"My Computor" does not display drive letter for USB memory sticks.

[David Bowman]

Over the past month, using My Computer in Windows XP does not display a
drive letter for any memory stick (various sizes) plugged into any of the
three available USB2 connectors on my desktop computer. It only shows the
floppy disc (A), the hard disk (C and D) and the two CD/DVD drives (E and
G), which are all fixed connections. The computer beeps when the memory
stick is plugged in, but a drive letter does not come up, and I cannot
access the memory stick

Surprisingly, it DOES correctly show that I have an external hard disk (F),
which IS plugged into one of the USB connections. It does not matter which
USB connection is used for this

Is there a limit on the number of drives which can be displayed? Can I
expand this?

David

 

[Leonard Grey]

Try a different USB cable.

 

[smlunatick]

Over the past month, using My Computer in Windows XP does not display a
drive letter for any memory stick (various sizes) plugged into any of the
three available USB2 connectors on my desktop computer.  It only shows the
floppy disc (A), the hard disk (C and D) and the two CD/DVD  drives (E and
G), which are all fixed connections. The computer beeps when the memory
stick is plugged in, but a drive letter does not come up, and I cannot
access the memory stick

Surprisingly, it DOES correctly show that I have an external hard disk (F),
which IS plugged into one of the USB connections.  It does not matter which
USB connection is used for this

Is there a limit on the number of drives which can be displayed?  Can I
expand this?

David

You can normally get drives to be displayed up to Z: It now looks
like that your Windows Explorer has might bee told to "hide" several
drive letters. Locate TweakUI from the Powertoys for XP. Then, under
the "My Computer" section, in the Drives, place a check mark on the
drive letters you wish to see.

 

[neil]

With the memory stick plugged in what does disk management report.?
Neil

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks to all who responded.
The memory stick is directly plugged into the computer, not via a cable
Disk Management shows the connected memory stick as drive H, removable, 480
Mb FAT, and "healthy" (online). It has a blue superscript which looks a TV
screen superimposed on the disc symbol. However drive H is not shown under
My Computer in Windows Explorer

As suggested by smlunatick, it looks like Explorer is "hiding" some drive
letters. Where can I find Powertoys for XP? or Tweak UI?

David

Over the past month, using My Computer in Windows XP does not display a
drive letter for any memory stick (various sizes) plugged into any of the
three available USB2 connectors on my desktop computer. It only shows the
floppy disc (A), the hard disk (C and D) and the two CD/DVD drives (E and
G), which are all fixed connections. The computer beeps when the memory
stick is plugged in, but a drive letter does not come up, and I cannot
access the memory stick

Surprisingly, it DOES correctly show that I have an external hard disk
(F),
which IS plugged into one of the USB connections. It does not matter which
USB connection is used for this

Is there a limit on the number of drives which can be displayed? Can I
expand this?

David

You can normally get drives to be displayed up to Z: It now looks
like that your Windows Explorer has might bee told to "hide" several
drive letters. Locate TweakUI from the Powertoys for XP. Then, under
the "My Computer" section, in the Drives, place a check mark on the
drive letters you wish to see.

 

[Bob Lucas]

You can download Powertoys from
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx.

 

[neil]

If it's shown as H:\ then you should be able to explore from disk
management. Can you see the files. If so what about trying to change to a
different drive letter.
Neil

 

[David Bowman]

TweakUI in Powertoys fixed the problem and I can now see and access the USB
memory sticks in Windows Explorer. Thanks to you all

David