Asked to format a USB memory stick already in use

I have had this 16 GB memory stick for more than 2 months and have been using it. It suddenly started to give the message that it needs to be formatted before using it.

I have Windows 7 on both my desktop and laptop. Using Office 2010. The laptop is very new- Intel core i3 CPU; 2.40 GHz; 3 GB installed memory and the desktop is also quite up to date.

If I click "Format disk", it gives the message that Windows cannot format the disk and I need to check the connections. I have tried by using a thread- using command, clean disk- and it did not progress as well for a HP programme that I downloaded.

It seems as if this stick might be damaged, but I will appreciate any comments.

Thanks

Sounds to me like it may have failed. If you can't format it thats a good sign that its hosed. I have an 8 gig here that has started prompting me to scan to detect and fix problems. I told it to go ahead but it seems to take forever and never get anywhere. I noticed just before this happened that file transfers to that thumb drive took a really long time and suspected it had problems. I'm just now doing a full format to see if it fixes it. Your post reminded me I had this on my to do list.

Mine is Kingston DataTraveler 2. I just did a full format and copied 6.5 gigs worth of stuff to it. I was going to time it but I had something else I had to do and could not stay until it finished. I just went to the tools tab and did an error check and it scanned it quick this time with no errors. I guess the file system on mine got corrupted. Still I'll keep an eye on it for any more problems.