BSOD when flash drive plugged in to Windows 10

I often use a flash drive when plugging in to Windows 10 desktop computers at work. I've used these for several years at work. Just a month or so ago, I started getting BSOD after flash drive would be plugged in via usb port after 5-10 mins. When I left the drive in, it would BSOD a second and third time. This gets old when you are trying to present off a flash drive, to a group. So lately I've taken to simply copying any files i need to use, onto the desktop, and then letting Windows dismount (?) the drive, and then taking it out. I then use software installed on the desktop itself, to display the files. So far, I haven't had a repeat of the BSOD since I started doing that.

But I do like my own software, and I also would like to work through any issues to see what needs to happen. I first thought that it was the software I was using, and so every portable app that I had been using, I deleted and then reinstalled the latest versions from portableapps.com. But after updating all the programs that I had been using, last week again I got the BSOD.

So now, I'm thinking that something on the drive got corrupted. I used my Windows 10 laptop at home to check for errors, and it found none. I plugged it in, and then right-clicked on the drive in Explorer, and in the properties menu, went to Tools and then told Windows to scan for errors. It first said there were none (before doing a scan); I told it to scan anyways, and it didn't find any.

OK then--so my next solution is simply to reformat my flash drive and start over. I have 20 gigs or so of data, which isn't the end of the world--I can copy files I need onto my laptop, reformat, and then install new portable apps and then re-copy my files back to the flash drive.

But is there anything else that anyone would recommend, before doing that?

 

Replace the flash drive with a NEW one. You may have another repeat of the corruption with that flash drive.
The drives aren't that expensive these days and I personally wouldn't take the risk.

 

Well working from home now for the foreseeable future, so no way to test any solution. I think I'll try completely reformatting, and if that doesn't work, I'll take your advice and just buy a new one.