Thumb Drive "not formatted..."

[Guest]

First, I'm running XP Home, SP2. This problem happens with any thumb drive,
regardless of manufacturer.

My Computer sees any USB thumb drive. However, if I try to see what's on it,
I get an error message saying that the drive is not formatted. The same drive
works fine in any other computer.

Thanx in advance.

 

[Guest]

Try another USB device in that specific USB port to check if it is working
properly. The port may be malfunctioning. Also, if the files on the drive
can be read by another PC, copy them to a disk before you lose the info
on the thumb drive. The thumb drive itself may be malfunctioning.
Reboot your PC and reinsert the thumbdrive and try again.
--
XP - WNP
Today is the first day of the
rest of your life.
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rate it below.

 

[Guest]

The 3 USB ports on my laptop all work fine with other devices. And the thumb
drive work fine in my desktop.

When I insert the thumb drive, the light blinks. My Computer (or explorere,
etc. shows the thumb drive as "removable disk E: (or D:, etc.) but no volumn
or size/unused capacity information.

Also, I found another forum which said:

"Now, a new feature has been added to Windows XP SP 2, which will prevent
the write operations to USB block storage devices, such as memory sticks.
When this option is enabled, the devices function only as read-only devices.
To enable this option, modify the following registry entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\

Double-click "StorageDevicePolicies" and change the DWord value to 1.

0 - Disabled
1 - Enabled "

But when I went there I found that the "StorageDevicePolicies" entry didn't
exist at all.

Does that ring a bell with anybody???

 

[...winston]

If the value is not present, the connected storage device is **not** enabled as read only.

: "Now, a new feature has been added to Windows XP SP 2, which will prevent
: the write operations to USB block storage devices, such as memory sticks.
: When this option is enabled, the devices function only as read-only devices.
: To enable this option, modify the following registry entry:
:
: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\
:
: Double-click "StorageDevicePolicies" and change the DWord value to 1.
:
: 0 - Disabled
: 1 - Enabled "

 

[Elmo]

The 3 USB ports on my laptop all work fine with other devices. And the thumb
drive work fine in my desktop.

When I insert the thumb drive, the light blinks. My Computer (or explorere,
etc. shows the thumb drive as "removable disk E: (or D:, etc.) but no volumn
or size/unused capacity information.

Also, I found another forum which said:

"Now, a new feature has been added to Windows XP SP 2, which will prevent
the write operations to USB block storage devices, such as memory sticks.
When this option is enabled, the devices function only as read-only devices.
To enable this option, modify the following registry entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\

Double-click "StorageDevicePolicies" and change the DWord value to 1.

0 - Disabled
1 - Enabled "

But when I went there I found that the "StorageDevicePolicies" entry didn't
exist at all.

Does that ring a bell with anybody???

Maybe one of these USB Help sites will have a better answer:
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