USB memory stick problems

[o2xtreme]

Hi all,

I have a problem using my USB memory sticks with my new iMac. I dont know if I'm doing something wrong as I'm new to Mac OS's but here is my problem.....

Putting files eg Movie and Music files on my stick is fine, but when i try and take them off I have issues. When i send the exsisting files on my stick to my trash and then try and put new files on there, it still says my usb stick is full even though the old files are no longer on the stick!! its like they are still on there as my spare space stays the same.......how do i delete them off....I just threw out my 4 gig stick cause I thought it was a dud....now it happened on my new one, so it cant be conisidence, it has to be something I'm doing (or not doing).......can anyone help me!!

 

[cosmokanga2]

I just today had a similar problem when transferring Mac > PC > Mac. My solution was deleting the files from the USB on the PC as the Mac didn't seem to want to.

Be watching for the answer.

 

[JediMeister]

After moving files to the Trash from the flash drive, did you empty the trash before trying to put additional files on? Its like the Recycle Bin for Windows, things aren't actually deleted or removed from the storage location until you empty it.

 

[madog]

Yeah, you need to empty the trash on the Mac to actually delete them. If you do not, then the OS will create an invisible .Trash folder on the USB drive which, when plugged in again to your Mac, places the items in the trash again.

If your actually having issues MOVING the files to your Mac, then check the format of the USB Drive. In the Disk Utility app when you select the USB drive, at the bottom of the window it will tell you format of the device. It should be something like Master Boot Record and MS DOS format.

If not, you can click the PARTITION tab in Disk Utility and re-format/partition it to MBR/MS DOS. This is because the Mac OS can read/write to FAT (MS DOS) format as well as Windows, but Windows cannot read/write a Mac formatted drive. Most USB drives ship with the aforementioned format though. However, because it's an old format, you can't transfer large files (I believe 2GB+) unless it is changed (thus removing cross-platform compatibility). It's all very fun and exciting!

 

[BotswanaBlair]

Help- With USB Memory!!!

Same issue except I empty the trash properly and my memory sticks keep reading that they are only 8mb after I delete Files.