flashdrive problems

[Guest]

I have a new computer with Windows Vista. I bought my first flashdrive ever,
the Sandesk Cruzer Micro USB Flash Drive with U3. I don't know anything
about flashdrives, but found out this one doesn't work with Windows Vista.
Could someone please tell me what kind to buy that would work? I am a
teacher and just need to transfer a small number of documents from my home
computer to my work computer. I would like the cheapest kind. (They had told
me at Best Buy that this flashdrive works on any computer, but I see it
doesn't! I'm not that computer literate, so please help! Thanks!

 

[Spirit]

Wendy the U3 will not work however the drive itself should, I have
same one no problems. Try this :

This solution has worked for some people with problematic USB devices:

Locate the file INFCACHE.1 in C:\Windows\inf
Right click on the INFCACHE.1 file, select Properties >Security > Edit, and
give
your account full control.

Delete INFCACHE.1, or rename it to INFCACHE.1.BAK or temporarily move to
your
desktop.
REBOOT

Once the drive is recognized you can delete and/or format the drive to
remove
the U3.

 

[Steve]

I have a new computer with Windows Vista. I bought my first flashdrive
ever,
the Sandesk Cruzer Micro USB Flash Drive with U3. I don't know anything
about flashdrives, but found out this one doesn't work with Windows Vista.
Could someone please tell me what kind to buy that would work? I am a
teacher and just need to transfer a small number of documents from my home
computer to my work computer. I would like the cheapest kind. (They had
told
me at Best Buy that this flashdrive works on any computer, but I see it
doesn't! I'm not that computer literate, so please help! Thanks!

Sandisk has an update for U3 on their site that works with Vista. You can
also do what I did and just uninstall/remove U3 (will be a place on the mem
stick that tells you how.

 

[ray]

I have a new computer with Windows Vista. I bought my first flashdrive ever,
the Sandesk Cruzer Micro USB Flash Drive with U3. I don't know anything
about flashdrives, but found out this one doesn't work with Windows Vista.
Could someone please tell me what kind to buy that would work? I am a
teacher and just need to transfer a small number of documents from my home
computer to my work computer. I would like the cheapest kind. (They had told
me at Best Buy that this flashdrive works on any computer, but I see it
doesn't! I'm not that computer literate, so please help! Thanks!

A flash drive is merely a USB mass storage device. It should certainly
work with every modern OS.

 

[Richard Urban]

Links to what a person refers to are always welcome!

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

 

[Guest]

Ray is correct. Being a mass storage device it certainly should work with
every modern OS. With this insight, the problem was clearly with the U3
software that came pre-installed with the Sandisk flash drive which is not
compatible with Vista.
However to remove U3, you need to plug the flash drive into a system running
XP and then download and run the U3 removal utility from Sandisk, since Vista
won't even recognise the flashdrive because of the U3!
I did this with my 1GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro and now it works perfectly.

 

[dennis@home]

Ray is correct. Being a mass storage device it certainly should work with
every modern OS. With this insight, the problem was clearly with the U3
software that came pre-installed with the Sandisk flash drive which is not
compatible with Vista.
However to remove U3, you need to plug the flash drive into a system
running
XP and then download and run the U3 removal utility from Sandisk, since
Vista
won't even recognise the flashdrive because of the U3!

That wasn't true of my Sandisk cruzer 1G.

Vista recognised two drives when I plugged it in.
One was a flash drive and one appeared to be some emulation of a CD IIRC.
Ther U3 control panel din't work it said this version doesn't work with
vista please visit www.sandisk.... for an update.

Trouble is I copied some jpegs to the flash drive and took it to Boots the
chemist and their print booth wouldn't find the pictures.
It was running XP BTW.
I think it was also seeing two drives and the print software was scanning
the wrong one.
I downloaded the removal tool from sandisk and ran it on vista and removed
U3.
Now both machines only see the one drive and work better.

I guess there is more than one version of U3 out there and some can be
removed using vista and some can't.

 

[Guest]

The problem of Vista compatibility with SanDisk Cruzers is apparently quite
well known. However, not every Vista system is affected. When I bought my
flashdrive, the store assured me it would work on Vista, even though the
packaging clearly did not list Vista as a valid OS. Of course it didn't work
on my system, which was an Acer Aspire L320. When I brought it back to the
shop, they tested the same flashdrive on several Vista systems which they
had, and they ALL WORKED with no problems! So they refused to take back my
flashdrive.
When I checked with SanDisk support, they told me the problem lay with
certain OEM versions of Vista. They told me that Acer was one of them. So it
seems that U3 is compatible with some OEM versions of Vista, but not others!
I did try the uninstall tool using my Acer system, but in my case, it didn't
work because the system did not even recognise the flashdrive. (The Device
Manager indicates the flashdrive is present, but it does not show up in the
"Computer" folder.)
Perhaps my version of U3 is not the latest, but now that I have successfully
removed it and the flashdrive is working, I am not keen to try a later
version of U3 (assuming it exists), because when I first installed the
flashdrive with U3, it really screwed up my system very badly and I had to do
several system restores before the system became stable again. That's too
much time wasted for such a small and inexpensive piece of hardware!

 

[Jim]

The problem of Vista compatibility with SanDisk Cruzers is apparently quite
well known. However, not every Vista system is affected. When I bought my
flashdrive, the store assured me it would work on Vista, even though the
packaging clearly did not list Vista as a valid OS. Of course it didn't work
on my system, which was an Acer Aspire L320. When I brought it back to the
shop, they tested the same flashdrive on several Vista systems which they
had, and they ALL WORKED with no problems! So they refused to take back my
flashdrive.
When I checked with SanDisk support, they told me the problem lay with
certain OEM versions of Vista. They told me that Acer was one of them. So it
seems that U3 is compatible with some OEM versions of Vista, but not others!
I did try the uninstall tool using my Acer system, but in my case, it didn't
work because the system did not even recognise the flashdrive. (The Device
Manager indicates the flashdrive is present, but it does not show up in the
"Computer" folder.)
Perhaps my version of U3 is not the latest, but now that I have successfully
removed it and the flashdrive is working, I am not keen to try a later
version of U3 (assuming it exists), because when I first installed the
flashdrive with U3, it really screwed up my system very badly and I had to do
several system restores before the system became stable again. That's too
much time wasted for such a small and inexpensive piece of hardware!

 

[Jim]

The problem of Vista compatibility with SanDisk Cruzers is apparently quite
well known. However, not every Vista system is affected. When I bought my
flashdrive, the store assured me it would work on Vista, even though the
packaging clearly did not list Vista as a valid OS. Of course it didn't work
on my system, which was an Acer Aspire L320. When I brought it back to the
shop, they tested the same flashdrive on several Vista systems which they
had, and they ALL WORKED with no problems! So they refused to take back my
flashdrive.
When I checked with SanDisk support, they told me the problem lay with
certain OEM versions of Vista. They told me that Acer was one of them. So it
seems that U3 is compatible with some OEM versions of Vista, but not others!
I did try the uninstall tool using my Acer system, but in my case, it didn't
work because the system did not even recognise the flashdrive. (The Device
Manager indicates the flashdrive is present, but it does not show up in the
"Computer" folder.)
Perhaps my version of U3 is not the latest, but now that I have successfully
removed it and the flashdrive is working, I am not keen to try a later
version of U3 (assuming it exists), because when I first installed the
flashdrive with U3, it really screwed up my system very badly and I had to do
several system restores before the system became stable again. That's too
much time wasted for such a small and inexpensive piece of hardware!

 

[Jim]

We have purchased ATIVA High Speed USB 2.0 1 GB Portable Flash Drives. It
works fine on my computer when plugged into a USB Hub or directly into usb
port. On one of our computers it will not work. Unfortunately no software
came with it. Apparently the way it is supposed to work is hardware is
recognized by Vista Business operating system and automatically installs a
driver for it. I search Ativa web site for a driver but found none. They say
contact Microsoft. I went to the Microsoft web site and nothing was
available. One forum suggested going to the following path:
Windows/System32/drivers/ etc.... to where the driver resides. Vista is
supposed to do this automatically but on this computer, despite what path it
is given refuses to go and install this driver that came with Vista Business.
It also will not pick up driver from a CD or floppy that has been copied to
it. The above solution apparently worked for someone in one of the forums,
but not for me. I have been banging my head against the wall for a week now
trying to get this driver installed. Major obstacles for something that
should be very simple. Funny how some computers make competent people look
foolish. Another suggestion was to use the repair function that comes with
Windows Vista. I tried this every way to Sunday with no luck. I could not
find any repair function on the Windows Vista Business install disks or with
the help that came with Business Vista. I have given up. Does anyone have any
suggestions?
Jim

 

[Patrick Keenan]

We have purchased ATIVA High Speed USB 2.0 1 GB Portable Flash Drives. It
works fine on my computer when plugged into a USB Hub or directly into usb
port. On one of our computers it will not work. Unfortunately no software
came with it. Apparently the way it is supposed to work is hardware is
recognized by Vista Business operating system and automatically installs a
driver for it. I search Ativa web site for a driver but found none. They
say
contact Microsoft. I went to the Microsoft web site and nothing was
available. One forum suggested going to the following path:
Windows/System32/drivers/ etc.... to where the driver resides. Vista is
supposed to do this automatically but on this computer, despite what path
it
is given refuses to go and install this driver that came with Vista
Business.
It also will not pick up driver from a CD or floppy that has been copied
to
it. The above solution apparently worked for someone in one of the forums,
but not for me. I have been banging my head against the wall for a week
now
trying to get this driver installed. Major obstacles for something that
should be very simple. Funny how some computers make competent people look
foolish. Another suggestion was to use the repair function that comes with
Windows Vista. I tried this every way to Sunday with no luck. I could not
find any repair function on the Windows Vista Business install disks or
with
the help that came with Business Vista. I have given up. Does anyone have
any
suggestions?
Jim

On the system where the flash drive does not work - is that a desktop or
laptop? Is the device insertion detected at all?

Can you install another USB2 host card, and does that have any effect?
This experiment should set you back $20 or so.

HTH
-pk