Files on thumb drive keep disappearing.
I am trying to backup all my photos and other files to a USB Drive (thumb drive, flash drive).

Files on drive will open and appear just as it should, files show correct size , (not saving shortcuts), can close and reopen drive they are still there.
Unplug and plug drive back in and files are gone, most folders are there but are empty (not even hidden files) no file size.

USB drive not full, managed to get 2.5GB on a 8GB drive.
Copy/Paste or Drag/Drop, even one folder at a time, makes no difference.
Same results whether saving hidden files or not
Same results with other thumb drives.
Same results attempting to save other file types.
Checked for fragmentation thumb drive- ok
Restarting computer does not help.

Windows XP
Dave