Temporary devices with removable devices not being listed under "My Computer"

[don]

When I temporarily connect devices such as a memory stick, camera, phone etc
to my USB2 ports, the devices no longer show in "Devices with Removable
Storage" in the "My Computer" window. (Other devices with removable storage,
including an external DVD drive connected via USB2, do show).

Up until about a month ago the temporarily connected devices would show and
could be viewed by clicking on their entries - but it is not clear what I
did that caused this change to occur. The devices are still accessible by
all programmes which access them but the lack of visibility in "My Computer"
is very inconvenient. The problem is on my desktop - my laptop continues to
show temporarily connected removable devices in the normal way.

Can anyone advise me on how I can restore the situation.

 

[Elmo]

When I temporarily connect devices such as a memory stick, camera, phone etc
to my USB2 ports, the devices no longer show in "Devices with Removable
Storage" in the "My Computer" window. (Other devices with removable storage,
including an external DVD drive connected via USB2, do show).

Up until about a month ago the temporarily connected devices would show and
could be viewed by clicking on their entries - but it is not clear what I
did that caused this change to occur. The devices are still accessible by
all programmes which access them but the lack of visibility in "My Computer"
is very inconvenient. The problem is on my desktop - my laptop continues to
show temporarily connected removable devices in the normal way.

Can anyone advise me on how I can restore the situation.

USB Help sites:
http://www.usbman.com/WinME USB Guide.htm

General USB troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310575

Troubleshooting for USB drives
http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtrouble_e.html

And this Google Groups search might help:
http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=removable+devices+not+shown+"my+computer"&qt_s=Search