Dell Backup and Recovery program

I have a new (less than one month old) Dell Inspiron 15 running Windows 8

I wanted to create a recovery usb so I backed up the data on my 32GB SanDisk stick and proceeded to run the backup.

The first time I tried it gave and error ("There was an error" is all it displayed). I clicked OK and tried again.

Now my previously working usb stick is dead thanks to the backup program. I can't even reformat the stick now.

Anyone know how I can fix the usb stick and get the recovery disk created (and yes I know I can create DVD's but that's not what I want).

Also, this laptop has been running slow since day one. Simple things flie a "Select File" window take way too long to open. Is this caused by all the <ADMIN NOTE: Profanity removed as per terms of use> that is pre-loaded on the system?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

JB