I got the same problem but the short-circuit solution seems is just a good joke. When I plug the stick I get the "Please insert disk message" from XP. I am trying to solve the problem but till I'll come up with a solution for Xp, I have to mention I've tried the stick onto my Ubuntu installation and it works fine. After all, it is an XP issue. For all the people mentioning having problems with this sticks my advise is to try them on some linux machine and see if there's any difference. Don't try any short-circuit jokes that might damage either your computer or the stick itself.
Cheers!
