unable to access USB storage unit

Hi.
I can't access a Flash media USB (serialnumber:0DDA9708). with important information stored on it!! It appears on the Disk utility tool, but I can't do anything with it (not verify or repair). It reads: "Unformatted" and "not S.M.A.R.T. supported", but formatting would delete all the files, wouldn't it?

Please help.
PS, I need a uncomplicated explanation...

What Mac, what version of OSX are you using? Normally, just plugging in the USB stick will cause it to mount on the desktop with an icon looking like a white disk drive.

Yes, formatting will delete all files, you don't want to do that. WHy are you in Disk Utility? What prompted you to go there? Are you getting any messages, errors, etc?

As you can see, "Please help." is not very informative and we need a lot more to help you.

EDIT: Also, what did you use to put the important information on the USB Stick? (What computer, what operating system, what software)?

this is a translation of the error message: "the disk you inserted could not be read by this machine" then you can press "initialize" witch opens disk utility. MAC OS X 10.6.8 is what i'm using. my boss used a computer at work to upload the files, i know it's windows-based but that's it..

Do you have any idea what the format of the USB Drive may be? Did you boss (or his computer/software) do anything to the drive before the data was written to it?

sorry, but i don't know any of this. As far as i could tell he simply copied some files from a secured location on his computer or dropbox. If there is any way for me to find out what format the usb drive is using, please let me know

You could try to open Disk Utility and in the left panel, look for the USB device. Indented under the first entry would be the drive. Highlight that and then at the bottom it should show what it thinks is on the drive. If there is nothing indented under the USB entry, then there is nothing there you can mount. If the files came from a "secured location" then are they possibly encrypted? Can you get your boss to re-do the USB drive for you without the encryption?

there is nothing there to choose. I'll check back with my boss. Thank you for the explanations.

With nothing there to choose, the drive is not in any format recognizable to OSX. Your boss may be able to check the format on his PC. The default format for USB is usually FAT, which is usable by both Windows and OSX. If the drive is encrypted with some proprietary format, then I seriously doubt OSX will be able to read it at all.