Problem with USB 2.0 Flash Drive

[ChuckN]

Does anyone know the fix for this?

I have a 250MB flash drive from the same manufacturer that works without a
problem on a Vista workstation. I also have a new 1.0GB USB2.0 flash drive
from the same manufacturer that works on my XP Pro workstation but does not
work on my Vista workstation.

I have tried to reinstall the driver and found no driver for a USB drive.
There have been many posts on the net about this problem with a few
suggestions for fixes, but none have worked. Apparently Vista is blocking
this USB drive.

We have several USB drives of the same type and they are all blocked. Go to
an XP Pro machine, and they work perfectly.

This must be a new security app that Microsoft has added without any
documentation to support it. It doesn't even show up as an error in event
viewer.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Mick Murphy]

Just because the 250MB works, does not mean the 1G will work as well.
Check on the packaging or the Manufacturer's website to see if they are both
Vista compatible.

 

[ChuckN]

It works on other Vista workstations

Just because the 250MB works, does not mean the 1G will work as well.
Check on the packaging or the Manufacturer's website to see if they are
both
Vista compatible.

 

[Bob F.]

What do mean by "blocked". Does the flash drive install and get a letter
assigned and you can't read it? If so, It's just a permissions or ownership
problem. Read about this in the Help and Support area. Or, format it in
the Vista machine.

 

[ChuckN]

It used to show up in disk manager, but wouldn't give me access to the
drive. Now it doesn't show up in Disk Manager.

It does show up in Device Manager under Disk Drive with a yellow exclamation
saying it can't find a compatible driver. This same USB drive works in ever
other computer.

I read once where there is something is Vista that tracks devices that were
not installed correctly and locks out that device. There are a lot of
references to problems getting access to USB drives from Vista on the net.
There are few solutions identified.

 

[Bob F.]

Ok...so much for trying to reformat...how about this... a little more
ruthless, but easy to do.
Open device manager and remove all your USB drivers. Let Vista rebuild them
and then try your Flash Drive. This might address the problem you just
sighted.

 

[ChuckN]

I think you are correct with the approach. How would you go about removing
the of the USB drivers. As soon as I delete them they recreate themselves,
even after I unplugged them all.

 

[Bob F.]

It sounds like they are doing what I said they would do. In Device Manager,
just uninstall them and they will be recreated. If that's what they did
they should as fresh as a new install. I went back and looked at a few of
the flash drives I have and they all work perfectly. Do you, by any chance,
have sharing applied when placed in the XP machine? I just went through
your thread and didn't see any reference to AntiVirus s/w. Do you have any
loaded on your Vista machine?