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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.
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
Is your computer an Open Invitation for HACKERS? Download free version of Sparktrust Inspector to identify vulnerabilities and problems on your computer (and even your WEBSITES)!
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
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!
Is your computer an Open Invitation for HACKERS? Download free version of Sparktrust Inspector to identify vulnerabilities and problems on your computer (and even your WEBSITES)!
Kate Dubensky | May 22nd, 2009
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First of all i tried my other flash drives and they work just fine. I have problem with this:I have Medion 8 GB USB Flash Drive . I am using Dell Windows 7 64 bit PC. Everything was ok until today. I downloaded movie(I have about 8 movies in there), and checked flash drive with Norton Antivirus, just to make sure there are no viruses. As usual I had no viruses. however, All of the sudden, flash drive stopped responding. it flashes, but I cannot open it. My computer doesn't even shows it. it is like computer doesn't recognize flash drive or cannot read it. Could be flash drive broken?
It is usually showed being drive I:
I hear clicking sound, like computer is trying to open it, and nothing is happening. Please help!!!!
QUICK QUESTION RELATED TO THE ISSUE:
Do you think that plugging flash drive into usb port, and then rebooting computer while flash drive is in might cure the problem? Could there be a virus that's why Norton Antivirus somehow blocked flash drive from being read by PC?
Slava,
Hello, here's some information that should help:
http://filetonic.com/blog/2010/08/23/usb-flash-drive-failure/
Thank you! The Filetonic Team. Follow us on: www.Twitter.com/Filetonic
If it's not showing up in windows disk management, it's probably a hardware problem.