated. Please help me. I need my new drive. :(

[rubberman]

What's in a name? Nothing. Format and/or set the label for the drive to whatever you want. Then safely remove it, plug it back in, and the new name/label should appear with the drive icon. A lot of thumb drives are identified as "Generic USB Flash Device", or similar. Don't sweat it.

[caperjack]

try plugging it into a usb slot on the back of the computer

[CityThrille]

What's in a name? Nothing. Format and/or set the label for the drive to whatever you want. Then safely remove it, plug it back in, and the new name/label should appear with the drive icon. A lot of thumb drives are identified as "Generic USB Flash Device", or similar. Don't sweat it.

But i want to install the Transcend JetFlash Elite software on my flash drive. The software requires a Transcend flash drive plugged in order to install. But Windows and/or Transcend Elite cannot detect a Transcend flash drive (even if that drive is already plugged in). just a generic USB Flash name...

[skilly]

try naming the drive "Transcend JetFlash V30" like what you said it should be named.
if that doesn't work then, yeah probably email tech support or get it exchanged.

[CityThrille]

Well. Never mind. . .

But what if i try to tinker the flash ROM inside?
Is that a bad idea since it may tamper my warranty?

[caperjack]

Well. Never mind. . .

But what if i try to tinker the flash ROM inside?
Is that a bad idea since it may tamper my warranty?

not sure what you plan on tinkering with ,if you mean formatting it ,it shouldn't hurt any warranty ,not sure what else you could do to it ,what exactly did you have in mind when you say tinker with it.

I have about 6 usb thumbdrive ,all work just fine ,not all of them show there original name ,as i formatted and even changed the file system on them ,turned some into boot able devices and such

[dangerstick]

that was really a long story,then what happened?

why dont you get it exchanged?

[CityThrille]

not sure what you plan on tinkering with ,if you mean formatting it ,it shouldn't hurt any warranty ,not sure what else you could do to it ,what exactly did you have in mind when you say tinker with it.

I have about 6 usb thumbdrive ,all work just fine ,not all of them show there original name ,as i formatted and even changed the file system on them ,turned some into boot able devices and such

I plan to tinker the ROM inside by re-flashing it. But neither happened.

I just reformatted it, it works fine now. Except for its driver and the Flash drive name. Remains unsolved except referring it to the more nerds. Haha.

And, yes, my "ailing" flash drive doesn't even have a device driver in itself. Just a generic flash disk.

[07knev]

Does your usb drive performance is decreased after much activate done on it?
Have you tested your Drive how fast read and writes?

[rubberman]

I've found most of those drive-related crypto/security tools pretty worthless. If you want to encrypt your drive, use something like TrueCrypt. It works on Windows from XP through Win7.

[CityThrille]

Does your usb drive performance is decreased after much activate done on it?
Have you tested your Drive how fast read and writes?

How can I test such drive for read/write performances?

[rubberman]

One thing that has worked for me when I had a drive that was acting up, was to do a full format, not the default quick format, with Windows. Sometimes bad sectors will not get mapped out of use by the device itself, so when Windows does a full format, it will mark them as unavailable in the allocation table of the file system.

[caperjack]

How can I test such drive for read/write performances?

good luck .
http://www.bing.com/search?q=test+usb+drive+for+read%2Fwrite+performances&qs=n&form=QBRE&pq=test+usb+drive+for+read%2Fwrite+performances&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=