# Removable media drives unrecognized when plugged into USB port



## bigpink (Jul 16, 2004)

I run Win XP on a Dell Dimesnion 8200 and have Norton Internet Security running.
A.
I have 2 zip drives (different makes) that I have been using for several months and which both stopped working. When I plug them into a USB port "nothing" happens.
1. When I go to My Computer nothing is shown
2. When I go to Admin Tools>Computer Mgt>Disk Mgt not drive is shown (they are normally designated as "F")
Both zip drivs cam with their own installed software which installed when first used.
Other devices (camera, i Pod Nanno) work OK when connected to the same ports
B
Worst Case Scenario -If somehow the two drives have become simultaneously corrupted is there a way to force them to be recognized by the computer so that they can be reformatted and thereby salvaged eveme though the data is lost?
Thanks in advance for any assistance you can give me!


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## carsey (Aug 19, 2006)

Doe the 2 USB sticks work in other computers???
Are they Plug and Play enabled?


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## laboye (Apr 11, 2006)

Hi and welcome to the forums! Anything USB is PnP with the exception of legacy devices. It would indeed be helpful to know if the 2 ZIP drives work in another machine. Also, with them plugged in, do they show up in device manager? If so, uninstall them and unplug/plug them in again.

-Eddie


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## bigpink (Jul 16, 2004)

*USB drives don't work*



carsey said:


> Doe the 2 USB sticks work in other computers???
> Are they Plug and Play enabled?


The drives work OK in another computer. It appears that the USB ports (2) in the side of my flat screen, where I normally plug the drives in, have stopped working. I have checked all of the wiring and all connections appear to be secure. Any SUgggestions - sorry for the tardy reply. I've been away on business.


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## Cyberdemon08 (Dec 23, 2006)

Have you tried going through Device Manager and uninstalling USB root hubs, then restarting and letting the computer reinstall them? This worked for me before on a similar issue


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## HisHighness (Dec 29, 2005)

*USB Mp3 player doesn't work for WinXP*

Hey everyone, I've got a weird problem here.

I bought an MP3 player and it's one of these USB ones that can also act as a flash drive. So I plug it in and it installed properly but it isn't assigned a drive letter and I can't find it in My Computer. Also my computer seems to really lag when it's plugged in, programs will hang but when I unplug it they pop right open. The player works like a top on my brother's computer though.

Here's what I've tried so far, based on searches for an answer:

- Uninstalling and reinstalling it.
- Uninstalling all USB components and allowing WinXP to find them again.
- Installing a program called "Microsoft USB Flash Drive Manager"
- Going in to the "Manage" in My Computer and trying to assign it a drive letter, however as I mentioned this screen just hangs whenever it's plugged in, but as soon as I unplug it the screen pops right up.
- Installing the driver (The manual said it wasn't nessesary for WinXP but since it didn't work I figured I'd try it)
- Shutting down every non essential program and trying it then.
- Restarting windows
- Checking to see if there were any windows updates (There weren't)

Any ideas?


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Have you tried these:

Go into the services window (Start > Run... > Services.msc) and enable these:

Plug and Play
Universal Plug and Play Device Host

If that doesn't work, when the Add New Hardware Wizard pops up, click Install from a specific location manually, and put a check in Include this location in the search, and select C:\WINDOWS\inf in the adjacent window. Then let it search, and it should find it.




HisHighness said:


> Hey everyone, I've got a weird problem here.
> 
> I bought an MP3 player and it's one of these USB ones that can also act as a flash drive. So I plug it in and it installed properly but it isn't assigned a drive letter and I can't find it in My Computer. Also my computer seems to really lag when it's plugged in, programs will hang but when I unplug it they pop right open. The player works like a top on my brother's computer though.
> 
> ...


HisHighness, please start a new thread for this, as they are different. Try the steps I posted above and see if that helps.


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## HisHighness (Dec 29, 2005)

Okey Dokey.


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## BriDog333 (Dec 22, 2009)

Hey everyone, 

I think I may have solved this one...I have certainly been able to get three previously "unrecognized" flash drives to begin working properly again. Maybe this will help with yours...

I preface this by pointing out that I am by no means an expert on this stuff. I have never been formally trained in any aspect of computing. I have only a working-knowledge of the subject, obtained via years of my own personal research of it. If anything I say here strikes you as incorrect, please feel free to correct me & set the record straight...

The problems I was having with my flash drives appears to have stemmed from the computer operating system, i.e., there was/is nothing whatsoever wrong with the flash drives themselves (which explains why they will continue to work on some computers, but not on others). 

Near as I can tell, the OS - for reasons I am unable to determine - changed the "letter" associated with the drive. The drives were (while they were still working properly prior to them suddenly going unrecognized) designated as the "L" drive(s). The OS apparently, with no action whatsoever on my part, re-designated them as the "F" drive(s). 

Unfortunately, the "F" drive was already in use(!)...it is the letter designated as the company server. The computers in question (there were several computers that would not recognize the drives) apparently disregarded the new letter designation and continued (properly) to associate the "F" drive with its original designation as the company server. 

The solution was/is as simple as re-assigning the drive letters back to their original letter (or any letter that is not currently in use by the computer). How I accomplished this is as follows:

1) While the flash drive is NOT connected to your computer, left-click on “My Computer”, and make note of all of the letters currently assigned to the various drives on your computer. Exit back to the desktop

2) Connect/Plug-in your flash drive

3) Right-click on “My Computer”, click on “Properties”, click the “Hardware” tab, then the “Device Manager” button, and finally on the “Disk Drives” icon
- If indeed your flash drive is operating properly (which, as noted above, I believe should be the case), then it should appear here under its brand name
- You have just verified that your computer knows that the flash drive is there

4) Once again, right-click on “My Computer”, and then this time click on “Manage”, followed by clicking on “Disk Management”. You will now see a list of the drives that are currently in use, i.e., the main “C” drive, and your flash drive, which will be listed immediately beneath the “C” drive. 
- If the problem is what I suspect it is (as noted above, the OS re-assigning the drive letter associated with the flash drive), then the current letter assigned to the flash drive will be one of the letters that you noted previously as already being in use. This is the heart of the problem. This letter needs to be changed (back) to a letter that is not currently in use. 

5) To change-back/re-assign the flash drive letter, do the following:
- Remaining in the “Disk Management” screen, go down to the lower portion of the screen to the drive in question (there will be a list of drives, appearing something like “Disk 3”, Disk 4”, “CD-ROM 1”, “CD-ROM 2”….and so on)
- Right-click on the drive, and click on “Change Drive Letter and Paths”, and click on the “Change” button
- In the drop-down menu containing various letters, select any letter that is NOT currently in use by your computer, click on “OK”, then click on “Yes” in the “Confirm” pop-up box that appears.

If I’ve got this one right, your flash-drive problem should now be solved. Give it a try, and please give me some feedback as to whether or not it worked for you…

Best Regards,

BriDog333


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## majik420 (Dec 14, 2007)

BriDog333 said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I think I may have solved this one...I have certainly been able to get three previously "unrecognized" flash drives to begin working properly again. Maybe this will help with yours...
> 
> ...



This is almost exactly what I'm looking for. I am trying to solve a problem like this at work where some USB sticks arent recognized. After reading this I'm thinking its because our Network drive is P:/, so im thinking that certain other usb drives are trying to use the same path and therefore aren't being recognized since the path is in use.

I do not have access to My Computer or anything like that on the affected computer, however I did try the steps you mentioned on another computer in the store that is not hooked up to our network. Unfortunately it comes up as J:/ on that computer, and E:/ on another computer, Tried changing the drive path, but I'm guessing that the drive paths are relative to the computer.

I'm getting on with our tech support tomorrow morning, if anyone is there on xmas eve, but I'm going to see if they can rearrange the drive paths remotely or from whatever corporate controlled computer or if its even possible. In my situation if a USB stick isn't recognized, the customer has no choice but to leave, therefore losing the sale... all because of corporate. great.

But thanks for that post, Not solved, but progress.


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