USB Flash drive problems

[Stuart Grant]

Everybody seems to be having problems with USB drives today !!

I have a Dell Dimension 5150C with XP including SP3. Until recently, I
had no problems using flash drives. They showed up as another drive - E
or F. Then last week I found when I plugged in a flash drive - no
response. It no longer showed up as another drive. I tried in several
USB ports. No response. I tried 3 different flash drives. No
response. But all three work on my other two computers - a lap-top with
XP and a new Dell Inspiron Desktop with Vista.
Furthermore the USB slots show no problems when I plug in other devices
- printers or a floppy disc drive.
Does anyone know what the problem could be ?
Device Manager gives no help. It shows no problems with USB ports,
although I don't know which one is which on Device Manager.

Stuart

 

[Touch Base]

Everybody seems to be having problems with USB drives today !!

I have a Dell Dimension 5150C with XP including SP3. Until recently, I
had no problems using flash drives. They showed up as another drive - E
or F. Then last week I found when I plugged in a flash drive - no
response. It no longer showed up as another drive. I tried in several
USB ports. No response. I tried 3 different flash drives. No
response. But all three work on my other two computers - a lap-top with
XP and a new Dell Inspiron Desktop with Vista.
Furthermore the USB slots show no problems when I plug in other devices
- printers or a floppy disc drive.
Does anyone know what the problem could be ?
Device Manager gives no help. It shows no problems with USB ports,
although I don't know which one is which on Device Manager.

Stuart

===================================================================

Hi Stuart,

What make and size is the USB flash drive??

Are you plugging this into a front or rear port or are you using a USB Hub?

Try leaving the flash drive plugged in and turning off the computer and
restarting and see what happens.

Have you checked your power supply?

 

[Stuart Grant]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I have 3 flash drives. The smallest - 16MB - I bought from Dell with
the computer 3 years ago. (At that time 16MB was considered big !) The
other two are each 2GB. One is from PConKey. Don't know who they are.
The other I got free after a stay at a hotel in Barbados. All three
work fine for what I use them for - transferring data between computers.

I have tried USBs at the front, the back and from a USB Hub. No
recognition. I don't think I have tried them in every slot.

I have tried leaving one in a USB slot, then shutting down and
restsrting. No recognition.

I don't know quite what you mean about checking the power supply. It is
very reliable and not overloaded.

Thanks for your help. Any other ideas ?

Stuart

 

[smlunatick]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I have 3 flash drives.  The smallest - 16MB - I bought from Dell with
the computer 3 years ago. (At that time 16MB was considered big !) The
other two are each 2GB.  One is from PConKey.  Don't know who they are.
  The other I got free after a stay at a hotel in Barbados.  All three
work fine for what I use them for - transferring data between computers.

I have tried USBs at the front, the back and from a USB Hub.   No
recognition.  I don't think I have tried them in every slot.

I have tried leaving one in a USB slot, then shutting down and
restsrting.  No recognition.

I don't know quite what you mean about checking the power supply.  It is
very reliable and not overloaded.

Thanks for your help.  Any other ideas ?

Stuart

Disconnect all "flash" drives

Create a "batch" file with the following:
------------------------------------------------------------

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
cd %SystemRoot%\System32
start devmgmt.msc

------------------------------------------------------------

Run it and check select "Show hidden device...."

If you have a list of "unknown" devices section, uninstall" all.

Under Universal Serial Device section, uninstall every "unknown"
devices.

Then, try to conenct on flash drive. XP "should re-detect" it.

 

[Gerry]

Stuart

Select Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services and right click
on Plug and Play and select Properties. The StartUp type should be
Automatic. Is
it? Has the service started?

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Jandy Computer Services]

The problem is probably the HP printer has card reader ports which are using
all you assigned drive letters. To verify this is the problem unplug the HP
printer from the USB port and then reboot and try you other devices and they
should work. This is a know issue with HP photo printers that have built in
memory card readers.

Hope this helps,

Andy

 

[deejaydee]

Try updating usb host controllers. thats what i did . was having similar
problems
as you. I hav e a Dell 4600i new driver are dated 16/10/08
It cured my problem

deejaydee

 

[Olórin]

The problem is probably the HP printer has card reader ports which
are using all you assigned drive letters. To verify this is the
problem unplug the HP printer from the USB port and then reboot and
try you other devices and they should work. This is a know issue
with HP photo printers that have built in memory card readers.

Hope this helps,

Andy

Just to make replies easier, this is the e-mail address to use:

(e-mail address removed)

 

[Gerry]

Olórin

Spam <G>?

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Olórin]

Just wanted to make sure Jandy Andy (that is, (e-mail address removed)) was complying
with his own request, in case anyone had trouble finding the e-mail address
he was giving! <bg>

 

[Stuart Grant]

Gerry

Thanks and sorry for the delay in replying.

Yes Plug And Play/StartUp type is "automatic".

Stuart

 

[Stuart Grant]

Have tried the batch file as you suggest, but no "Unknown devices"

Everything looks very normal

Stuart

 

[Stuart Grant]

Thanks Deejaydee

I tried updating the drivers for all usb devices but they all reported
there was nothing newer than the installed driver.

Stuart

 

[Stuart Grant]

Thanks but I don't have a HP printer. I have a Brother MFC attached
wirelessly but it doesn't take Drive letters for its card reader ports,
as far as I know.

Stuart

 

[smlunatick]

Have tried the batch file as you suggest, but no "Unknown devices"

Everything looks very normal

Stuart

Does any "USB" device work on the "suspect" ports?

 

[Stuart Grant]

I want to thank all those who jumped in with suggestions/recommendations
although none of them solved the problem.

By chance I was looking at a Swiss-German monthly, Online PC Zeitung,
and saw a reader's query about USB sticks no longer starting
automatically. He was recommended to download from microsoft.com the
Autoplay Repair Wizard and run it.

It is a bit difficult to find in /Downloads/ but I got it, ran it and -
Hey Presto - problem solved. The sticks now show in My Computer when
inserted and don't show when removed. I had fixed the USB properties to
NOT require the use of Safely Remove Hardware.

Stuart