Unable to access USB drive

[LarCrow]

I cannot access data on my external USB drive that is attached to my
lap top even though it is recognized during boot up but no drive letter
is assigned. It has been working normally for some time. I am using
Windows XP SP2 with all the lastest MS upgrades. I connected it to my
desktop PC and got the same results. Any ideas will be appreciated.

 

[Squire]

Click Start, right click My computer,
Select Manage,
Select disk Management,
Expand to full screen so you can see all the drives
high lite the USB drive,
select Action at the top,
All tasks, change drive letter and tasks.
select a drive letter

 

[LarCrow]

Jerry,
Thanks for the procedure but my USB drive doesn't show up in Disk
Management. If I go to the Device Manager a USB drive does show up
under Disk Drives but unlike the name Toshiba which shows up as my
internal laptop drive, the USB drive has gibberish as the name of the
drive with text that includes a lot of different characters. It's
really weird.
Larry

 

[Kurt Giesselman]

I have this same problem. As I scan the newsgroups for answers I note that
this started popping up about a month ago and is showing up more and more.
I wonder if a Windows Update has somehow porked all our USB drives.

My USB flash card reader shows under disk management, in Explorer, but media
is never detected when inserted.

Was working a month ago. Tried to read a SD card last week and it was a no
go. Card work fine in a camera and the card can be read while in the
camera. Three identical computers, two have had regular updates. One has
been offline for about two months. Which one can still read from the card
reader?

Kurt

 

[LarCrow]

Kurt.
I didn't mention it but the time frame for my problem is the same as
yours and I too have wondered if one of the recent XP updates could be
at fault. And since I update my both my machines automatically then
they have the same MS version. How do we get MS to investigate?
Larry

 

[Guest]

Hi there I have the same problem, however this goes on for longer period than
a month (or so).

I agree though, that we should somehow get Microsoft to react. If you only
type in the search mode of this forum "USB letter" then you ll see that we
are not alone, but nobody seems to have the answer. I can tell you that I
consulted some computer pros and looked to the internet for quite a while.
The only thing, I got, was a great deal of references to the same problem
and no answer.

I suppose the question remains the same " How do we get MS to react ? "

 

[LarCrow]

Panos,
It's good to know that there are several of us that are having the same
problem. I decided to send a message to the Langalist one of the best
online newsletters with the hope of getting it published and getting
even wider recognition and maybe Microsoft action. Other than that I
don't know what else to do.
Larry

 

[Guest]

Have read all the ensuing threads ... I have just upgraded to XP Pro, SP2
w/all the updates, and now my USB card reader is kaput. Keep getting either
a "Code 10", or just an "unknown device" when I try to install it. Works
fine on my laptop, with XP Home SP2. This is driving me nuts! Also,
problems with my flash drive. I too vote for getting MS to fix their fix.

 

[Guest]

I'm running into the same issues with a pc I just installed with SP2 , my USB
2.0 hub, my usb stick, and my IPOD all show up as unknown device. Is anyone
from MS going to address this problem?

 

[Bob I]

Likely caused by incompatible drivers.
How to troubleshoot unknown devices that are listed in Device Manager in
Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314464/en-us

 

[Guest]

It's a usb 2 issue not a driver issue. Why would it only effect all USB 2.0
devices (not usb 1 devices like a mouse) and only after sp2 was installed?
I can take the same devices and plug them into another computer and they work
just fine.

I've made sure the BIOS is updated and the USB controller drivers are up to
date.

 

[Bob I]

In that case read this Article and call for the Hotfix listed.
A USB device that is connected to a USB 2.0 hub is not detected in
Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, or
Windows Server 2003 x64 versions
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/892050/en-us

 

[Guest]

I got the hotfix and applied it but it didn't change things. It's not just
the 2.0 hub that is affected, it's ANY usb 2.0 device.

 

[Bob I]

Have you applied all current drivers (SP2 compatible) for your system
from the motherboard manufacturer?

 

[Guest]

Yes, I even tried using an older controller driver to see if that was the
issue. It is only usb 2.0 devices and only happened after sp2 was applied to
the machine. Any usb 2.0 device just shows up in the device manager as
unknown device usb 1.0 devices work fine. I even toggled the usb speed in
the bios. It's not hardware because I pluged in an ipod and it showed up in
the bios as a usb hard drive.

 

[Bob I]

Sorry, I fresh out of ideas, perhaps someone else has an idea about it.
Is there any info available at the motherboard site about it?

 

[Guest]

I'm not sure what to do short of not installing SP2. I checked the site of
the both the motherboard Asus Pvp800-vm and Intel since they made the Usb
controller and nothing.

Thanks for the ideas.

 

[Guest]

Hi folks,

I just wanted to join the club of;

"people who have XP SP11 who seem to have problems getting their USB sticks
recognised (system prompts for drivers, and an error is listed in device
manager)".

I can also never get my camera to work on it, probably for the same reason.

I also belong to those individuals who have "looked for a solution to this
problem, but have been dumbfounded by the lack of communication from
Microsoft on this issue".

I have an ASUS Z9200Un with a memory stick reader that works fine, also has
a built in bison webcam that works OK.