H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives
Posted by KittyFireFlash on September 2, 2008
H2testw 1.4 has proven itself to be the best of breed for detecting counterfeit Flash drives. It is extremely easy to use and proves detailed information. Created by Harald Bögeholz, the interface is in German but has the option to run in English. It is free and standalone.
New! This article contains a poll you can vote on.
Nothing is installed into the operating system. Designed for Windows it can run under Linux if Wine is installed. It will not run under Macs as it is a Windows Software . If your computer can not run the software – ask a colleague or friend who has a windows based computer to help you test. However if you are a Linux or Mac user we have good news for you, keep reading. A software has been developed based on the idea of H2testw, just for you.
To learn more and for download information
Sections covered:
- Gold Standard rating for H2testw 1.4 Why do you give this software such a high rating?
- Results for a 64GB USB drive purchased on eBay, using H2testw 1.4
- Results from H2testw have been verified on drives detected as fakes
- Acknowledgements
- Download Links
- Note To Flash Drive Sellers
Gold Standard rating for H2testw 1.4? Why do you give this software such a high rating?
We give H2testw 1.4 the highest rating and recommend it for testing counterfeit USB Flash Drives for the following reasons:
- Easy to Use
- While in German an English Execution is possible
- Stand alone executable file – no installation required to run it
- You do not need administrator privileges on a computer to run it
- Tested to work on 1.1 and 2.0 USB drives
- Tested to work on 1.1 and 2.0 USB Ports
- Tested to work to analyze drives advertised as 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and yes …64 GB capacity.
- Reports seen capacity – what the operating system sees size to be.
- Will write 1 GB files up to the reported size – requiring no work on your part except patience if it is a large drive and a slow computer
- Will read all the files it wrote and verify them
- Will produce a report. a) short if all is well b) detailed if there issues found.
- The program is offered free
The readme.txt file provides:
- Explanation of the program and what it does for general computer users
- Information on how to interpret the results
- Technical information for those who have a deeper understanding of data storage and file writing and for the skeptics out there. Output results can easily be copy pasted into notepad to be saved as a text file.
Test results for a 64GB USB drive purchased on eBay, using H2testw 1.4
Sample Output For A Fake 64 GB Drive
The media is likely to be defective.
3.8 GByte OK (8084847 sectors)
58.6 GByte DATA LOST (122921617 sectors)
Details:710.5 KByte overwritten (1421 sectors)
7.6 MByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 15630 sectors)
58.6 byte corrupted (122904566 sectors)
710.5 KByte aliased memory (1421 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000003cef8470
Expected: 0xeb7ac43a237c5170
Found: 0xeb7a843a237c5170
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 9.24 MByte/s
Reading speed: 10.8 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
This is 4GB USB flash drive not a 64GB USB flash drive. It is of poor quality. As 4GB drive it should be about 3.9 GB not 3.8 GB formatted. This indicates in low level formatting a lot of bad sectors had to be locked out. Usually flash chips like these are rejected for major brands and should be destroyed. Unfortunately instead of the furnace flames these chips are leaving the back door of factories to be resold. These chips are a favorite for counterfeiters to reprogramme. Low cost, big profit.
The results from H2testw have been verified on drives detected as fakes. How?
-
Drives were dissembled
-
Controller chips identified
-
Flash chip identified
Searches on the actual flash drives using their identification number revealed their true capacity. These matched the output from the H2testw Program.
In a few cases, when drives were disassembled, epoxy glue removed holding the flash drive to the bottom casing, quality control stickers were found with a size circled. The size? Exactly what H2testw reported as the capacity it could write to. All drives autopsied for investigation and validation of this program were purchased on eBay.
We do not see any other program that can match these features. Therefore, H2testw has been adopted as the Gold – Standard to detect and test fakes.
eBayers use this program to PROVE they have received a fake from a seller. It is confirmed with more eBayers reporting the same results for the same drive model. We have been able to prove this repeatedly, to the point we have only one conclusion. If a drive model fails capacity testing with H2testw then any for that listing on eBay is a fake. Having more eBayers test the same model only confirms what H2testw reported. The autopsies on counterfeit drives have also proven the value of this program. The report is a God send for eBayers who must file disputes. It gives them evidence to submit with their case.
Acknowledgements
To Herald Bögeholz who wrote the Program H2testw, Thank You!
To c’t Magazin für Computertechnik, Thank You!
To www.heise.de for hosting the download of the programme, Thank You!
People around the world who have suffered the misfortune to receive a Counterfeit Flash drive are grateful for your contribution in the struggle against False Capacity USB Flash Drives and memory cards.
Mac Users:
Linux Users:
Download links For Windows Users:
Using Google translation into English
Article Manipulated data loss caused by USB sticks – Heise Online
Note: Using translation can slow down access speed of the web pages.
German
H2testw 1.4 Website – German – Direct Site Access
You may prefer to search with Google for the software. Type in H2testw 1.4 which is the current version at the time of listing on this page. To search all versions you can just type in H2testw.
Direct Download Of Software For version 1.4 of H2testw
Note To Flash Drive Sellers
Please test your merchandise using this software. Do not offer for sale unless the drives are able to pass testing. You do not want to face the consequences of angry buyers. If you have drives which fail, contact the source you acquired from. Submit the proof you have as evidence for receiving counterfeit merchandise.
If the drives you offer for sale are able to pass the testing of H2testw 1.4 – congratulations!
Please indicate this in your advertising or listings. Let prospective buyers know that you have tested. That your drives pass with the program and that you are able to guarantee the true advertised capacity (minus a small overhead for operating system file formatting.). This will increase your sales potential.
If you find the tool H2testw 1.4 useful to you, please return and leave a comment on your experiences with it.
SOSFakeFlash 
toomanyles572 – Did You Buy From This eBay Seller? Emergency Consumer Warning. « FakeFlashNews said
[…] warning. If you bought a pen drive from this seller you are at at risk. SOSFakeFlash advises you to test immediately! Do not use any penstick purchased from toomanyles572 to store your data unless you can […]
SOSFakeFlash Beware Fake USB eBay Sellers List Grew To 589 For July to August 2009! « FakeFlashNews said
[…] buy from these sellers in the first place is that buyers scan the positive feedback. Most do not test […]
SDHC Card losing data said
[…] its a fake flash..I was lucky enough to test mine the second they arrived with a special tool, H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives SOSFakeFlash test the drive with that..all my usb and sd cards I get of ebay I test with them and atleast half […]
Randy said
When using H2testw it is best to insert the drive to be tested in a USB port on your computer. Avoid using USB extension cords or a port on a shared HUB.
If you are using Linux and looking for a method of testing your drive this post may be helpful.
http://blog.listepik.net/2009/06/16/how-to-find-out-if-youve-been-scammed/comment-page-1/#comment-33
זיהוי כונני USB מזויפים » ITbananas said
[…] שימוש על אף שביצוע הבדיקה לא אמור לפגוע בנתונים שמאוחסנים על הכונן, מומלץ לגבות את הנתונים לפני כן: USB Image Tool. התוכנה עובדת על ווינדוס XP, ויסטה ווינדוס 7. נוריד אותה מהאתר המקורי ונריץ אותה ע"י הפעלת הקובץ: H2testw.exe. נשנה את השפה ל English, נבחר את הכונן שברצוננו לבדוק ונלחץ על כפתור ה Write + Verify. H2testw תבצע כתיבה לאותו הכונן ותיצור עליו קבצים (1.h2w, 2.h2w וכדו') בנפח של עד 1GB. במידה ופעולת הכתיבה עברה בהצלחה (ללא שגיאות), המשמעות היא שהנפח המדווח הוא הנפח הנכון. במידה ולא, תתקבל הודעת שגיאה כגון: The media is likely to be defective בצירוף פרטים לגבי סדר הפעולות שיתבצעו, איזה נפח קבצים הכונן סירב לקבל ומהו הנפח האמיתי. בסיום התהליך ניתן כמובן למחוק את הקבצים שנוצרו על הכונן. לפרטים נוספים על התוכנה- ראה: Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives […]
Misprogrammed Fake Flash/Thumb/USB Drives That Misrepresent their Size to Windows are Rampant on eBay, Slipping Into Legitimate Supplies - Massive Data Loss is Result - Officer Resource said
[…] him Of course I didn't change it. OH – I found that this test program seems to work best: See H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives SOSFakeFlash I also found that another free program, ChkFlsh, will allow you to re-partition the misprogrammed […]
JAY said
Its worth noting..
I spoke to paypal today who said they will only give refunds if you get proof the item is counterfiet.. its irrelevant that feedback says “negative” etc.
Ian said
Purchased a 32 gig USB drive from toomanyles_1985. Turns out to be about a 4 gig drive. Lost everything on it of course, but I was only using it to transport files. The terrible speed is incredibly annoying:
—
The media is likely to be defective.
3.8 GByte OK (8149813 sectors)
26.3 GByte DATA LOST (55305419 sectors)
Details:2.6 GByte overwritten (5591124 sectors)
42.5 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 85 sectors)
23.7 GByte corrupted (49714210 sectors)
8 KByte aliased memory (16 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000000f8b50000
Expected: 0x00000000f8b50000
Found: 0x0000000790750000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.35 MByte/s
Reading speed: 4.44 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
—
I filed a report with Paypal and have had the transaction refunded. The seller wrote:
"Dear friend,
Sorry to hear the news, I am new ebay seller, the supplier offered the fake items.
I would like to give you a full refund, could you tell me your paypal account?
Thanks."
I would like to think that the seller legitimately did not know they were fake. But who really knows? The seller has no items listed anymore, hopefully they have not just created a new account and are trading with that…
I guess all we can do is spread the word.
battery.king888 Did You Buy Any Flash Based Memory Products From This Seller? « FakeFlashNews said
[…] memory card from eBay seller battery.king888 to ensure you received the advertised capacity. See: H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives for testing information and where you can find the software to […]
buy.some.here Did You Buy a 16GB or 32GB USB Memory Drive Pen Stick Flash Disk From This eBay Seller? « FakeFlashNews said
[…] usb flash drive from eBay seller buy.some.here to ensure you received the advertised capacity. See: H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives for testing information and where you can find the software to […]
Mike Whitaker said
And yet another eBay ‘shop’ selling fakes!!! You would want to believe that buying from a registered business seller ‘shop’ on eBay, selling supposedly from the UK, would be ok???? Nah!!! Reckoned it was a ‘genuine’ 16gb…. good old H2testw tells me 4….. This is the link to their ‘Top Rated Seller’ shop:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/ukbargainstores.
Test Result:
The media is likely to be defective.
3.9 GByte OK (8215168 sectors)
11.6 GByte DATA LOST (24520064 sectors)
Details:8.7 GByte overwritten (18390048 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
2.9 GByte corrupted (6130016 sectors)
1.5 KByte aliased memory (3 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000000fab50000
Expected: 0x00000000fab50000
Found: 0x00000000aa55aa55
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 9.28 MByte/s
Reading speed: 16.4 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Vodka7up said
Now this really pushes the envelope doesn’t it
The media is likely to be defective.
486.3 MByte OK (996127 sectors)
15.1 GByte DATA LOST (31739105 sectors)
Details:9.8 GByte overwritten (20649149 sectors)
10 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 20 sectors)
5.2 GByte corrupted (11089936 sectors)
54 KByte aliased memory (108 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000001e650000
Expected: 0x000000001e650000
Found: 0x00000003e6ff0000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.76 MByte/s
Reading speed: 3.52 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
A little over 480 mb in a 16 GB pen drive.
To the creator of h2testw, you have my thanks.
What Happens To Fake Flash Memory USB Pen Sticks PayPal Demands You Send Back To The eBay Seller? « FakeFlashNews said
[…] eBay – a usb flash drive advertised as 8GB 16GB 32GB or 64GB. You discovered the truth after testing with H2testw. You file a dispute with PayPal. PayPal email robots demand that you return the […]
Bob said
Card: Sandisk Extreme III 4GB SDHC
Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 3.65 MByte/s
Reading speed: 13.9 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Write speed seems low. Thoughts?
Johannes said
FYI: The download site for the h2testw program, http://www.heise.de, is the home of the computer magazine where this program originated. It is the most reputable computer magazine in Germany. They also maintain several security products. A live Linux CD with several commercial anti-virus scanners and a Debian based firewall/home server distribution using virtualization technology are both regularly updated and included with the magazine. C’t works together with the developer of Knoppix and distributes free Knoppix pre-releases at Cebit. H2testw isn’t the only simple but remarkably useful tool by c’t. There are dozens more, for example one which locks the ATA password feature (because many BIOSes fail to do that) to prevent malware from using it to lock out the user. By all means, be skeptical and check your downloads, but know that as far as reputation goes, you’re downloading from professionals.
KittyFireFlash said
Grüße aus dem Ausland,Johannes!
Yes indeed. We gave full credit in the Acknowledgements section, before the download links section to ensure that people know who have given this wonderful gift to people in trouble.
We provide links in english for those who do not read german and also for direct access to the orginal german webpages.
SOSFakeFlash was very honoured when they mentioned us in an article.
http://www.heise.de is a german site and in terms of being a safe one to download from, absolutely.
Knoppix. That was the first linux Live CD distro to recognize and run on some of my ancient laptops – perfect recognition of the hardware – video and sound too. It actually booted and ran in only 256MB of ram. It worked on old PII intel machines, if a bit slow, but that was the ancient hardware, not Knoppix.
Do visit and browse everyone, as Johannes says they have a lot of interesting and useful programmes.
And read this article on H2testw before downloading, to understand why we say it is the “Gold Standard” in testing. If your testing shows you have a fake, and you need to submit proof this programme provides you with the output you need. In fact the InpectorTech and TechChips team have been using the samples provided by victims to learn more about how the flash memory chips have been reprogrammed. It is one of the reasons, why the VID PID article at fix fake flash now has a new insert for people to read, before they consider attempting to restore the original capacity.
If it wasn’t for all those mentioned in the awknowledgements section in making H2testw possible, we would not know what we do now do about the reprogramming of flash memory chips to lie about their real capacity.
The other teams want to start digging into a lot of information recently found on flash memory technology and it’s directions. Unfortunately, there are just too many fake flash sellers on the loose on eBay, still. We need their help here. Yours too, everyone.
Thank you, Johannes for sharing.
InspectorTech said
To Bob,
What is your usb connection? 1.1 or 2.0? And your computer? Read write speeds can be affected by both the usb port you have and your computer.
upcomingtrend 16GB Fake Memory Pen Drive eBay Seller Suspended After 6 Months Frauding Buyers « FakeFlashNews said
[…] you bought any flash memory items from upcomingtrend please test and report in to SOSFakeFlash. Also file an immediate dispute with PayPal – you have no time […]
Simon said
Someone told me that using the H2testw 1.4 program will shorten the life of the flash device being tested because it will require a lot of writing … and should not be used more than once on a particular drive or card … can this be true? It does not seem logical to me as a flash item can be used thousands of times …
Thanks
InspectorTech said
Hi Simon,
Using a flash memory based item does not “shorten” it’s life span any more then read writes to a hard disk. H2testw is simply writing and reading to the flash chip and verifying. Activities people do every day to flash memory chip items.
If a person copies files to a flash memory chip, then accesses them, does this shorten it’s life span? Yes, the same way writing to a hard disk does, no difference there.
Curious to know who said this to you. The program just automates what people do everyday, add files, access files. It also verifies what has been written. Nothing usual or special.
Hard disks have a “life span” and so do flash memory chips. Both have only so many read / write cycles. We will skip all the technical details here. H2testw does not “kill” flash memory chips!
Obviously the better the quality of nand flash chip, the longer it will last. The same applies to hard disks.
We don’t see why anyone would run the programme H2testw over and over and over again on their flash memory item. The main objective is to test it, to find out what the real capacity is, and if there are any problems.
Where people have to be careful is when they try to correct the size for the memory chip – repair it.
If a person uses the wrong low level formatting tool, or uses a number of tools to experiment to try and return a flash drive chip to it’s real size, yes they could damage the chip. One should not repeatedly low level format a flash memory chip. It is usually done ones in a chips life time – when it is being prepared. H2testw does not do any low level formatting. It simply emulates what people do every day in using flash nand chips.
People need to remember a very important fact. If H2testw detects that the chip is fake capacity, it almost always means that a very low quality chip was used in the first place. Grade C or D. To learn more see the video
see the reference material too.
That has a direct bearing on the chip’s potential lifespan. Rejects can not be expected to last as long as the grade A and B chips. So if the chip is of high quality, what would the worry be? Brand name manufacturers guarantee chips: from 1 year to 3 years or 5 years, or even 10 years and in some cases for life time. Naturally, the longer the guarantee, the higher the price. The better the quality of chip, the more you must pay for it.
While we are not against people repairing their fake flash memory items, in many cases it is not worth the effort. Our fixfake flash site added a link to explain why in the VID PID article.
The purpose of H2testw is to determine if the memory flash chip is okay or not. If there is something wrong, it will give you the details.
If you have a fake think hard before you consider repairing it. H2testw is safe to use. If you have a fake, what matters, is the output report – to show you have been deceived.
If you have a fake the feeling of many members at the FrankenFlash Project are:
1. Use the output from H2testw to prove you have a fake.
2. Demand a refund for the item.
3. Get your refund.
4. Correct the fake flash memory item with a hammer.
5. Become wiser and pay fair prices for flash memory chip based items.
6. Help educate others to avoid becoming a victim of a fake flash memory purchase – anywhere.
Final word, H2testw does not damage a flash memory chip, or shorten it’s life span anymore then normal usage would. If you have a fake, well, it has already been harmed, has it not? If it is a good chip, you will sleep well and can use the device with confidence.
H2testw’s job is to tell you whether you can safely use the item or not. You can use it as often as you like on the item. A lot of people store videos on flash memory chips and they access them over and over again. We have not had anyone complain that their devices expired. Not for true capacity memory chips, anyway. The rule of thumb for good flash chips is 10,000 read/write cycles. It pretty much falls in line with what you can expect from a hard disk.
Simon said
Thanks for your answer … this is where I got the false information and unfortunately it was posted on a very well known and respected photo site (The road to hell is paved with good intentions as well as people who dont know what they are talking about LOLOL ) :
http://forums.steves-digicams.com/memory-cards-microdrives-card-readers/161040-olympus-e-620-cf-card-question.html
Simon said
BTW I wish the major photo sites would post permanent warnings about this problem in their forums (Stickies)
ITGuy said
Further to the comment about h2testw shortening the life span of a flash drives.
Some people incorrectly assume that h2testw is similar to other flash / hard drive testing programs that do a “burn in test”. These program perform multiple write / read cycles using different data patterns and, if incorrectly used, will shorten the life of flash memory drives.
H2testw basically does a single write cycle followed by a single read cycle and will have no noticable effect on the lifetime of a standard quality flash drive / memory card.
nane said
i have made a little flash product number decoder ..
NAND-SIZECHECK FOR HYNIX, SAMSUNG and MICRON CHIPS
NAND with K9, H27, HY27 and MT29 Prefix
open ur player and search the flash chip product code.
http://cya.de/nando
Mike said
Did this test on my nicely working 8gb spypen from cypress network.
Well, it was working, and now will not.
I never thought I’d get ripped off just by doing the test.
Warning: Only 7704 of 7799 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
3.7 GByte OK (7786544 sectors)
3.8 GByte DATA LOST (7991248 sectors)
Details:3.7 GByte overwritten (7928824 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
30.4 MByte corrupted (62424 sectors)
2.0 MByte aliased memory (4199 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000000b01c8000
Expected: 0x00000000b01c8000
Found: 0x0000000074248000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 1.16 MByte/s
Reading speed: 7.91 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Anon said
Yes but can the damn thing fix the drive to the TRUE capacity???????????????????
The_Flash said
@Anon – No, it’s for testing the capacity only. You may want to read this link – http://fixfakeflash.wordpress.com/faq-read/ – if you’re thinking about fixing a fake.
Spi D said
I too was aware too late.
The test states
The media is likely to be defective.
1.9 GByte OK (4130816 sectors)
13.6 GByte DATA LOST (28602368 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
13.6 GByte corrupted (28602368 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000005e1e0000
Expected: 0x000000005e1e0000
Found: 0xffffffffffffffff
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 1.61 MByte/s
Reading speed: 3.76 MByte/s
I'll file a case with eBay and claim return/refund.
The seller was checkmeout88
Ivan said
Good day everyone.
the same case, i got this amazing Data traveler 150…FROM CHINA.. and it doesn`t work very well..
can you tell me something about this info??,, right now im doing the test, may take the all day in verifying.
info: ( i don`t know if some are 6(six) or G
MW6208E
IPM 142261-5
IUY*HT9M7
HYNIX K0R
HY27US0856IM
TCB 43GB
THANKS,
Randy said
To Ivan
Look @
HY27US0856IM = DENSITY 56 = 256Mb == 64MB ….
nane said
if you have flash product code ..
look at http://cya.de/nando
NAND-SIZECHECK FOR HYNIX, SAMSUNG and MICRON CHIPS
NAND with K9, H27, HY27 and MT29 Prefix
mike said
tested my 2gb sd card used it a little before ,may i ask is this card defective
The media is likely to be defective.
1.8 GByte OK (3778559 sectors)
0.5 KByte DATA LOST (1 sector)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
0.5 KByte corrupted (1 sector)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000002f4ffff8
Expected: 0x996cd02b6290e221
Found: 0x531143966290e221
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.40 MByte/s
Reading speed: 2.76 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
LuisAndro said
if you have a pen drive od 4 gb,
is more easy to put a file of 700 mb 6 or 7 times, and done, if you get 7 files its real 4 gb,
if not then is fake size,
is a bad idea do this ?
Joao said
I’ve bought a 64GB “Kingston” pendrive from a street vendor (camelo, as we named here) in Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) for about US$40. Obviously, by the price and the by the salesman, I knew it is a counterfeit; I bought it only to test this kind of product. The bargainer was a nice guy and let me try 3 pendrives until I found one that Windows (XP and Vista) could think it’s a 64GB pendrive.
The first note is about what is said in the package: “64GB DataTraveler 100”. Just with a quick consult at Kingston’s site [http://www.kingston.com/flash/DataTravelers_consumer.asp] we can be advised that the DataTraveler100 pendrives are up to 32GB. Pendrives larger than 32GB are DataTraveler150 and up.
I tried to copy my actual 16GB pendrive to it; apparently I did it, but when I tried to see the files, Vista said there’s nothing to show, despite properties show less free space.
Next, I tried to format it using Vista: no way!
Then, I tried to format it (FAT 32; NTFS didn’t begin) using HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool 2.1.8, without the quick format option: I got zero bytes of used and free space properties and a disabled pendrive.
I’ll proceed with the tests and will inform something new.
KittyFireFlash said
Joao,
Thank you for sharing your story.
Insight into local markets is important, we need more stories on what is happening outside of eBay. It seems Kingston counterfeits (with false capacity) are very common in your country – the Kingston name is highly respected.
The HP Tools are useful, but they do not correct the real issue. Usually it tries to reform the flash drive storage chip up to 4GB. The real problem is the little usb controller chip, HP Tools does not fix the falsified information there. Only a correct low level formatting tool for the usb controller chip family can do this.
Perhaps, you could still rescue the item. Visit the fixfakeflash site for details. Opening a Kingston flash drive, counterfeit or not, is not always easy. It must be done very carefully. If you can identify the little square controller chip, you might be able to fix the fake. Vista probably disabled the penstick because the information between the flash storage chip and the flash usb chip no longer agreed with each other.
Any technical Vista people out there? Who might be able to supply moe information to Joao and other readers about the results?
David said
Acabo de adquirir un Kingston DataTraveler200 de 128Gb de memoria, viendo lo mal que me funcionaba, me dispuse a buscar por internet ayuda sobre esto y me empece a volcar en la idea de que era falso.
Pase el H2testw y de momento no puedo poner los resultados, ya que al ser una capacidad muy grande me tarda sobre 50 horas en hacer el test.
Que es flaso, ya lo se, lo unico que quiero es probar el programa, ya lo hice con otro de 2Gb y me fue perfecto.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
I just purchase a Kingston DataTraveler200 of 128Gb, seeing how bad I worked, I began to search the internet help on this and I started to pour into the idea that it was false.
Spend time H2testw and I can not make the results as being a very large capacity takes me about 50 hours for the test.
That is flase, I know, I just want to test the program, done with another 2Gb and I was perfect.
RockDoctor said
LuisAndro said
“Bad” … not a useful word : doing this would be ineffective.
Some (not all, but some) fake flashes are faked in a sophisticated way so that – for your 4GB case – if a 500MB drive is faked to appear to be a 4GB drive, the controller will write any new data to the chip and overwrite any previous data there. So, you’d get back the last [real chip size] of data from the drive, but the older stuff would be hopelessly lost.
You can imagine what this would do for an otherwise-rational backup strategy.
The files that H2testW writes appear to contain random data. they’re so big that they take ages to open … actually … try this : on a known-good device, set H2testW running but only test a few megs of the device ; you’ll see a 1.h2w file generated ; rename this file to something (“old.file”, whatever) ; then run H2testW again to create a new 1.h2w file in a different location on the device. Open them both (wordpad will open anything, though it baulks at DOS/ windows executables) : the files appear identical, and highly random (ZIP them – a few % shrinkage, if that).
I don’t know what algorithm H2testW uses to generate this data is ; I’d guess that it encodes in some way the offset in the file from the start of the disc, so that it is predictable, and the program can work out from the data it reads where the device starts to malfunction.
There’s some pretty sophisticated thought that’s gone into the design of H2testw. I’ve done manual hard-drive recovery in the past, and I think it’s a pretty good program. Unless you’re sure that you understand data structures, compression algorithms, and the evil tricks that the fakers try better than the programme’s designer does, I’d suggest that you use it. If you are in a position to write something better … the C’t site should allow you to get in contact with the author, and I look forward to the results of your collaboration.
ITguy said
To add to Fightflashfraud response to David
Based on what I have a read on this site – most of the fake flash drives have a fake flash drives have a “real capacity” of less that 4GB. Recent post have indicated real sizes as small as 256MB!.
5GB partial test should be adequate and catch most of the fakes. If h2testw shows no errors try 9GB.
For a quick test you may want to give RMPREPUSB a try. When reporting your fake drive to this blog you should include the output of h2testw.
Sree said
“Error writing file ‘E:\15.h2w’, offset 0x3a800000.
It is still possible to verify the test data written up to this point.
(The system cannot find the file specified. Code 2)
Writing speed: 20.8 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4”
I’m getting this error What is the next step…
The flash drive is not detecting after this message…
What is the solution for this…
dt1375 said
Well, found a solution, not that I managed to restore my Rizone 16GB (!!) MP4 player to it’s origin size, but a hybrid way, that works.
Used h2test to check my real size. The log showed me 3803520 sectors ok (just about 1.8GB)
Then on to this thread http://mympx.org/forum/firmware/43917-itchee-rizone-32gb-2-6-mp4-5.html using the dos based software mkdosfs, and formatted the exact 3803520 sectors.
Now, the drive have excactly free space as it can use. A brief check in windows is a bit confusing, the drive is at its full capacity og 1.81GB, for a drive that contain 16GB (NOT! hehe).
Well, it’s absolutely working now, and I can play with the files (drag’n drop) without worrying. Lovely player though, at no cost 🙂 .
Regards
Dayne said
The media is likely to be defective.
3.9 GByte OK (8191150 sectors)
27.3 GByte DATA LOST (57312082 sectors)
Details:7.0 GByte overwritten (14773868 sectors)
37.5 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 75 sectors)
20.2 GByte corrupted (42538139 sectors)
363.5 KByte aliased memory (727 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000000000000
Expected: 0x0000000000000000
Found: 0x00000007cefe2000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.59 MByte/s
Reading speed: 4.31 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
bought from urgentshipping2u on ebay
user has now been removed from ebay
put in a claim with paypal
got a full refund including postage
anyone know where i can get software to change this thing so that it thinks its a 4gb usb instead of the 32gb?
RJ said
Hi,
I purchased one “New 16GB 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Memory Drive Thumb Stick K” http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=170407150507&view=all&tid=0 from eBay China as 16 GB, and the tool found following. http://myworld.ebay.com/kugoer/
I will comment back here if I will be sent a new one or money back.
The media is likely to be defective.
1.9 GByte OK (4043280 sectors)
13.7 GByte DATA LOST (28917232 sectors)
Details:882.4 MByte overwritten (1807232 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
12.9 GByte corrupted (27110000 sectors)
4 KByte aliased memory (8 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000007b642000
Expected: 0x000000007b642000
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.84 MByte/s
Reading speed: 3.38 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Mindaugas said
Hello,
hopefully somebody can help.
I tested my “64 GB” stick with H2testw v1.4 and while processing files to stick I got this error:
Error creating file ‘F:\44.h2w’.
(The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable. Code 1392)
Warning: Only 65526 of 65527 MByte tested.
Writing speed: 2.93 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Afterwards if I try to access my stick from “My computer”, it said it has to be formatted. I did it so.
Could somebody please explain what does this error mean?
P.S. I formatted my stick as exFAT, as NTFS was not allowed (even changing to optimal performance in disk management).
Mindaugas said
…continued from previous post…
Ran h2testw second time. I chose to test only small part of my stick (12.000 MB out of 64 GB).
Here are the results – only 4 GB chip (damn wuzhua8 on eBay!). I will go for PayPal refund (45 days not passed yet) and will let you know about the results.
Warning: Only 12000 of 65527 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
3.9 GByte OK (8204544 sectors)
7.8 GByte DATA LOST (16371456 sectors)
Details:7.8 GByte overwritten (16371355 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
50.5 KByte corrupted (101 sectors)
1 MByte aliased memory (2048 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000000fa520000
Expected: 0x00000000fa520000
Found: 0x00000002edf20000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 3.07 MByte/s
Reading speed: 8.60 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Thank you guys for this site. I am surprised eBay is not paying enough attention to this fraud and not warning all of their users, say, in eBay home page. And comments for sellers are positive, as most of users are trusting what they initially see, writing positive feedback, and only after sometime loose their data. To late.
JLK95 said
The media is likely to be defective.
3.8 GByte OK (8139391 sectors)
27.3 GByte DATA LOST (57363841 sectors)
Details:27.3 GByte overwritten (57343728 sectors)
0.5 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 1 sector)
9.8 MByte corrupted (20112 sectors)
1 MByte aliased memory (2048 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000000f8550000
Expected: 0x00000000f8550000
Found: 0x00000007cefac000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.14 MByte/s
Reading speed: 4.78 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
bought from garysin2008 on ebay
user has now been removed from ebay
put in a claim with EBAY
will file claim with paypal
Pablo said
Trying this now on a so-called Sony 512GB stick.
Had to fire up a windows box though, just to do this. Is there a linux version? If not, would it be difficult to implement? If it’s only working at file level, it shoulddn’t be a problem. Maybe a shell script that uses dd might be a simpler option?
RLC said
For a linux test script look @
http://blog.listepik.net/2009/06/16/how-to-find-out-if-youve-been-scammed/
Pablo said
Results of my test on the 512GB Sony stick. I’ll try it with the linux script as well, as it’s for a friend and when I tell him it’s really 243MB he’s going to cry.
The media is likely to be defective.
242.9 MByte OK (497533 sectors)
511.2 GByte DATA LOST (1072119939 sectors)
Details:92.0 GByte overwritten (193089123 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
419.1 GByte corrupted (879030816 sectors)
1.5 KByte aliased memory (3 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000000f2efa00
Expected: 0x000000000f2efa00
Found: 0x000000000f2ff800
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 20.1 MByte/s
Reading speed: 17.0 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
clare said
bought a 32gig memory stick from xprodeal through ebay.
received an email today from XXXXXX (eBayer id removed by SOSFakeFlash to protect identity of Fake Flash Angel’s ongoing mission) warning me that it might be fake. took 3 hours to test it and the results are:
The media is likely to be defective.
1.9 GByte OK (4062848 sectors)
29.2 GByte DATA LOST (61440384 sectors)
Details:29.2 GByte overwritten (61440384 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
0 KByte corrupted (0 sectors)
1 MByte aliased memory (2048 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000007bed0000
Expected: 0x000000007bed0000
Found: 0x00000007cefd0000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 3.58 MByte/s
Reading speed: 7.74 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
gutted that i've been conned, will stick to buying from reputable sites in future.
clare said
update:
well i got a sob story, and have been asked to send it back to china (like hell i will!) but i also got a refund through paypal. Yay! I was lucky as the drive hadn’t yet been used, thank god we didn’t lose any data.
Keep up the good work!