....and now its stopped working, well not completely. I have formatted it through windows, when installing a fresh copy of windows. I didnt realised it was still plugged in and it doesnt show up at all when I plug it in even though the light comes on on it.
Is their anyway to reflash the files that were originally on it before I formatted it

Hope this somehow makes semse

Its possible. Go to the makers site and see if there is any documentation.

Its happened to me twice (!), the first time I used the firmware but the second time it didn't work and I had to return the MP3 to the supplier (Packard Bell.) I told them I'd had a power cut when transfering files.

What kind of MP3 player is it? Some kinds have a recovery mode that can sort things out when you accidentally mangle them.

Mine is the asda 128mb with no screen

Take it back to them. Tell them it's just stopped working, I'm sure they'll sort you out with a new one.

What filesystem did you format it to windows will usually format to FAT32 but the players usually require a FAT16 filesystem.

Try reformating it again but select FAT instead of FAT32

Thanks will try that