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 
Sunrise said
Well, bought a suppose 32 GB micro SD. Surprise surprise that it has less than 2GB capacity. Thanks to this software for detecting it.
Warning: Only 31185 of 31186 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
1.8 GByte OK (3817408 sectors)
28.6 GByte DATA LOST (60049472 sectors)
Details:32 KByte overwritten (64 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
28.6 GByte corrupted (60049408 sectors)
32 KByte aliased memory (64 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000000747f8000
Expected: 0x00000000747f8000
Found: 0x000000079d000000
anon said
Purchased a counterfeit 32gb Micro SDHC for $49 on ebay from Seller svla8735
Warning: Only 28992 of 31189 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
0 KByte OK (0 sectors)
28.3 GByte DATA LOST (59375616 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
28.3 GByte corrupted (59375616 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000000000008
Expected: 0x0000000000000011
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.42 MByte/s
Reading speed: 6.98 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Thanks for the program, I thought the card looked fake when I received it so I was able to confirm it.
Khader said
Yet NOONE has even said how they are getting the ‘classes’ verified. I have looked everywhere to find a ‘class’ verifier. I have multiple SD cards, even ones people give to me 2-16gig SD cards, and Of course with no Classes on them anywhere… And I really would like to figure out how to test these cards to know what the Classes are on them so I can put the class numbers on them so I know how to use them. If i have a class 10 I would like to know that I can use it in my 1080i HD camera.
Anyone know how or what program I can use to get the class verifications? Cause even h2testw DOES NOT tell you the class on SDCARDS anywhere.
Khader said
Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 4.05 MByte/s
Reading speed: 9.44 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
I know it is a 2gig card, Which is fine… but even so I have seen 2 gig Cards, that are class2-class6, And what I dont get is that H2testw doesnt tell you what class? This is kinda bunk.
Listen, before you all star flaming and yelling at me… Iam given most of the SDcards about 90% of them dont have classes on them. Even the ones I buy from retail about 50% of them dont have classes on them. Legit cards, all are clean, even packaging and Cards dont have any class specification. Even from what I see above and what I see from others, Even my above speeds are general give or take with class 4 and 6, yet I see class 2’s(which I even test on my own) that have the SAME SPEED, though 10’s I have show about 1-4MB diff depending on manuf of cards… but still significantly higher then 2-4-6’s.
So explain to me, how can this be? I want to know HOW to properly class my cards.
Is there ANYWAY? Or is This just all a PipeDream since speed means NOTHING at all in verifying Class’es of cards.
The_Flash said
The “Class” is just a guarantee of the minimum write speed that a card can sustain, but often you’ll find that under normal conditions that some cards can manage higher regardless of what “Class” it is.
Accordingly, since this can fluctuate, I don’t believe that any means of determining this with a program like H2testw even exists.
Khader said
Then By your standards, The_Flash, Class doesnt mean anything, when I have a 2gig Class 2 Going 4MB/Sec, and a 2gig Class 4 Going 4MB/Sec and a 2gig Class 6 going 4MB/sec…. see the Point Iam making… then Classes dont mean a thing at all is what you are saying. Then Why do they even exist? They obviously exist for a Reason right? And there are ‘tolerences’ that are taking into effect as well, which any PROGRAMMER will take into effect when programming the program just a mild range, but when the Standards are Explicitly Given for 2 4 6MB/sec wirting give or take as i said there is still a standard. And obviously ANYTHING below a certin write point will result in errors and prob a ‘defective’ card/flash anyways or a on the way out card(which H2 already sees) then makes no sense to not have the ‘class’ told period.
So what you are saying is mute.
Now I await REAL answer. Now Can ANYONE answer it with a legit answer that can give me the right program to determine the Class speed…. cause this is getting annoying.
KittyFireFlash said
@Khader,
The biggest issue for buyers of memory cards is not speed, it is capacity. What the memory card can hold. Unfortuantely many are “upgraded”, digitally altered to report a larger capacity then the actual flash chip on the memory card can support.
Given the construction of a memory card, few really want to open them to decode the flash memory chips used to verify the actual size. It goes without saying that if a person does this, the card is useless and can not be corrected or restored to actual capacity.
H2testw is designed to detect capacity, not class for flash memory. It is general purpose.
Some people, having found that H2testw reported a much lower capacity than advertised for flash memory cards HAVE taken them apart to decode the chip used.
Their discovery? Surprise, the results of H2testw corresponded to the actual flash memory chip size.
If someone knows of a good software programme to very class speeds we would be delighted to hear of it.
Khader our focus will continue to remain on detecting actual capacity for memory cards. Losing photos and memories, is just too painful for buyers.
We are also seeing a lot more brand name fakes for memory cards being sold on eBay. We wish people would visit the brand name sites in advance before buying or bidding on eBay. In many cases the “Class” being advertised by the eBay seller, was never even manufactured by the brand name in the first place.
We remind people to check memory cards purchased on eBay for serial numbers on the cards and to validate with the brand names. Most have validation at their sites.
Sandisk and Kingston are being very helpful to buyers. We wish eBay would show the same level of concern as these companies do.
Can anyone guess why eBay does not?
Khader said
Right Kitty, and not jsut the size, and fake cards(which I still want to know whe I get them so I will continue to use H2) not saying this progrma is usless cause it aint I still need it.
But even so, size isnt the only factor as well in detecting fakes, so is class especially if one isnt printed on the card or if it is, it isnt the real class… which then in turn again goes into being a fake, and then later on the card failing cause the printed class was fake then poof the card can be as well(if it fails at a later date than the first test ran).
So if anyone can add(if H2 went open source), a class identifier, it would be great. Cause H2 itself is a program that is neccessary for all of us.
But still Identifying the class is also needed to see if it is fake.
As you said even if it is printed that manufac may have never even made that specific class… and noone really knows this or even has an incling till the card goes wonky.
I have bought 2 cards on Ebay in the past gave both of them away, 1 came back to me, it checked out ok(though about 6years old) so it is possible to get good cards, still no class ident. on it and no sticker. They should imprint it onto the card or something cause that class will never change on the card ever. Instead of just priniting it on the label 🙂
And to answer you question about the ebay does not…
Reason: eBay isnt ran by anyone in general, it technically is just an open auction ran by us, prices determined by us, not by anyone at ebay….that is why there is no concern via ebay at all unless they themselves getting hurt. Since we are th eonly ones getting hurt so to speak they dont care since it doesnt cut into their profits just ours. It separates the items being sold via their site from them personally. It saves on legalityies like we are facing and we as customers are running into since they never touch the items.
Which then in turn they dont need to talk to us or even have any concern for us ever/at all.
The_Flash said
-“Then By your standards, The_Flash, Class doesnt mean anything, when I have a 2gig Class 2 Going 4MB/Sec, and a 2gig Class 4 Going 4MB/Sec and a 2gig Class 6 going 4MB/sec…. see the Point Iam making… then Classes dont mean a thing at all is what you are saying. Then Why do they even exist? They obviously exist for a Reason right?”-
You appear to have misunderstood me. What I wrote is not “by my standards” – what I wrote is exactly what “Classes” are.
They are simply a guarantee of a minimum write speed, nothing else, and nothing more. They exist for cases such as (for example) HD camcorders which require the ability to always be able to write at a certain speed, or digital cameras which may need a fast card in order to guarantee a quick shutter speed, and other such purposes.
-“So what you are saying is mute.”
What I said is the way things are, I’m afraid.
Even though things like microchips are mostly made by machines, there are still variances between individual samples. My understanding is that flash-chips are selected in the same way that CPUs are – that is to say that ones achieving higher speeds are separated from the others in the batch which are not as fast (this is sometimes called “binning”), and are marked with a higher speed, or “Class”, or whatever the relevant attribute is. These are then sold at a higher markup due to the fact that its speed is guaranteed.
-“Now I await REAL answer. Now Can ANYONE answer it with a legit answer that can give me the right program to determine the Class speed…. cause this is getting annoying.”_
I gave you a real, legitimate answer, and have reiterated it in more detail here. I’m sorry that it doesn’t seem to be what you wanted to hear. I wish you the best of luck in obtaining the information you’re seeking.
DaRookie said
Warning: Only 64296 of 64297 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
1.4 GByte OK (3031039 sectors)
61.3 GByte DATA LOST (128647169 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0.5 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 1 sector)
61.3 GByte corrupted (128647168 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000000d8d3e40
Expected: 0x9c0382d90e34d640
Found: 0x9c0382d90e30d640
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.31 MByte/s
Reading speed: 4.15 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
W.Palmer said
Now we have perhaps cleaned up the memory problem how about the rest of the “junk” that is sold to the west from China. I’m talking about the name brand stuff, Clocks, cameras, food mixers, kettles, Flat screen TV’S, DVD players, Table lamps, light fixtures, etc:, etc: that pours in from that country, all of it lasts about 2 yrs and no more and ends up in our garbage dumps.
This is costing us big time and nobody seems to be paying any attention.
KittyFireFlash said
@W.Palmer,
You have a point.
No we have not cleaned up the memory problem. We are limiting the damage, reducing the sales and profit. Hopefully the number of victims.
There was a time when an eBay seller registered in China could make over $250,000 to $100,000 US in profit before being identified and in some cases shut down. Take the infamous Safe2Star. Just how long did that id fraud? Just type his name into google to see all the artices.
However with termination and the effort of so many people, there is good news! A powerseller id with a score of over 50,000 has finally been suspended. Unfortunately the id is a member of several counterfeit rings, so we can expect new id’s to spring up. Some might find this discouraging. Not so. Low feedback score id’s are easier to terminate and kick off eBay for selling fake memory.
It is also a lesson that powersellers with astonishing high score can be broken and suspended. If…. If eBay members put their mind and will to it. Victims of Safe2Star organized. We facilitated.
You would be surprised what a dedicated victim can do against an eBay seller of fake memory.
It’s not over on eBay or other internet sites for flash memory fakes. We all wish it was, so we could go back to our “normal” lives.
There has been a lot of progress in the last 6 months, more than in the last 2 years. The tactics change. We are all adapting to their adapation, if that makes any sense.
About the quality of the products you mention. Yes it is true. However, part of the issue is price. Quality costs money. Do people want to pay for quality? Do they want to pay $200 for a pair of shoes or do they want to buy 6 pairs for $10 that only last 6 months or less each?
There is a film with an interesting moral – The Man in the White Suit. 1951.
While it does explain the need for people to work, to be employed in manufacturing – to have jobs, it does not sit well with the way we are going and the state of our Planet. The issue of resources, garbage and of course the polution.
There was a time you had to save 2 years before you could buy a stove. Of course it lasted 20 years or more. Who is willing to pay 4 to 6 months wages to have a stove?
We live in a consuming world, a disposable world. The attitude is condeming those yet to be born. Not fair of course.
The biggest problem we face, W.Palmer?
The cheap items you mentioned and also the fake flash memory problem is driven by demand. No demand for cheap crap, no supply. That simple.
We all had to learn a hard lesson.
BTW, the workers who make the cheap stuff you mentioned? They do not have very happy or pleasant work lives. They are also exploited, just managing to live day to day making the poor quality that western consumers demand.
Perhaps the media should start sending a new message:
Meanwhile, SOSFakeFlash and the other sites will try help educate people and fight against this problem of fake flash memory. What we stress a lot and what keeps us going is not the money people lose, but the data and files. That is the biggest hurt. It has ruined a lot of small businesses. It has cost people their jobs in a lot of companies. Now if only those companies had provided people with the flash memory items instead of forcing them to buy out of pocket in the first place….
It always comes back the same issue, somebody trying to save money. It leads to a nightmare for many in the end.
Roy O Brien said
I used “h2testw” to find my 32gb micro sdhc has only 1.9 gb so it is a poor quality fake,
I want to format it it’s 2gb but when I use the program “Chip Genius” to find the PID and VID unfortunately as I have to use an adapter for the micro card I only get the PID and VID of the adapter and not of the card,
What do I do next ?
lucky said
How 2 make repair flash disk 500GB couse im have flash disk 500 GB sony micro voult butthe flash disk read only4GB
InspectorTech said
@Lucky
You are unlucky I am afraid. Visit FixFlashFlash to learn about repairing. A 500GB fake might not be worth your effort. Still it can be an interesting challenge and you might succeed. It could be a lot of work, are you willing to spend the time?
Ben said
Can someone please tell me a good reputable wholesaler of memory sticks sd cards etc.. ? Please because I am a seller of these cards and I am worried now that I could be selling bad cards. I can’t afford to take losses because I am just starting out in this business on Ebay and I have lost my day job and I have a family that relies on my income. Which is why I began selling on Ebay and I just want to be an honest seller. If people contact me about a bad card I will refund right away. I already refunded one person. I have another shipment of Voyager Pens, 32GB SDHC Class 10, and Patriot LX Series 32GB SDHC Class 10, coming in and I will be testing everything.
Please help me find an honest wholesaler, someone here said that they have good cards, can you direct me to the wholesale that you got those good cards from?
Thank you to anyone who can help me out.
I keep you all updated on what happens from here on out with my ebay sellers account as I want this whole experience to be an honest one, I would never intentionaly scam anyone.
Ben
Yeatsie said
Very many thanks to Harald Bögeholz for this program.
Results for one of two 32gb SDHC cards bought from an eBay seller very recently:
The media is likely to be defective.
2.3 GByte OK (4974277 sectors)
28.8 GByte DATA LOST (60528955 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
9.5 MByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 19586 sectors)
28.8 GByte corrupted (60509369 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000000000048
Expected: 0xbeb4dbc6de6aebd1
Found: 0xbeb4db86de6aabd1
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 1.52 MByte/s
Reading speed: 4.21 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
I'm in the process of testing the other card but fully expecting it to show a similar result as exactly the same problems were encountered on both cards.
Stan said
Well, I hate to admit it – I’ve got sucked into buying a fake Kingston 256GB DT310 from a US seller on eBay. What I’ve noticed (it took me a while as it was sitting around for a long while before I used it) was the incredibly slow rate of transfer. I have (original!) 2GB flash drive and it’s very fast and this one took forever.
I needed it to play some of my movies on home theater that has a USB input and some files were larger than 2GB…
In any case – it didn’t work and I was wondering why such a good company would create such a slow drive. Searching on google got me here.
The speed of writing is 2.77 MByte/s, so I don’t have much hope of doing anything with it.
Checking eBay – there are 43 listing for 256GB Kingston Flash Drive, only 4 look legit (I wish I’ve read this page before!). I’ve paid over $40 for mine, the seller is not listed any more…
I’ve bought it in January, I might be out of luck trying to get my money back :o(
German said
Transcend SDHC 16GB card Class 6
Warning: Only 15315 of 15316 MByte tested.
Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 8.10 MByte/s
Reading speed: 15.0 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
I am very happy! 🙂
InspectorTech said
@ German,
You have real capacity! Who was the seller?
Vijay said
Sony “Vaio” “16G” disc…
The media is likely to be defective.
3.6 GByte OK (7708672 sectors)
12.1 GByte DATA LOST (25436160 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
12.1 GByte corrupted (25436160 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000000ea227000
Expected: 0x00000000ea227000
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.54 MByte/s
Reading speed: 7.52 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
david said
Add Ebay seller “pse2011″.
H2testw results:
Warning: Only 31987 of 31988 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
1.9 GByte OK (4018112 sectors)
15.6 GByte DATA LOST (32860224 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
15.6 GByte corrupted (32860224 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000007a9f8000
Expected: 0x000000007a9f8000
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
Test wasn't done running but clearly shows only 2GB.
Graham said
Hi, just wondering when testing a 16gb drive, does the program have to download the 16gb to your computer/drive – as i only have a 25gb monthly broadband allowance?
thanks
InspectorTech said
@Graham
The H2testw 1.4 download is only 213 kB.
You download it, unzip and click on the programme. It does not need to be installed. It runs independently. Nice if you do not have administrator rights on your computer.
Testing is done locally. You connect your 16GB flash drive to the usb port. Then you click on the programme to start. It is a good idea to read through the article here. You should also give the readme text file a quick speed read.
All H2testw does is write files of 1 GB to your flash disk. No internet connection is needed to do the test. It fills up the usb flash drive. Then it verifies what it wrote to the drive. If everything is okay the report will tell you. If not it will tell you what is wrong. It can be a bit technical but what matters is the size it reports as good, okay. This tells you the real size of the flash memory storage chip.
So using H2testw will not use up your monthly download/upload allowance. The programme is very very small. It does not “download” from the internet when it tests. It just writes special files it can check and verify. It’s very simple and easy to use.
It’s a great programme. Testing is a good idea, it lets you know if you have a good flash memory storage capacity, if there are problems with the storage chip and or …. if you have fake capacity.
Graham said
@InspectorTech
Thanks for your help
lee fletcher said
Does this qualify as a fake card it is a 16gb joyflash from ebay
Warning: Only 15262 of 15263 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
14.9 GByte OK (31254528 sectors)
1 MByte DATA LOST (2048 sectors)
Details:1 MByte overwritten (2048 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: 0x00000002e0ff8000
Expected: 0x00000002e0ff8000
Found: 0x00000002f17f8000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 13.6 MByte/s
Reading speed: 15.6 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
lee fletcher said
this is the details of a previous card that i got a refund for last week thanks to this site.
It was a 32 GB class 6 KINGSTON micro sdhc card.
Warning: Only 31772 of 31773 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
1.8 GByte OK (3870656 sectors)
29.1 GByte DATA LOST (61198400 sectors)
Details:1 MByte overwritten (2048 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
29.1 GByte corrupted (61196352 sectors)
1 MByte aliased memory (2048 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000000761f8000
Expected: 0x00000000761f8000
Found: 0x00000007c1b00000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.35 MByte/s
Reading speed: 5.32 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
ITGuy said
To Lee Fletcher
16gb joyflash card is just defective, a poor quality unit most likely a manufacturing reject
the 32 GB class 6 KINGSTON micro sdhc is a fake (as you suspected)
InspectorTech said
Agree with ITGuy, for 16gb joyflash card.
Dave said
USER wlz201 was selling fake Kingston DT310 under the listing title “New USB 2.0 256GB Flash Memory Pen Stick Thumb Drive”. The user is no longer a registered eBay user.
H2testw 1.4 Test results…
Error creating file ‘E:\112.h2w’.
(The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable. Code 1392)
Writing speed: 15.1 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Rick said
This “little” application {no HD space or resources} has HUGE BENEFFITS! Thanks to this app. I’m geting a refund on a fake 32GB Micro SD card. THANKS Devel. of H2testw 1.4 *****!!! Following is the test report:
Warning: Only 29787 of 29788 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
233 MByte OK (477184 sectors)
28.8 GByte DATA LOST (60526592 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
28.8 GByte corrupted (60526592 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000000d898000
Expected: 0x000000000d898000
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 3.00 MByte/s
Reading speed: 6.02 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
hobo said
Transcend 32 GB Ultimate Speed SDHC Class 10 Flash Memory Card TS32GSDHC10
bought on Amazon
Results:
Warning: Only 30878 of 30947 MByte tested.
Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 15.8 MByte/s
Reading speed: 17.3 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Eric said
Error reading file ‘E:\1.h2w’, offset 0x0.
(The semaphore timeout period has expired. Code 121)
Warning: Only 5 of 29788 MByte tested.
Reading speed: 0.00 KByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Just a bad chip or is it a fake?
ITGuy said
To Eric
Insufficient information to determine if bad chip,fake or both.
To be 100% sure that it is fake you will have to open up the case and inspect the memory chip, decode the part # information printed on the chip. Information is available on this blog about this process and how to decode memory chip part #s.
TechChips said
@ITGuy,
You are dead on! The best way to be sure is to open the item to inspect the chips and decode. A lot of people don’t want to do this, but the fact is, it is the only True to be sure. If it is malfunctioning, there is nothing to lose by opening and decoding. In fact, it is the best way to determine what is wrong.
If testing with H2testw reveals problems, then people need to pay attention!
Opening is the best action to reveal the truth. No one should use any flash memory chip unless it can pass the testing of H2testw.
Keep up the good work, ITGuy in answering user comments. This site is struggling to keep up.
You are the one with the most knowledge on the subject. We all owe you….
InspectorTech and I want to know something…
Should we now reveal how fakes are created?
Some people got a heart attack when the FrankenFlash project suggested we tell the truth. They even got nasty about it.
Stupid in our opinion. As many have said, it would take too long for a simple seller to make one. It is much easier to buy them “upgraded” from a Chinese internet site. Cheaper. Less effort.
Do you think it would help or hinder the issue of fake flash memory chips?
Let us know.
Proview said
I recently came up with the idea of detecting fake MicroSD cards using weight.
Hypothesis is that a newer card will have less silicon than an older 2GB (which is presumably what these fakes are) uSD but more encapsulant.
As I confirmed with a noname 32GB which was tested with H2Testw, it weighs far less than a 2GB test card.
i strongly encourage people to invest in a decent 0.01 gram accuracy set of scales to test these, as the error is too small to show up on kitchen scales.
KittyFireFlash said
@Proview,
Interesting.
They probably do use cheaper plastic casings for the fake MicroSD cards, that could account for the difference in weight.
Not sure about the weight of flash memory chip inside though, perhaps ITGUY could shed some more light on the subject?
Daryll said
Man this tool is great i bought a kingston 16 gb and tool told me its real size is 125 mb. Thanks to author of this tool.
Andy said
The last line is just showing the writing speed followed by the reading speed , so its fine
Andy said
This program rocks – just checked a 16GB micro SD card and all is fine
Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 5.49 MByte/s
Reading speed: 10.2 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Thanks to the Author I can feel confident in this one
tinybeetle said
What does this result mean? I know the USB stick is fake. But I’m not getting the same result other have.
Error creating file ‘F:\86.h2w’.
(The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable. Code 1392)
Warning: Only 511982 of 511983 MByte tested.
Writing speed: 16.3 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
las said
too little too late for me…got 4m e bay..
Warning: Only 31482 of 31483 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
893.0 MByte OK (1828872 sectors)
703.9 MByte DATA LOST (1441784 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
703.9 MByte corrupted (1441784 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000037cfc000
Expected: 0x0000000037cfc000
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
if ive read this b4 …….
Im asking for refund + retern shiping . if they dont, i will post info about them so you guys wont get scammed.
Aidan Karley said
Hi LAS, #42,
From your post it looks as if you thought that you were getting a 32GB flash drive, but when tested you found (or H2testw found for you) that you’d only got a 1GB drive, and that partly defective.
This is about normal for the criminals who fraudulently manufacture these mis-labelled imitation devices.
You said that you got the device from eBay? Therefore you need to provide feedback (NEGATIVE, of course) with a narrative description like “fake, fraud …” so that it’s the first thing other buyers do when studying this shill account. You need to demand that the seller refund your money (they may request you to remove the negative feedback ; use this as a bargaining tool but do not remove the feedback), and when you do check that it’s real money, not fake.
Be under no illusion what so ever – the people who sold you this are criminals, probably professional criminals, and if you send them the device back, they will just put it back into it’s packaging and sell it to another “mark” (“victim”). After all, it’s not as if they don’t have thousands of sets of packaging and a machine for sealing the fakes into the “blister packs”.
What – you thought that it was one guy doing a bit of fraud in his bedroom after a hard day mopping up suicides at the iPad factory? No – it’s professionals who work a solid 14-hour shift in their fraud-factory, and have a bank of computers for arguing and wheedling with “marks” (“victims”, “customers”) to keep the business running.
Once you’ve got your money back, DO NOT return the fake drive to them. They will only re-sell it. Demand they return your money before you return the drive, and accept no excuses until you have got the money back and the cheque is cleared (use a disposable account – they’ll probably already have sold your banking details to some other criminals). THEN, when they demand the fake flash drive back, you change your story to “it’s illegal in my country for me to send something that is known to be fake through the post”. Then, when their story gets more anguished, tell them that you’ve been to the police, and the police in (your country) want to send the drive to the police in their country for investigation, and you need the address of their lawyers to give to the police, plus their home address.
Keep it up like this until you or they get bored. If you’re going to send the fake drive anywhere other than between hammer and anvil, send it (with the details of your purchase and correspondence) to the local office of the company who have been faked.
By the time you’ve got to this point, your purpose is to maximise the costs these criminals suffer. So use your imagination. It is much more fun than pulling the tails off mice, and much more ethically defensible. But still don’t send them anything back apart from trouble and abuse.
This is a nasty business. Try to invest some time in making life harder for the criminals ; don’t put any money at risk.
Kingston DataTraveler R500 128GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Model DTR500/16GB – DTR500/32GB – DTR500/64GB – DTR500/128GB. The Replacement For DT200 USB Flash Drives. A Close Up Look DataTraveler R500. « Techchips said
[…] Testing Formatted Capacity […]
Jack said
Watch out now they are selling fake 2TB Western Digital hard drives on eBay. I’m fighting with Paypal over it. Then they send you a necklace or a coin.And if you get the coin you cant send back to China legally. They are also listing the add as if they are sending the items from the US but are shipping from China.Pay-Pal wont do a dam thing to help you out either.
Jeremy said
I got a Kingston 8gb SDHC card the other day through DinoDirect for free with a $20 gift card. Anyhow, i tested the card with h2testw, but cancelled before it got to the verify stage because I wanted to try something else. Thinking that mine wouldn’t be a fake, i didn’t bother to test the card. What do you know, a few days later I tested it and it was a fake with only 2gb of real capacity. I got onto customer service, explaining how i wanted a different model shipped because the one I got was fake. They called me up by surprise, and the lady said she would ship me a new one, even though I said I would have the same problem, but she didn’t understand. Now they have send me the same model again….God..
Warning: Only 7641 of 7642 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
1.9 GByte OK (3993536 sectors)
5.5 GByte DATA LOST (11655232 sectors)
Details:5.5 GByte overwritten (11655232 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
0 KByte corrupted (0 sectors)
2 MByte aliased memory (4096 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000079bf8000
Expected: 0x0000000079bf8000
Found: 0x00000001dd7f8000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 4.34 MByte/s
Reading speed: 9.12 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Aidan Karley said
@Jack : July 7, 2011 at 3:54
“now they are selling fake 2TB Western Digital hard drives on eBay. [. . .] Then they send you a necklace or a coin.And if you get the coin you cant send back to China legally.”
Sorry, I don’t understand. Is this a blatant fraud (you order a hard drive, they send you this “token” thing), or are they trying to pull some more elaborate stunt?
Advert number?
MarinerMB said
Unfortunately my Kingston 32Gb TF, bought on EBAY was a fake also:
Seller: Boozie27 of Tulsa, OK – US
The media is likely to be defective.
1.8 GByte OK (3802024 sectors)
29.2 GByte DATA LOST (61250648 sectors)
Details:44 KByte overwritten (88 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
29.2 GByte corrupted (61250560 sectors)
44 KByte aliased memory (88 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000074075000
Expected: 0x0000000074075000
Found: 0x00000007c13f0000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 4.89 MByte/s
Reading speed: 7.69 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Thank you for having a way to check it!
Jeremy said
Got another fake 4gb Micro SDHC. This was from a good seller here in Australia, with an ABN and a retail shop, selling a Kingston 4gb Micro SDHC for $6.50 shipped. I’ve let them no, and now they’ve sent me a genuine (hopefully) Sandisk 4gb Micro SD free of charge.
Warning: Only 3791 of 3792 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
26.9 MByte OK (55290 sectors)
3.6 GByte DATA LOST (7708678 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
3.6 GByte corrupted (7708678 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000000000008
Expected: 0x0000000000000011
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 1.75 MByte/s
Reading speed: 6.64 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Wow, this is a really bad fake. 1.75MB/s write – not even close to the class 4's minimum 4MB/s write speed.
Karen said
Thank for this program, my flash drive is only 1.9 gb not 256gb. I will never buy on on ebay again.