A compact USB drive, known to most users as a flash drive, is today considered the most common device for storing and exchanging various data. A common problem: "No files visible on the flash drive" can have quite disastrous consequences. After all, important documents of a confidential nature often transferred to a Flash USB Drive-device, unique photos and other types of valuable information can be in a single copy. If this is your first time encountering a problem like this, don't panic. It is highly likely that the disappeared data is still in the same place - on the flash drive. You just don't see them, because they are hidden. To solve the problem of "invisibility", we turn to the practical experience of the experienced and consider the main aspects of digital recovery.
Two main reasons: why did the information disappear?
So, when you insert the USB drive into your computer, you find that you cannot see the files on the USB drive. In the vast majority of cases, it is the user who is the culprit for this kind of trouble. And most often it is as a result of improper use that the Flash device starts working in the "magician" mode. Of course, factory defects in the manufacture of a product and unfavorable accidents of a metaphysical nature cannot be disregarded. However, the harsh reality shows that the cause of the malfunction can be either hardware or software.
No files visible on the flash drive: ways to fix the problem
The first thing to do is to carry out a visual inspection of the subject of our attention. Perhaps the information transfer device is purely mechanically damaged. A once spilled cup of coffee can also be directly related to the disappearance of files. Make sure the contacts on the Flash drive are not oxidized. If the device is equipped with a signal LED, operability must be confirmed by the indicator light. However, if a computer detects a connected device, then, most likely, the "hero of the occasion" has software roots, which may well be undermined by a malicious one. Nevertheless, such "tricks" can be exposed as a result of the use of special software, but before ...
Standard methods of dealing with "invisibility"
If files are not visible on the flash drive, try the following:
- Connect your USB device to your computer.
- Press the "Win + R" key combination to bring up the "Run" window.
- Next, in the checkbox enter "cmd".
- In the "Command Editor" write "Attrib -h -r -s / c / d k: \\ *. *", Where the latin k must have the literal meaning of your removable media.
- Press Enter and hidden files will be revealed again.
Second Windows solution: change system settings
It is quite possible that the "hide" attribute was assigned to the folders and files that are on the flash drive. In this case, the Flash drive connected to the PC will be displayed as empty.
- Go to the "Control Panel" menu.
- Now go to the "Appearance and Personalization" section.
- In the section "Folder options" activate the link "Show hidden files".
- The last item in the list must be activated. That is, the item "Show hidden files, folders ..." should be marked with a marker.
If this method did not work, and everything is also not visible, try the method described below.
Option three: checking the parameters of one of the registry branches
As a result of a virus infection, malicious code can alter entries in the Windows OS system log. Therefore, you must ensure that the parameters involved are intact. It should be noted that when working with the registry, you should be very careful, since incorrect actions and incorrectly made changes can critically affect the full performance of the Windows system as a whole.
- Through the "Run" menu you need to open
- Enter the "regedit" command.
- After the utility utility opens, follow the path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \\ SOFTWARE \\ Microsoft \\ Windows \\ CurrentVersion \\ Explorer \\ Advanced \\ Folder \\ Hidden \\ SHOWALL.
- The record of the "CheckedValue" key (the right area of \u200b\u200bthe working window of the editor) must correspond to the value "1".
- In the column "Type", except for "REG_DWORD", there should be nothing.
If the entry did not match the specified pattern, it is likely that your PC is infected with a computer virus, which means that you need to check the system for the presence of "destructive code".
A clear question: "How to open invisible files?" and an effective answer to it
Algorithm of actions:
- Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free antivirus utility on your PC.
- Run the installed software.
- Scan all partitions of your PC hard drive and USB stick.
- If a "digital infection" is detected, remove the source of infection.
It should be noted that in some cases, even after processing the hard drive and the storage area of \u200b\u200bthe flash drive with antivirus software, the problem will not disappear. Since, as a result of the destructive activity of an unfavorable code, the operating system files and even the disk structure could be changed. In such cases, the recovery process, and in the case of the system, a complete reinstallation of Windows, simply cannot be avoided.
How to recover lost data
As a rule, as a result of improper manipulation of removable media, beginners have a question: "Why can't a flash drive see files?" To solve this kind of difficulty, you need to download and install a special program on your PC. Among the huge amount of such software, the most attractive is the free information recovery utility Recuva, which you will learn about from the section below, as well as learn the basic techniques of working with it.
Recuva - free data "reincarnator"
So what needs to be done?
- Download this software product from the official site.
- After installation, run the utility.
- Select the type of information you are looking for. The most acceptable option is all files.
- In the next window, select "On the memory card".
- After you have confirmed your choice, the scanning process will begin.
- If the result is ineffective, go to the "Advanced mode" tab in a special program window.
- Mark all inactive items and repeat the startup process again.
- The files found in this way need to be restored. Click the button of the same name in the lower right corner of the program.
- Check the checkboxes next to the found files.
- After activating the "Restore" button, your data will be saved to the directory you specified.
As you understand, this program will just as effectively cope with a possible difficulty when the memory card does not see files. However, with the help of Recuva, you can recover deleted information from almost any type of media.
Instead of an afterword
So, you have learned what to do if the flash card does not see files. Nevertheless, do not forget about the elementary operating rules, the observance of which guarantees the long-term operation of the storage device:
- Do not save information to a USB flash drive that has not been previously verified by antivirus software.
- Remember that you need to disconnect the USB drive correctly by deactivating it using the Windows tool: "Safely Remove Hardware".
- You shouldn't use the same flash drive in different systems. This warning is especially relevant for mobile storage devices (eg SD memory cards).
- Do not forget to make a copy of the data from the USB-drive to the hard drive of your PC.
- In some cases, in order to recover lost files from a certain modification of the storage device, you may need specific specialized software.
All the best and flawlessly working Flash devices to you!
If after reinstalling Windows 7 or 8.1, as well as after updating them to Windows 10, your computer does not see the second hard drive or the second logical partition on the drive (drive D, conditionally), in this manual you will find two simple solutions to the problem, as well as a video guide to eliminate it. Also, the described methods should help if you installed a second hard drive or SSD, it is visible in BIOS (UEFI), but not visible in Windows Explorer.
If the second hard drive is not shown in the BIOS, but this happened after some action inside the computer or just after installing the second hard drive, then I recommend first of all to check if everything is connected correctly:.
How to "enable" a second hard drive or SSD in Windows
All we need to fix the problem with a disk that is not visible is the built-in Disk Management utility, which is present in Windows 7, 8.1 and Windows 10.
To launch it, press the Windows + R keys on the keyboard (where Windows is the key with the corresponding logo), and in the Run window that appears, type diskmgmt.msc then press Enter.
After a short initialization, the Disk Management window will open. In it, you should pay attention to the following things at the bottom of the window: are there disks there, in the information about which the following information is present.
- "There is no data. Not initialized ”(in case you cannot see the physical HDD or SSD).
- Are there areas on the hard disk that says "Not allocated" (if you cannot see a partition on one physical disk).
- If there is neither one nor the other, but instead you see a RAW partition (on a physical disk or a logical partition), as well as an NTFS or FAT32 partition, which is not displayed in Explorer and does not have a drive letter - just right-click on it on such a partition and select either "Format" (for RAW) or "Assign drive letter" (for an already formatted partition). If there was data on the disk, see.
In the first case, right-click on the disc name and select the "Initialize disc" menu item. In the window that appears after this, you must select the partition structure - GPT (GUID) or MBR (in Windows 7, this choice may not appear).
Upon completion of disk initialization, you will receive an "Not Allocated" area on it - ie. the second of the two cases described above.
The next step for the first case and the only one for the second is to right-click on the unallocated area, select the "Create simple volume" menu item.
After that, all that remains is to follow the instructions of the volume creation wizard: assign a letter, select a file system (if in doubt, NTFS) and size.
As for the size - by default, a new disk or partition will take up all the free space. If you need to create several partitions on one disk, specify the size manually (less than the available free space), and then do the same with the remaining unallocated space.
After completing all these steps, the second disk will appear in Windows Explorer and will be usable.
Video instruction
Below is a small video guide, where all the steps that allow you to add a second disk to the system (turn it on in the explorer) described above are shown clearly and with some additional explanations.
Making the second disk visible using the command line
Note: The following command line method to fix the missing second disk is for informational purposes only. If the above methods did not help you, and you do not understand the essence of the commands below, it is better not to use them.
Also note that the above steps are applicable without change for basic (non-dynamic or RAID disks) without extended partitions.
Run Command Prompt as administrator, then enter the following commands in order:
- diskpart
- list disk
Remember the number of the disk that is not visible, or the number of the disk (hereinafter - N), the partition on which is not displayed in the explorer. Enter the command select disk N and press Enter.
In the first case, when the second physical disk is not visible, use the following commands (attention: the data will be deleted. If the disk is no longer displayed, but there was data on it, do not do the described, perhaps it is enough just to assign a drive letter or use programs to recover lost partitions ):
- clean(Clears the disk. Data will be lost.)
- create partition primary (here you can also set the size \u003d S parameter, specifying the size of the partition in megabytes if you need to make several partitions).
- format fs \u003d ntfs quick
- assign letter \u003d D (assign the letter D).
- exit
In the second case (there is an unallocated area on one hard disk that is not visible in the explorer), we use all the same commands, with the exception of clean (disk cleaning), as a result, the operation to create a partition will be performed exactly on the unallocated space of the selected physical disk.
Note: in the methods using the command line, I described only two basic, most likely options, however, others are also possible, so do the described above only if you understand and are confident in your actions, and also took care of the safety of the data. More details about working with partitions using Diskpart can be found on the official Microsoft page
Over the past few years, flash storage media have become very popular and are used by us, literally, every day, due to their advantages over disk media. It is hardly possible to overestimate its usefulness of a flash drive, because you can quickly write information or count on it, it does not take up much space in a portfolio or bag, and the price segment is pleasantly pleasing.
Despite all the positive points, sometimes there are situations when the data cannot be read due to the flash drive itself or the computer. Indeed, at the most important moment, you can lose access to the stored files, and in order to quickly return everything to normal, you need to have certain knowledge. In this article, we will analyze all possible problem situations and find ways to solve why the computer does not see the USB flash drive.
The most common problems why the computer does not see the USB flash drive:
The flash drive itself does not work
This is the worst scenario for a person whose documents are stored on a USB flash drive, because it is practically impossible to bring it back to life. It is possible to disable a USB flash drive by mechanical impact on the device chip or its controller, by closing the electrical circuit, or by damaging the contacts on the USB board. This is what a USB flash drive looks like after closing the electrical circuit or getting moisture inside the drive.
Determining if this happened to your drive is easy enough. The very first thing you need to do is check the USB flash drive for mechanical damage, chips, cracks, etc. If it is completely broken, you can look for a replacement at a computer peripheral store. If you doubt its inoperability, you can check it with a practical method.
Connect the USB flash drive to the USB connector of the computer, if the LED on it lights up and on the computer you hear a sound that is typical for connecting a new device, then everything is in order, it makes sense to look for the problem further. If this does not happen, most likely the flash drive is no longer usable.
You can try to take the flash drive to the service center, where the wizard will try to rewire the contacts or replace the controller, but it will be very expensive, and this action will be justified only if you have important documents on it. If no fatal malfunction was found and the flash drive shows signs of life, try the methods to restore its performance, which will be described below.
The USB port on the front of the computer is de-energized
This problem is very common among desktop users. Most computer owners are accustomed to plugging a USB stick into the front USB ports because it's quick and easy.
But there is a situation when, during the assembly of the PC, for some reason, the front panel is not connected to the power system, usually this happens due to the forgetfulness of the computer wizard. Accordingly, your flash drive will not be displayed, despite its complete serviceability.
This problem can be solved in two ways. If you urgently need to use the information on removable media, you can connect it to the back of your computer. The front connectors will still be inoperative, but you will get access to the documents. It is impossible to call such manipulations a full-fledged solution, so we will consider the second option.
Method # 2 involves connecting the power cable on the motherboard to the front of the computer. The connection connectors may differ depending on the model of your computer case. But do not be afraid they all have markings and you will not be able to connect the wrong connector due to design features. The most common wires are VCC, D-, D + and GND. Moreover, the color coding of the cable and the connector on the motherboard is the same, but it is better to keep the reference by the inscriptions.
The first step is to gain access to the motherboard, to do this, unscrew the mounting bolts on the case and remove the cover. Find the cable that leads to the bezel and locate the same connector on the motherboard. In the image below you can see what the connector should look like.
It is not recommended to make the connection yourself, it is better to call the wizard. If you connect the cable and connector incorrectly, you can burn these contacts and even devices. If you decide to connect the front USB connectors, then it is better to tell us the model of your case and motherboard, and we will show you how to do it correctly and explain what the connector and cable look like.
Faulty or disconnected USB port on the computer
Sometimes the problem of unreadable information on removable media is associated not with the problem of the flash drive itself, but with the connector into which it is connected. A certain USB port may be inoperative, and this condition can be caused by trivial damage to the connector pins. Then, not only the flash drive, but also other USB devices will not work in this port.
This problem can be solved by armed with an ordinary soldering iron and minimal knowledge of circuitry. If there is no such knowledge, skill and equipment, then it can be fixed at the nearest service center for a low fee.
However, if no reaction to the connection of a USB device is observed on all connectors, then the problem may lie deeper. Ports can be disabled in BIOS settings.
In order to connect ports in the BIOS menu, you need to get there initially. To enter the BIOS in the first seconds of booting the computer, you need to press the corresponding key on the keyboard, which is responsible for calling the menu. Most often, the F2 or Del key is set by default, but depending on the motherboard company and the BIOS version, it may be different. It is indicated in the first image that pops up when loading.
After you have entered the BIOS itself, we need to go along the following route: “”.
Find the line “USB Controller” so that you are allowed to use the ports, opposite should be the value “Enabled”.
After you have enabled the USB ports on your computer, press the F10 key. This will save the settings you made and exit the BIOS.
The USB connector of the flash drive is dirty
A flash drive is a mobile storage device and therefore is often carried in pockets, briefcases or as a key ring. Due to such operating conditions, dust and small debris can accumulate in the connector. This does not happen often, but it can cause the flash drive to malfunction. Dust and debris build up on the contact and prevent connections from the contacts in the port on the computer. Such a flash drive may not only not be displayed at all, but also freeze, slowly transmit or read information and not be detected the first time.
To clean the USB connector of a flash drive, arm yourself with a match and a cotton swab. Using a match, remove all debris from the connector, and then moisten a cotton swab with alcohol and wipe the contacts of the flash drive. This will help remove debris and oxidation.
Infection with viruses
In our time, the issue of the security of the storage device is becoming more and more urgent, because viruses are in full swing. You can visit your familiar social networking site on the Internet and get infected, not to mention downloading files from unverified sources.
Modern computer viruses can also multiply, no matter how strange it sounds. They infect files on your USB flash drive or computer hard drive, and their number grows exponentially.
Very often, the problem of the inoperability of a flash drive is a virus infection. The drive is detected by the system, you can hear the characteristic sound of connecting the device to the system, but when you try to read information, you will see the message "" or " Application not found».
Before solving this problem, it is worth installing antivirus software on your computer and conducting a complete diagnosis of the files. To access the data on the drive, we need to delete the file with the virus and scan it. To do this, go to the "Start" menu and enter the following phrase "" in the search line.
Click on the found element with the left mouse button. You will see a window with the name "Folder Options" open, here you need to do the following:
- Uncheck the " Hide protected system files»
- Check the box ""
After that, be sure to press the "Apply" button and only after that "OK", otherwise the changes will not take effect. It should look like this.
After that, go to "My Computer" and go to the folder of the drive itself. There you will see the "Autorun" file, you need to delete it, and check the flash drive for viruses with one of the free antiviruses, the Dr.WEB Cure It utility can handle this perfectly.
Now you can fully use the USB flash drive and no problems should arise. If nothing has changed, then the problem lies in the absence of drivers, we will analyze it below.
Driver failure or outdated drivers
A very common problem is when the computer does not want to display a USB flash drive due to outdated drivers or their system failure. The crash can occur due to a power surge or an unexpected shutdown of the operating system. Or, older computer models may not work with drives of 32 GB or more. We can say one thing, the problem is solved only by updating the drivers.
The first step is to go to "". This can be done in several ways, for example, through "My Computer" or find this section in the system search, as we will do.
We go into this menu, after which we connect the flash drive to the computer, after which we open the "USB Controllers" sub-tab. Select the line “ Memory device", By clicking the right mouse button opens the system menu and press" Delete ".
Such manipulations allow you to remove the driver installed on the system for your storage device. As soon as you remove it, feel free to remove the USB flash drive from the computer and reconnect it. Then the driver will be reinstalled on the flash drive and the problem will be solved.
If the problem persists, it may be necessary to update the driver of all USB chipsets, this is quite easy to do. You can use a special disk that came with the motherboard, it contains all the necessary drivers. If you do not have it, download the DriverPack program, it will automatically select all drivers for which there is an update and will carry out this procedure after your agreement.
Moreover, most users have doubts about the correctness of their actions when they learn about different USB formats. Don't be scared!
Drivers for USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 are installed according to the same principle. And the only difference between the ports is the maximum read and write speed.
Filesystem errors
The computer may also not recognize your flash device due to file system errors. Let's check if this is so, go to "", as described above. Now you need to open the sub-tab “ Disk devices", If you see your USB flash drive there, it means that it is working properly, and the file system does not perceive it as it should, and, accordingly, does not display it in the explorer. In my case, the flash drive was displayed, which means it is working.
To fix this problem, you must format your flash drive, but this action has several nuances, so we will consider this process in the next paragraph of the article.
If you do not see your drive there, then the problem lies in the malfunction of the flash drive itself, which means either the controller has burned out, or the contact is unsoldered. Experts in service centers can try to bring it back to life. However, this is an expensive undertaking, it is easier to buy a new one, of course, if important information was not recorded on the faulty one and you need to restore the data on the flash drive.
File system conflict
Quite often, the contents of a flash drive are not displayed due to a conflict between file systems on the computer and the removable media itself. For example, if the computer operates on the NTFS file system and FAT32 is used on the flash drive, a conflict situation is possible. Moreover, this problem is common not only in Windows, but also in Mac OS. For example, if you format a USB flash drive on your Mac device to ExFAT or the standard MacBook file system, then the USB flash drive is unlikely to be read on Windows devices.
The very first thing to do is find a computer that uses a different file system, open the USB flash drive and save the information that is important to you, because after formatting it will be lost.
To solve this problem, we need to carry out the process of formatting the flash drive. First, you need to find out which file system is used on your computer. Go to "My Computer", right-click on the hard drive, open the submenu and select "Properties" in it.
In the window that opens, you will see information about the free and used amount of disk space, as well as find out which file system is used. In my case, the NTFS system is used.
After you know the file system of the computer, we need to format the flash drive to the same system. To do this, right-click on the flash drive and open the "Format" tab.
In the tab that opens, select the file system into which we will format, put a checkmark in front of the "Fast" attribute and click "Start".
A few words about why we are using the Fast attribute. First, the formatting of the flash drive will be much faster. But there is also another side of the coin. If there were any documents on the flash drive, then only with a quick format can you recover this data using special utilities. If you have not checked the box, then the information that was on the flash drive will be lost for you forever.
The flash drive is not formatted
A fairly common problem is when you insert a USB flash drive into a computer (basically this is a new USB flash drive and its first use), and the operating system gives you a warning, which says that the removable drive must be formatted before use. And if the flash drive was used earlier and data is recorded on it, then you will not be able to access them. Moreover, the volume of the flash drive becomes 0, i.e. as if there is nothing at all, not even a drive.
If you have already used a USB flash drive and this is not its first connection, then try connecting it to another computer, perhaps the problem will go away and you can save the data. But in any case, the flash drive must be formatted. How to do this was discussed in detail in the section "Conflict of file systems".
But I want to draw your attention to two points. So that after formatting there are no problems with the file system (FS), find out which FS is used on the computer and install the same for the drive. And second, if the flash drive had the information you need, then be sure to use the "Fast" attribute, so the formatting of the flash drive will only go through the tables of contents, and the lost information can be returned using special utilities.
A problem with a partition or a USB flash drive is automatically assigned a busy letter
There are situations when the operating system incorrectly detects your removable media. It seems that everything is fine, the connection of the device is highlighted and the flash drive icon appears in the tray, but you cannot use it for its intended purpose.
The problem may be that the system has not assigned the partition a letter under which the removable drive will appear, or it has assigned it, but this letter is already taken, and this results in an address conflict.
The solution to this problem will be the forced assignment of the partition letter that we will choose, everything happens in manual mode. So let's get started.
First of all, you need to hold down the "Win + R" key combination, a window with the name "Run" will open in front of you.
In the line we need to enter a simple command diskmgmt.msc , which will transfer us to the section for managing disks and drives.
In the opened storage media manager, we need to define our USB device. This can be done simply, disconnect the USB flash drive and reconnect it, the partition that first disappears and then appears is what we need.
In my case, the flash drive is a drive named "20151114_17", you can also identify it by a special icon. Now you need to click on it with the right mouse button, and in the menu that opens, select the "Change letter" item.
Now another additional window, smaller, will open in front of us. In it you need to click on the "Change" and "OK" button.
Now another auxiliary window will open, where you must select any letter of the English alphabet, and after clicking on the "Ok" button, the letter will be assigned to the section.
It is worth paying attention to one important point! When choosing the letter assigned to the partition of your flash drive, look at which letters are already used by the system. This is very important, because we can not fix the problem, but leave it. This will happen if, for example, you designate a flash drive partition through the letter “D”, which is already assigned to the local disk.
Power supply malfunction or excessive overcurrent of the USB port
This problem is very common nowadays. The fact is that the computer may simply not see the USB flash drive due to a faulty power supply. Let's figure it out in order, the power supply consumes electrical energy from the network, and then converts and distributes it to all nodes of the computer. It has a power limit, for example, a 400W power supply will not be able to give you 600W. This means that the consumption of the entire system must be balanced.
Such a problem may appear if you have recently replaced some important node in the system, let it be a processor. Now it consumes much more energy, in comparison with the past, which means that it simply does not reach somewhere, and in this case, this “somewhere” is the USB network of the computer. Accordingly, the power consumption parameter must be calculated in advance, and if such a situation has already occurred, you will have to replace the power supply unit with a more powerful one.
Moreover, the problem may lie in a malfunction of the power supply, it can produce much less power potential than it was stated and than it was previously. You will not be able to solve such a problem, since you risk the performance of the entire computer. The only solution would be to replace the power supply.
There is one more feature of this issue. Recently, USB devices for computers have become very common, for example, now such devices are powered: a mat for heating a cup, a table lamp, a wireless mouse, a removable hard drive, and in addition, a smartphone is also charging. And you still want to connect a USB flash drive, but bad luck, the computer sees it. The fact is that there was an overcurrent on the USB ports. Those. all your devices already consume the maximum amount of current and you will not be able to connect another one. Therefore, in order to use a USB flash drive, you need to disconnect several devices from the USB ports of the computer and then the problem will disappear.
If the computer does not see the USB flash drive in Windows XP
There are many reasons why a flash drive may not be detected in Windows XP. Moreover, the problem may lie both in the operating system itself, and in the malfunction of the flash, and even in the computer hardware.
If the problem is related to the operating system, then it can be eliminated only by making additional changes to the settings, it is best to do this in manual mode, despite the abundance of special utilities that can help in this matter.
However, if the drive itself is faulty, then the only thing that is left for you is to try to save the data written on it. And then purchase a new and more reliable device.
If your computer cannot identify the USB flash drive, then it notifies the user with the following signals:
- Your flash drive is inserted, and you are trying to access the data on it, the message "Insert disc" pops up.
- The system notifies about the mandatory formatting of the drive for further use.
- Errors about the impossibility of accessing the data pop up.
- The system may freeze as soon as you plug the USB flash drive into your computer's USB port.
In this section, we will consider all the most common reasons for the non-functionality of a flash drive in Windows XP and give practical recommendations for solving them. Carefully read the description of the problem, if it is not similar to yours or its solution did not help you, proceed to the next step until the problem goes away. The first thing to do is to try to determine if the flash drive is working properly. This is indicated by a light indicator located on it. If you connected a drive and it blinks or is on, then the flash drive is working and the problem lies either in the system or in the hardware of the computer.
Try to change the port to which you connect the flash drive or even the computer, perhaps only the port or the entire system is faulty, and the flash drive will work properly on another PC. For example, if, when you connect a flash drive to a port, you observe a complete system freeze, this means that this port is faulty and it is better not to use it.
If you are using USB hubs or extension cords and the flash drive is not displayed, perhaps the problem lies in the device itself, and not the flash drive. If this turns out to be the case, you can take the hub to a service center or try to repair it yourself. To do this, you need a soldering iron, solder and a little experience, because most often you just need to solder one or two contacts and everything will work as expected.
Perhaps the problem lies in the lack of electrical current in the USB port system. To check this, you need to disconnect all USB devices on the computer (camera, printer, lamp, etc.), leave only the keyboard and mouse. If, after such manipulations, the flash drive appears in the system and you can access it, then the problem lies in a weak power supply. This problem can be solved only by replacing the power supply with a more powerful one, but using a USB hub with its own energy source will help to delay the purchase of a power supply.
However, if the problem has not been resolved after disconnecting all other devices, the problem with a lack of power supply and an outdated USB port may still be relevant. In other words, on older laptops, you won't be able to open a 36GB or larger flash drive. It won't solve the problem, you can only buy a more modern laptop or computer.
A very common situation is when a user plugs a USB flash drive into the front port of a PC, but the system does not see it. This means that either the ports are not connected to the power supply on the motherboard, or too little power is allocated to them. You can connect the front panel yourself, using the instructions located above in the section of the same name.
Doesn't see the USB flash drive due to Windows XP errors. Troubleshooting
The flash drive may also not be detected due to operating system errors. For example, Windows XP SP2 lacks updates and software packages to keep USB devices working properly. Moreover, a situation is possible when only a few USB devices can work in one port.
The solution to this issue will be to upgrade the system to SP3 and install the necessary updates. Even a new user can do this, since we only need a couple of clicks, and the system will automatically download, install and launch the update. So, let's get started, we can move in two ways - this is the official download from Windows Update or installing SP3 from a disk or flash drive. The first step is to check which package you already have installed.
Click on the "My Computer" icon with the right mouse button and select "Properties". The following window will open in front of you, where information about your system will be indicated.
To install SP3, we need to allow the operating system to search and update the computer system. To do this, just go from Control Panel to Windows Update.
As soon as you do this, the system will start searching for updates, after which it will offer you to update everything at once or select only the ones you need. If you do not understand what update, what changes, then it is better to let the system update completely.
After downloading all the updates, the operating system will require you to restart your computer in order to apply the new settings. Click "OK" and wait patiently. That's all, now you can connect a USB flash drive and use it.
If you decide to choose the updates that should be installed, and not download them all in automatic mode, then here is a guideline for you that will help improve the perception of USB drives by the system.
Driver conflicts in Windows XP
There is also a driver conflict problem. The fact is that some already outdated drivers can cause errors at the system level, moreover, they can interfere with the normal operation of new drivers. A striking example of such a problem is the situation when a user inserts a USB flash drive into a computer, tries to access data on it, and the system immediately knocks out an error message asking to insert a disc. Or, the system simply freezes, and even assigning an already existing letter to a flash drive partition is real.
The reason for these errors is as follows. Let's say you have two flash drives, you connected one of them to the system. In automatic mode, all the necessary drivers for this device are immediately installed. You have done the necessary manipulations for writing or reading files and pulled out the drive. After that, you insert a second USB flash drive, which is completely functional, and one of the above errors pops up. This means that the system is trying to use the already installed driver from the first flash drive to run the second, but they are not compatible.
Reinstalling Windows XP USB Drivers
This problem can be easily fixed in several ways. Reinstalling drivers in automatic mode or manual. Let's analyze a little theory, a driver from one USB device can be mistakenly used by the system to start another USB device. To eliminate these problems, we need to first uninstall all existing drivers for USB drives, and then reinstall them.
Such a problem may display the message "USB device not recognized", or unexplained processes occur at the system level that block access to data or cause the system to freeze.
Delete via DriveCleanup
You can effectively remove all existing USB device drivers using the DriveCleanup utility. Its advantage is that it searches the entire system for installed drivers and only then removes them.
First of all, turn off the computer, disconnect all USB devices from it in order to avoid conflict situations while the program is running. We turn on the PC, go to the official website of the program and download the executable file. The utility is compatible with any version of Windows, including different bitness. When downloading, pay attention to the file version.
Automatic installation
You have removed all drivers from your computer. For the device to function normally, the operating system must have drivers for it. The automatic driver installation process is incredibly simple, you just plug the USB flash drive into the USB port, and then the installation will start immediately. A window will pop up that will display the progress of the installation; on some systems this may occur in a mode invisible to the user. Installation is complete within one to two minutes and you can use your device.
Manual installation
Manual installation means installing drivers not directly from the media itself. We can also install drivers for the flash drive from third-party Internet resources, but to avoid conflicts, we will install the drivers for the flash drive using another computer.
So, we take our problematic flash drive, insert it into another computer, where it is recognized. A prerequisite for this process is the coincidence of Windows versions on both computers. We use the search system and find two files.
By any means we transfer them to the problem computer, be it sending by mail or using other removable media. You need to place these files in a folder with the same path that was on the first computer and confirm the replacement when the corresponding window pops up. We reboot the computer and enjoy its performance with FLASH disks.
We have considered only the most common reasons why the flash drive is not displayed on the computer. In fact, there are many more of them. Moreover, there are problems that are expressed by other system messages, and their solution is already described in the paragraphs of the article.
The message "Insert disc" appears, even if the flash drive is already connected to the USB port
This system error occurs when drivers overlap and interfere with the normal functioning of USB devices. In order to fix this error, you need to remove all drivers for USB devices and reinstall them. This process is described step by step in this article.
Disk formatting message
This message appears if you are using a USB flash drive for the first time or a system failure has occurred in it. In addition to the message, you can make sure that it is not usable, because it does not display either free space or occupied space. The solution to this issue is described in detail in paragraphs 8 and 9.
Data error message
This problem pops up in 3 cases. This is a driver conflict, a file system conflict and a failure of the flash drive itself. It is solved by reinstalling the drivers, if it did not help, then quick formatting in order to preserve the possibility of data recovery on the USB flash drive. See above for step-by-step instructions.
Complete system freeze immediately after connecting the flash drive to the computer
This issue has already been discussed in the article, but I would like to draw your attention to the fact that this error can occur for two reasons:
- Driver conflict.
- Bad port.
It is easy to check what problem you have, insert the USB flash drive into another port, if the hang continues, then there is a problem with the drivers. Instructions and tips for reinstalling them were given within the framework of this article.
Why the computer does not see the USB flash drive when the indicator on it is on
The contact on the flash drive, which is responsible for the transfer of information, may be damaged. It is possible that there is a conflict of drivers and the assignment of an occupied letter for a partition. If the problem persists, after connecting the flash drive to another computer, try to check the availability of the partition. If everything is in order here, then reinstall the drivers and the flash drive will work.
Error 43 / Error 43
This error immediately stops reading information from a removable device, which means that we will not be able to access the data immediately. There are several problems that Error 43 can cause.
- The failure of the device itself is the first of them. Check on another computer to see if this situation occurs again.
- Driver Conflict - Solution described above.
- Updating the hardware configuration - you just need to roll back the driver version in the Task Manager.
conclusions
We got acquainted in detail with the reasons that can prevent the computer from reading the flash drive and information on it. The described solutions with step-by-step instructions will definitely help you get rid of this problem. The unreadable flash drive can be a verdict only if the flash drive is faulty. In other situations, this is an easily reversible process. If you have any questions or you could not find a solution to your problem in the article - leave comments, we will try to clarify the situation together.
Good afternoon.
External hard drives (HDD) are becoming more popular day by day, sometimes it seems that very soon they will be more popular than flash drives. And it is not surprising, because modern models are some kind of box, the size of a cell phone and contain 1-2 TB of information!
Many users are faced with the fact that the computer does not see the external hard drive. Most often, this happens immediately after purchasing a new device. Let's try to figure it out in order, what's the matter here ...
If the new external HDD is not visible
New here means the disk that you connected to your computer (laptop) for the first time.
1) First what are you doing - go to computer control .
To do this, go to control Panel then in system and security settings -\u003e administration -\u003e computer control ... See screenshots below.
2) Pay attention to the left column. It has a menu - disk management ... Let's move on.
All drives (including external ones) connected to the system should be displayed in front of you. Very often the computer does not see the connected external hard drive due to incorrect drive letter assignment. You then need to change it!
To do this, right-click on the external drive and select " change drive letter ... ". Next, assign the one that is not yet in your OS.
3) If the disc is newand you connected it to your computer for the first time - it may not be formatted! Therefore, it will not appear on "my computer".
If this is the case, then you cannot change the letter (you simply will not have such a menu). You just need to right click on the external drive and select “ create a simple volume ... «.
Attention! All data on the disk (HDD) will be deleted during this process! Be careful.
4) Lack of drivers ... (Update 04/05/2015)
If the external hard drive is new and you do not see it in either "my computer" or " disk management“But it works on other devices (for example, a TV or another laptop sees it and detects it) - then 99% of the problems are related to Windows OS and drivers.
Despite the fact that modern Windows 7, 8 operating systems are quite "smart" and when a new device is found, they automatically search for a driver for it - this does not always happen ... The fact is that versions of Windows 7, 8 (including all kinds of assemblies from " craftsmen ") a huge number, and no one canceled various mistakes. Therefore, I do not recommend excluding this option right away ...
1. Check the USB port if it works. For example, connect a phone or a camera, even just an ordinary USB flash drive. If the device works, then the USB port has nothing to do with it ...
2. Go to Device Manager (In Windows 7/8: Control Panel / System and Security / Device Manager) and look at the two tabs: other devices and disk devices.
Windows 7: Device Manager reports that there are no drivers for the "My Passport ULTRA WD" drive on the system.
The screenshot above shows that Windows does not have drivers for the external hard drive, so the computer cannot see it. Usually, Windows 7, 8, when connecting a new device, automatically installs a driver for it. If this has not happened to you, there are three options for action:
a) Click the "Update hardware configuration" command in the device manager. This is usually followed by an automatic installation of the drivers.
b) Search for drivers using special. programs:;
c) Reinstall Windows (to install, select a "clean" licensed system, without any assemblies).
Windows 7 - device manager: drivers for external HDD Samsung M3 Portable are installed correctly.
If you can't see your old external hard drive
Old here refers to a hard drive that was previously running on your computer and then stopped.
1. First, go to the disk management menu (see above) and change the drive letter. This is definitely worth doing if you've created new partitions on your hard drive.
2. Secondly, check the external HDD for viruses. Many viruses disable the ability to see disks or block them ().
3. Go to Device Manager and see if the devices are detected correctly. There should be no yellow exclamation marks (or red ones) that signal errors. It is also recommended to reinstall the drivers on the USB controller.
4. Sometimes reinstalling Windows OS helps. Anyway, check the hard drive on another computer / laptop / netbook first, and then try reinstalling.
It is also useful to try to clean your computer from unnecessary junk files and optimize the registry and programs (here is an article with all the utilities: use a couple ...).
5. Try connecting the external HDD to a different USB port. It happened that, for some unknown reason, after connecting to another port, the disk worked fine as if nothing had happened. I noticed this several times on Acer laptops.
6. Check the cords.
Once the external hard cable did not work due to the fact that the cord was damaged. From the very beginning I did not notice this and killed 5-10 minutes in search of the reason ...
Often, users of this service are faced with problems that are very difficult to solve on their own, or at least find their cause. One of these troubles concerns video calls during which the interlocutor is not visible on Skype. In fact, everything is extremely simple: it is important to correctly configure the program not only for yourself, but also for your friend.
Reasons why Skype video doesn't work
- If you do not see the interlocutor on Skype, he may have forgotten to turn on the video camera. It is easy to fix it - just click on the corresponding icon in the main conversation window.
- You should also check with the subscriber for the availability of drivers corresponding to the brand of his webcam. After solving these problems, he should restart the PC and Skype.
The option to enable automatic video broadcasting is disabled.
This is one of the first and most likely reasons. The interlocutor could simply forget to put a "birdie" in front of the "Automatically start video broadcasting" parameter. You can find the function in the main settings menu.
The indicated problems concern another user and if everything is in order, you should recheck your PC.
