If your computer or laptop, which perfectly recognized the flash drive, suddenly stopped recognizing it, “doesn’t see it point blank” or began to recognize it as an “unknown device” - this is not yet a reason to take your computer or laptop to a service center.
Let's try to solve this error ourselves.
First of all, try inserting the flash drive into another USB port. Perhaps your USB port is the one you always use stopped working for different reasons. If you work on a Personal Computer, problems most often occur when connecting to the USB port on the front panel of the computer. Therefore, to check, use only the port on the rear panel, which are built into Motherboard.
Another reason why the Computer or Laptop does not see the flash drive may lie in a system failure of the USB drivers.
To understand the driver, you can do the following:
Open the device manager; to do this, place the cursor on My Computer and press the right mouse button.
Click on Properties.
In the appeared Device Manager find USB Controllers Red arrow and click on check mark Black arrow.
Remove all USB devices (in Device Manager and reboot, all devices will be automatically detected and installed).
If this does not help, you need to reinstall the driver for the chipset. Thus, drivers for absolutely all controllers are regulated. This can also be done through Driver Pack Download. You can see how to use this program
Another common reason is – viruses. If you connected a flash drive to someone else’s computer (Internet cafe, institute, etc.), that is, in places where you can catch a virus, open the flash drive at home using Windows Explorer . If you find unknown files on it, delete .
In order to see all files on your flash drive (There are files that are not visible because in windows system does not show by default hidden files). Therefore, you need to do the following.
In the Folder Options window that appears, click the View tab. IN additional parameters go down and click Show hidden files, folders and others…..Click OK.
Hidden files will appear on the flash drive. If the file appears autorun.inf or another file with the same extension *.inf or *.bat, Recycle (trash), feel free to delete these files via context menu(right click on the file -> Delete ).
Another reason why the flash drive is not visible - Perhaps the settings have gone wrongBIOS, rarely, but it happens.
Go to Settings BIOS and check the parameter:
USB Legacy Support . The value should be Enabled…….How to login BIOS look .
If in Task Manager -> Universal Serial Bus Controllers – the flash drive is recognized as Unknown device . On the menu My computer and in Taskbars…
It’s not there, most likely the flash drive can be thrown away, the built-in electronics are burned out. The data is saved on it, the memory there is non-volatile, and if they are really needed, then specialists will be able to restore them using special programs , but it is expensive and you have to weigh the value of the lost information and the cost of recovery. Although you can do this yourself, which I will definitely write an article about .
Also keep in mind The service life of flash drives is not that long like hard drives and with daily use, the average service life is about a year. To reduce the cost of producing flash drives (have you noticed how prices for them have dropped sharply several times), developers are using various tricks, including making memory cells thinner - this reduces the number of write-rewrite cycles by 2-3 times, manufacturers they promise 5000-7000 times, but even this number can be reduced. The number of connections to the computer is also finite, usually 1000-2000 connections.
There are also such situations: when you try to write some information to a flash drive, you receive a message The USB device is not formatted, format it?.
This indicates that your flash drive has begun to “die” and storing important data on it is dangerous. Formatting in most cases helps to revive it and write files to it, but the next time you try to write, it (the flash drive) may again display such a message. This way you can format it before each attempt to transfer files.
If you receive this or a similar message, then it’s better to download a recovery utility, they are different for each brand of flash drive (Kingston, Transcend, A-Data) . Look for them on manufacturer's official website.
If the newly purchased flash drive is not immediately identified, then there are two options:
- Old drivers;
- Burnt out when first connected (This happens too).
In the first case, go to the website of the manufacturer of your motherboard , download new driver and install.
In the second - go back to the store, exchanged under warranty.
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The computer stopped seeing the flash drive - perhaps the most common problem that users have to deal with. It becomes especially acute if the drive contains some important data that cannot be lost.
Viruses and antiviruses
If the computer stops seeing the flash drive, then the first thought that comes to mind is a virus. The reason lies precisely in it, if when you try to open the flash drive, the message “Application not found” appears.
Remember that a virus can get onto a flash drive even if you briefly connect to an infected device. It may end up on your drive even if you didn't copy any files to it. Therefore, you should not connect anywhere.
How to treat? There are two ways - one is reliable but crude, and the second will give your files a chance. In the first case, you can simply format everything, and then there will definitely be no virus, but all files will be lost. To format, click on the flash drive right click mouse, select “Format” and click the “Start” button in the window that opens.
Formatting a flash drive In the second case, you can try to get to the flash drive through Windows Explorer by right-clicking on the drive icon and selecting “Explorer”. If you are lucky and the flash drive opens, then try to find the “autorun.inf” file there and delete it. Then you need to check the flash drive for viruses, and then you can open it and use it. If this doesn't help, you can try deleting other files that seem suspicious to you and that definitely weren't on your flash drive.
Formatting a flash drive If the computer stops seeing the flash drive, then the reason may not be a virus, but an antivirus. You can try turning it off temporarily. However, there is a risk of infection if the drive contains viruses.
Problem with the flash drive driver
For each device on the computer there is a driver - a small program that controls its operation. There are also drivers for flash drives, which are usually installed automatically every time you connect a new flash drive to a particular computer. So, if the computer no longer sees the flash drive, then the problem may be a damaged driver.
To solve it, you need to right-click on “My Computer” with the flash drive connected, select “Properties”, and then the “Hardware” tab. Here we need a "Device Manager" button. In it you need to find your flash drive in the “USB Controllers” section of the list (or something similar). When you find it, right-click on it and select “Delete” (don’t be afraid, this will not delete the files). After the flash drive with drivers is removed, click on the “Update hardware configuration” button in top menu dispatcher Will begin new installation drivers and perhaps your problem will be solved.
Reinstalling the flash drive driver Faulty computer
If the computer no longer sees the flash drive, then the reason may lie in the hardware itself. Yes, disabled or damaged USB port s will not read your device. In this case, we can recommend trying to connect the flash drive to different ports on the computer.
You should also try disconnecting other USB devices, if any. It is possible that the power supply is too weak and is not capable of powering all devices at the same time.
Look, maybe there is some dirt on the contacts of the computer port or the flash drive itself. It needs to be cleaned. For this reason, the message “USB device not recognized” may appear. Poor contact may be caused by USB extension cable. Try connecting without it.
The best way to determine whether the flash drive or the computer is at fault is to connect the drive to another computer. If it doesn’t work on the second one either, then most likely the reason is in the flash drive. If it works on the second computer, but not on the first, then the reason is in the computer.
Unsafe removal of flash drives
If the computer no longer sees the flash drive, and you always remove it unsafely, then know that you did it and ruined everything.
Not safe removal A flash drive provokes problems in the flash drive chip, which the next time you connect it manifests itself in the following way: the drive cannot be opened, and when you try to do this, the computer prompts you to format the drive.
In this case, it will most likely not be possible to save the files, and you will need to format the flash drive to at least get the drive back to work.
Always use safe shutdown of your flash drive. Otherwise, it may damage the files on the flash drive, the flash drive itself (even irrevocably), or USB ports computer.
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Assigning the wrong letter
If the computer no longer sees the flash drive, the reason for this may be that it assigned the drive a letter that designates some other drive in the system. This happens due to some glitches.
To fix the situation, click “Start” and select “Run” (or just win+R). In the window that opens, enter “diskmgmt.msc” (without quotes). The Disk Management window will appear. Here, if your flash drive is connected, you should see it in the list of all drives. To change the letter, you need to right-click on the flash drive in this window and select “Change drive letter...”
Assigning a letter to a flash drive Then click the “Change” button and select a letter that is not yet in the system.
Assigning a letter to a flash drive I discuss the issue of changing drive letters in detail in
OS Windows family, produced by Microsoft, often do not see USB devices, and there can be a lot of reasons for this.
How this manifests itself and whether there is a way out of the situation is the topic of our article. We will dwell on the reasons in more detail and try to consider each case separately. If your laptop or Personal Computer does not see the USB flash drive, this manifests itself as follows:
- You connected a USB flash drive, but the computer displays the message “insert USB device.”
- The flash drive is connected, as evidenced by the icon and sound, but file manager she's not there.
- A warning appears about formatting the USB device.
- A data error warning appears.
Check if the computer sees the connected flash drive in Disk Management
To launch a special utility that manages USB devices, do the following:
Open the Disk Management tab and turn the flash drive on and off several times. If a connected USB device appears, the computer will notify you that each of its sections (there is only one in the flash drive) is working. In this situation, the easiest way to fix the error is that the PC does not see the flash drive. Right-click on a section to make that section active. You can also assign the letter E or D to the flash drive. After this, you will see that the computer has recognized the USB device.
And if, after reconnecting the device, the partition status is displayed in “Disk Management” as “Not allocated,” then it either does not exist, or it is working with errors. Right click and create a partition. But this can only be used if the menu has the “Create a simple volume” item. If you create a partition, the flash drive will be formatted, although all data stored on it will be lost.
If in the utility you find the label “uninitialized” USB device, it means it is damaged. You can try to restore the drive's memory. We will tell you how to do this later. If you have previously created partitions on a USB device that are not supported by the Microsoft operating system, then you need to delete them. Step-by-step instructions will tell you how to do this.
Further simple steps
Using the OS device manager, you can view all installed USB devices and check that they are working correctly. See how your USB flash drive is displayed in the manager. The flash drive connected to the computer may be unknown, identified by its own name, or labeled as a USB storage device.
This flash drive must be removed. Then "update USB storage configuration".
Very often, after these steps, the updated USB device is displayed in the OS file manager.
There are also other situations that lead to an error in which the computer does not see the flash drive. Perhaps you are connecting a USB device using an extension cord or USB hub? Then try directly connecting the device to each of the USB ports in turn. Perhaps one of the ports is inoperative and you don't know about it.
Try another option. Turn off your computer and remove everything that was connected to it (printers, cameras, external media, card readers and other devices connected with via USB), leaving only the necessary minimum and storage. After this, turn on the computer. If the PC saw the connected storage device, you have found the problem. The problem is that there is little power supplied to the computer's USB ports. In this case, replacing the power supply or purchasing a USB hub will help you.
Windows 10 does not see the flash drive after updating or installation (suitable for Windows 7, 8)
If you have updated your operating system, there is a high probability that you will encounter such a problem. In this case, the problem lies either in the lack of a recent version of USB drivers, or in the fact that the registry entries for USB devices are outdated.If this is the second option, you can use the USBOblivion program. You can download it for free to the author and remove all outdated entries. Be careful! Before deleting, it is better to create a restore point so that if USBOblivion does not work correctly, you can undo the erroneous actions and return to the previous settings.
Before starting the utility, disconnect all flash drives connected to the USB ports. Only after that, run it and clean the registry, after saving old entries to a file.
After cleaning the registry, reboot and reconnect the drive. If the computer again does not see it, follow step by step all the steps we wrote about above: remove it, update the configuration and connect again.
If you have an operating system version 10, then an error may occur due to driver incompatibility. If so, there will be a mark opposite the driver - Exclamation point. In this case, download updated versions from the official developer pages. Do not use third-party sites to search for drivers, especially if you need to update them for your mobile computer. In some cases, it is recommended to update the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) as well.
If the flash drive is not seen by Windows XP
Owners of Windows XP, especially SP2 builds, often encounter a problem in which the computer does not see the flash drive. This problem is due to the lack of updates in the operating system that would allow working with USB devices.If you have this operating system and encounter the problem, follow these steps:
- Update the build to SP3 and remove the IE browser.
- Update your operating system, even if you have a new build.
- If the problem occurs on Win Vista, also update the software first.
- KB967132 - in the previous version it was impossible to connect multiple flash drives or other devices. When interacting with each other, they caused crashes, freezes and critical system reboots.
- KB898962 - when the printer is turned off, the flash drive also stops working correctly.
- KB315634 - it is impossible to connect new USB flash drives, although old ones that were previously used work without problems.
- KB924196 - this error indicated that personal/ mobile computer I did not see the connected flash drive or portable media player.
- KB88840 - when connecting/disconnecting a USB device, a computer or laptop displays a warning about a common Rundll32.exe error.
- KB362370 - new Windows build XP now supports USB port version 2.
- KB881233 - after the computer wakes from sleep mode, the flash drive does not appear in Device Manager. A problem similar to the previous case occurs after the computer comes out of hibernation.
- KB857900 - after turning flash devices on/off again, the port did not work correctly.
Completely remove old USB drivers
You connect a flash drive, but the computer does not see it and displays a warning about its absence. The problem may be that your old drivers do not work correctly and, therefore, the USB device cannot be assigned a letter. Old drivers can also cause problems with rebooting, freezing, or incorrect operation of the computer when a flash device is connected.Drivers operating system Microsoft is installed by default, immediately after the first connection external storage. Then this one installed driver it remains in the OS. But when connecting another device, the driver may not work, causing crashes and other problems. In a word, to solve all kinds of problems associated with incorrect work drivers, they must be removed and new ones installed again.
How to remove drivers for all USB devices
Step one After turning off the computer, remove everything: printers, cameras, external media, card readers and other devices connected via USB.Step two Boot the operating system.
Step three Download from official page author free program DriveCleanup, compatible with all versions of Windows.
Step four The drivecleanup.exe file must be copied to
C:\Windows\System32\
Step five B command line write drivecleanup.exe.
Step six The program will clear all drivers and entries.
After the computer restarts, insert the flash drive and wait while the utility installs the updated drivers.
Reinstalling USB devices in Windows Device Manager
If you have used all the methods discussed and none of them helped, follow these four steps:- In Device Manager, enter devmgmt.msc.
- From Device Manager, open the USB Controllers tab.
- Delete everything where the names include USB hub, Hub, Host Controller.
- Update the USB device configuration from the manager.
Additional actions
It would also be a good idea to perform the following four steps in sequence:- A possible reason that a computer or laptop does not see flash media is the presence of viruses. Download if you do not have it installed, and check all disks.
- A possible cause could also be an incorrect registry entry. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer. NoDrives must be removed, and then restart your PC or laptop.
- In registry entries HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Control you also need to remove StorageDevicePolicies.
- If all else fails, completely unplug your computer. Unplug the cord from the outlet, having first disconnected the PC or the battery from the laptop, and hold the power button for a while. After this, you can turn on the computer and try the flash drive.
Recovering data from a flash drive that the computer cannot see
If the computer sees your flash drive, but it is listed as “uninitialized” with an “unallocated” partition, then the device’s memory is damaged. Do not despair prematurely: everything stored on removable storage In some cases, information can be recovered.When using flash drives, remember two simple things that, in case of unexpected situations, will help you restore everything that was stored on them:
First, if you want to restore a flash drive, do not copy additional information to it.
Second, if you are restoring the device’s memory, save the information from it to another flash drive.
We recommend that you use the best utility- . The program is free, effective, and has a Russian language clear interface and two versions - installation and portable - therefore it is very popular among different categories of users. Using this software, you can recover absolutely all information from all media, not just flash devices.
The utility works both manually and automatic mode, and even beginners who have never dealt with such software. Recuva itself will offer The best way to restore all information from a damaged flash drive, you just have to agree by clicking the confirm button.
If after all the manipulations you still cannot connect the USB device to your computer or laptop, the recovery program cannot be used, and the information stored in its memory is very important, we recommend professional help from specialists who deal with these problems. They will restore both files and all content stored on the damaged device.
One of the most common problems faced by laptop users is the “invisible” flash drive. It seems like you inserted it into the USB port, but the stubborn computer just can’t detect it. There is no need to panic, as the problem can be completely solvable.
First of all, you need to do a quick check of the computer itself and the flash drive. To do this, you only need two things: a second computer and another flash card. Just see if your laptop sees other (probably working) flash drives. It’s also worth checking the flash drive itself - connect it to other computers and check if it works correctly. Based on this quick check, you can draw conclusions regarding the performance of the hardware.
If your laptop does not want to see absolutely any flash cards, then the problem may be a faulty USB port. Check whether the flash card will be read in other ports, if any. But if the card itself does not want to work anywhere, then, unfortunately, there is little that can be advised - it is possible that the contact is coming off the plug or the board itself is damaged. In such cases, it will be cheaper to buy a new drive.
It is curious that the flash drive may not work due to the fact that the laptop’s power supply simply does not have enough power. This happens when the device is weak and there are a lot of devices connected to it. If you use hubs (USB port splitters), then try connecting the drive directly.
What if the problem is software in nature? Well, it's quite possible. Check if the laptop's USB interface is connected to BIOS settings. To do this, while the computer is booting, press the button DEL(this could be another key - one of F1-12), reset settings to default(default) or look for the line where it is mentioned USB interface and turn it on (On or Enable). Unfortunately, the exact location of the parameter cannot be named, since it may differ in each BIOS version (as well as the name of the setting itself).
The problem may lie in the operating system settings. Follow these steps - go to Start, find the item “ Execute". Enter the command “ diskmgmt.msc" and press Enter. The Disk Management window will appear. It can also be found through the Control Panel ( Administration - Computer Management - Disk Management).
Now see if the flash drive is visible in the top window of this window (you can find it by the volume name, if you remember it, or by size). If the storage device is visible, then right-click on it and select “Make partition active” from the menu. If the drive name is displayed as “Unknown” or “Not initialized” or “Not allocated”, then most likely the flash card is damaged and all that remains is to replace it.
