/ Flash Drive Not Recognized

Flash Drive Not Recognized

I have a Coby 256MB flash drive that has all of my school projects on it. It is not responding when I insert it into the computer. I, was wondering if you could help. Kate Dubensky

Try a Reboot

Sometimes rebooting your computer will allow it to recognize a USB flash drive. Start by inserting the drive, then power the computer down, let it rest for a minute, then boot it back up. Log onto Windows and see if the computer can recognize the drive now. For some reason, some computers sometimes fail to see a USB drive. You might try the USB drive on another computer and see if it shows up there.

Look in My Computer

The USB flash drive should show up in the My Computer listings. Double click the My Computer icon to open, and look for the USB flash drive. If it isn’t listed, you can try updating or removing and reinstalling the UBS drivers. If it is listed, then the problem is likely the drive itself, and you might need to replace it.

Update and Reinstall Drivers

Click Start, then Control Panel
Choose System, then Hardware
Choose Device Manager then find the USB controllers in the list
Right click the USB controllers listing and choose Update
If you need to, right click and uninstall the drivers
Leave the USB flash drive plugged in and reboot the computer, it should automatically reload the drivers

Assign the Drive Letter

Another tip is to check the drive letter assignments and see if this helps the computer identify the drive.

Click Start, then Control Panel
Choose Performance and Maintenance. If you are running Classic view skip to the next step
Choose Administrative Tools
Click twice on Computer Management
On the left side of the screen, click Disk Management
Now, find the drive, partition, logical drive or volume that you want to assign a letter to - find the listing for the UBS port/flash drive - and right click it
Choose Add
Choose Assign the Following Drive Letter
Click to Accept, or click the drive letter that you want to assign
Click OK
Look again for the drive listing to open the USB drive

Try Data Recovery Software

If the flash drive is recognized on your computer as a drive letter but appears to be unformatted or empty, try data recovery software to see if your files are recoverable. Data Recovery from ParetoLogic Software offers a free scanner that will let you see if the files are recoverable. If so, the full featured product will need to be purchased.

Back Up your Data

Unfortunately, sometimes USB flash drives die. They aren’t the most reliable storage device and you should always back up documents that you save on them on a CD or DVD. Some users have had luck getting the USB memory chip repaired by a technician, but there is no way to know whether or not this will work. I hope that you can get to your files! Good luck!