My PNY Flash Drive freezes my entire computer, any ideas?

[bal1985]

I purchased that PNY Turbo 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive - P-FD128TBOP-GE from Staples for only $20. I then found out that a lot of people are having tons of issues but others report nothing, but it seems like this model is getting some bad press.

To my issue: I plugged the FD into my customer built PC with Windows 7. I had to manually open up the drive from My Computer. It worked for like 1 second then my PC just locked up, my wireless mouse & keyboard would no longer work, started lagging then my PC was just unusable. However, once I removed it everything was fine again, computer was fine.

Any ideas on what I need to do? I got it on the 15th so I believe I can return it by the 30th? It's opened but that shouldn't matter, correct? In the mean time is their anything I can do to troubleshoot, try to fix it or the drive or is DOA? I don;t think it's my USB ports it has to be the Flash Drive itself.

Any help would be much appreciate?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Yep some bad reviews on Amazon probably a bad batch :/
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: PNY Turbo 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive - P-FD128TBOP-GE

 

[bal1985]

Hi,
Yep some bad reviews on Amazon probably a bad batch :/
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: PNY Turbo 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive - P-FD128TBOP-GE

So no way to fix my issues? Should I just return it? I'd really like to try and troubleshoot before I do anything. I just don't know where to begin?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Begin with the RMA
Just point them to the reviews on Amazon and TigerDirect both sites had quite a few issues

FWIW Newegg has the same flash for like 80.us

 

[derekimo]

That freezing is the same thing this 32GB Kingston does, I got it off ebay about 5 years ago,



After talking with their support, I found out it was a fake, there is supposed to be a lot or some other ID numbers on the tongue, here's two kingstons, the one on the left is real,



It's kind of hard to tell but there is writing on the one on the left.

I just keep the fake around to remind me where not to buy flash drives.

I would return it like Thrash said.

 

[ThrashZone]

eBay

 

[bal1985]

I got mine from Staples. Will they allow me to return it even though it was opened?

Also, do you guys recommend I upgrade to Windows 10?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Shouldn't matter if it's opened how else would a defective unit be discovered

Win-10 :/
I would review your manufactures website to see if your computer is on their win-10 compatible list before even thinking about upgrading
They would be the ones testing and making drivers and more than likely bios updates for the machine not M$.

 

[bal1985]

Hi,
Shouldn't matter if it's opened how else would a defective unit be discovered

Win-10 :/
I would review your manufactures website to see if your computer is on their win-10 compatible list before even thinking about upgrading
They would be the ones testing and making drivers and more than likely bios updates for the machine not M$.

My PC was custom built: Here is the build: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/s6gLrH

I just didn't know if Win10 would be easier with drivers, updates and other things.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Then you would refer to your mother board manufacture and see if they offer win-10 drivers and bios updates.

Win-10 again it's personal preference really
You'd be the best judge

Make a reliable system image to a totally separate hdd before so if you want to get back to your current install after using win-10's system restore back to win-7 you can truly get the previous install back with the system image

You do have 30 days to try win-10 then the windows old folder is deleted.

 

[bal1985]

Hi,
Then you would refer to your mother board manufacture and see if they offer win-10 drivers and bios updates.

Win-10 again it's personal preference really
You'd be the best judge

Make a reliable system image to a totally separate hdd before so if you want to get back to your current install after using win-10's system restore back to win-7 you can truly get the previous install back with the system image

You do have 30 days to try win-10 then the windows old folder is deleted.

Thanks, I really appreciate the responses. I just had two other questions if you don't mind? I really should just make another thread.

- About the PNY USB Flash Drive in the OP. I just tried it on my Laptop with Windows 10. I plugged into both of the 3.0 USB ports and the flash drive isn't even recognized. When I plug it into the 2.0 USB port it works. The laptop does not lag or freeze at all like my PC does. However the drive only works in the 2.0 port not any of the 3.0 ports which is pointless. So to sum it all up... On my PC with Win7, the drive is recognized in all ports however the rest of my USB devices begin to lag eventually are unusable. I can't even access the actual drive for more than a few seconds. On my laptop w/ Win10 the USB Flash Drive only works on the 2.0 port, none of the 3.0 ports will recognize it. Any ideas?

- I do want to try Windows 10 but I wanted to wipe my PC and start fresh as I have so much junk on it. I don't know if that is needed or not? What do you feel about wiping a PC back to factory once in a while? However as my buddy helped me for most of this PC I'm not sure about how I would go about do thing. Win7 is on the SSD and I also have an HDD as well. I have no idea on how to do all of this over again. Or is there a way to do a reset without having to install all the drivers, SSD software and stuff over again? I basically just want it back to day 1 when it was first built so I can start over and organize it better.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Well you could go to the manufacture of your machines website and download the latest chipset drivers there could also be a separate usb3 driver there ?
Oops or yea go to AsRock and get the drivers.

You can also check to see if they made win-10 drivers for it at the same time.

 

[bal1985]

Hi,
Well you could go to the manufacture of your machines website and download the latest chipset drivers there could also be a separate usb3 driver there ?
Oops or yea go to AsRock and get the drivers.

You can also check to see if they made win-10 drivers for it at the same time.

I figured out the issue but still haven't been able to find a solution.

I thought the PNY Flash Drive was bad so I returned it & got a Sandisk 128 3.0 Flash Drive to make sure it wasn't the drive. Anyways, the Sandisk seems to work on the front ports and back ports. I do have a Logitech Unifying Receiver Adapter in the one of the 2 front ports for my wireless keyboard and mouse. It seems like that is causing issues. When I remove the receiver and plug my flash drive in the front ports, it seems to work fine. When I put the receiver back in my mouse and keyboard freeze instantly, soon as I remove the the flash drive my mouse/kb work again. I'm not sure if this Logitech adapter is causing conflict or not but I'm leaning towards that. When the Logitech Receiver and any Flash Drive are next to each it's causing issues. Or maybe Win7 is having a hard time with flash driver that are high? I just put an old 2GB Sandisk Cruz drive in my PC and it works fine.

Any ideas on what I need to do?

 

[ThrashZone]

Not sure what a logitech receiver is
Is that for a wireless keyboard and mouse system ?
If so yea don't use that for the flash drives

 

[whs]

This is one way to check whether you can run Windows 10

Will your PC run Windows 10? Use the official compatibility checker to find out | ZDNet

 

[TrustMe]

I really have no idea if this will help or not but try putting the Logiteck receiver on the end of a USB extension cable and move it away from the pc. I put up with the mouse freezing and a jittery curser for a long time before I found the answer. I read the problem has something to do with the GHz of the CPU and the mouse dongle. They interfere with each other. As soon as I moved it away from the pc the problem completely disappeared.
I know your problem is completely different but it might be worth a try. The extinsion cable I used was only about a foot long but it worked.