Still can't see devices!!

[Guest]

Hello all,

Had a problem the other day when my pc wouldn't recognize the plug n play
usb device that I had connected. I eventually got around the problem instead
of fixing it, and now I NEED to get some info off of my usb memory stick, but
it just will not show up in My Computer.

I can find it in the device manager, but cannot open any files from it. I
try to troubleshoot but the driver is fully updated and it says the device is
working perfectly...

Ideas, please!

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Do you use the TweakUI utility from Microsoft?

If so, go to My Computer/Drives and make sure that all of the drives there are selected.

If you do not have TweakUI, get it here and perform the same steps.

TweakUI for Windows XP:
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...a6-b352-839afb2a2679/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe

 

[Guest]

Thanks Ronnie. Downloaded TweakUI, ran it - but no change. The thing is
that the F: drive (usb port) just doesn't show up in My Computer. I've never
had a problem before this happened the other day.

Is it possible that I've deleted some program file that is required for this?

Thanks...

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Make sure you reboot after making the changes in TweakUI.

Other than this you can try removing the device from Device Manager, reboot and let the system detect the USB device again.

 

[C.Joseph Drayton]

Hello all,

Had a problem the other day when my pc wouldn't recognize the plug n play
usb device that I had connected. I eventually got around the problem instead
of fixing it, and now I NEED to get some info off of my usb memory stick, but
it just will not show up in My Computer.

I can find it in the device manager, but cannot open any files from it. I
try to troubleshoot but the driver is fully updated and it says the device is
working perfectly...

Ideas, please!

Hi Getting Confused,

If the drive is there, then I would just go to 'Computer Management'
under 'Administrative Tools' and assign it a drive letter. At that
point it should show up under my computer.

Ciao . . . C.Joseph

"When hope is lost . . . the spirit dies."
-- Lao Tzu

http://blog.tlerma.com/

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your help Ronnie, the TweakUI is pretty useful for
configurations, but unfortunately has not solved the problem. The F: drive
is showing up as in use (that's the drive for the usb port) but it just isn't
in My Computer.

C. Joesph, the drive seems to have a letter assigned, it has always been the
F: drive, and still is. Under TweakUi it is possible to see which drives are
in use or not - it is showing the F: drive as in use. The device manager
says the drive is there as well, and troubleshooting says that the drive is
working properly.

Another strange thing is that the remove hardware icon that is normally in
the taskbar has disappeared also. I'm really thinking that I might have
deleted a folder with these icons or something in them. Is this possible?
If so, how can if fix or restore them?

Thanks again...

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

TweakUI doesn't show which drives are in use, it simply allows you to pick which drive letters are available for use.

Follow the advice from C. Joseph to see which letters are assigned to the drives on the system.

Another thing to check would be the removeable drive itself. Try another USB stick on the system or try to plug the current USB stick into a different USB port.

 

[C.Joseph Drayton]

Thanks for your help Ronnie, the TweakUI is pretty useful for
configurations, but unfortunately has not solved the problem. The F: drive
is showing up as in use (that's the drive for the usb port) but it just isn't
in My Computer.

C. Joesph, the drive seems to have a letter assigned, it has always been the
F: drive, and still is. Under TweakUi it is possible to see which drives are
in use or not - it is showing the F: drive as in use. The device manager
says the drive is there as well, and troubleshooting says that the drive is
working properly.

Another strange thing is that the remove hardware icon that is normally in
the taskbar has disappeared also. I'm really thinking that I might have
deleted a folder with these icons or something in them. Is this possible?
If so, how can if fix or restore them?

Thanks again...

There is another possibility . . . you may have 2 drives trying to
use the same letter. For example, if you added a; network drive,
virtual drive or physical drive that took 'F:' then you plug in your
USB drive which you soft coded to be the 'F:' drive, you would
create a conflict that the OS would not understand and you would end
up with no 'F:' drive in my computer at all.

At this point, I would shut down the computer, unplug the USB drive.
Restart the computer and go into 'My Computer'. Is there a 'F:'
drive present? If there is, then you have added something that has
added a soft/hard drive.

Now the rub is that if you used something like Partition Magic to
partition the USB drive and told it that it is the 'F:' drive, that
is the only thing it will be recognized as.

You will need to uninstall the soft/hard drive that is using 'F:'
get your data off of the USB drive. I would then re-partition the
USB drive and let the drive designation be dynamic. Also unless you
are specifically setting up the USB drive as a boot device, it she
be a 'Logical' drive NOT a 'System' drive.

Ciao . . . C.Joseph

"When hope is lost . . . the spirit dies."
-- Lao Tzu

http://blog.tlerma.com/

 

[davidcdejong]

Hi

I don't know if I'm post in the right place, or if I'm budding into
someone else's problem.

However, the problem is similar.

All of a sudden, after running on batteries for a few hours and having
un and re-plugged in my external harddrive to watch a movie in my easy
chair, my laptop won't recognize any USB devices: printer, external
harddrive, key drive(kingston "datatraveller"), and everything worked
fine just prior. I've run through the troubleshooter including asking
it to find new drivers, and switching ports, and turning things off,
on, and restarting. The device manager, under USBcontroller lists any
USB device that's plugged in as Unknown, with status indicated as "no
driver installed".

Can anyone help me?

Thanks a million,

David