We often use flash media to quickly transfer information between computers. There are situations when the computer does not see the USB flash drive, which creates a lot of problems. Consider why your PC does not recognize the connected device, how to fix it, and how to recover data from a broken flash drive.
How the problem manifests itself
The problem can occur in any version of Windows. The error appears as one of the following:
- You connected the drive, but the computer does not show any signs of a new device. This happens even after restarting the PC multiple times;
- The sound of the connected drive appeared, but the desired folder is not visible on the PC;
- Computer requires ;
- A window appears with a message about an error in reading information;
- PC freezes immediately after connecting a USB flash drive;
- Problem with "Device not recognized" text.
Please note that only options are considered above when the flash drive itself is working, but not recognized by the computer. Connect the drive to another PC or smartphone. If the problem lies precisely in the flash drive, it is necessary to repair it.
Reasons why the computer does not see the flash drive
Among the reasons for the appearance of a problem can be both failures in the operation of the OS and hardware failures. First, we recommend that you try to fix the problem using programmatic methods. Then you need to check the health of the PC hardware components and the operation of the flash drive on other computers.
Software reasons:
- System overheating.
The simplest and most common cause of errors in the operation of a flash drive is a computer that is very hot. If the USB port is located near a cooling system, an increase in temperature may force the USB port to shut down. Thus, the OS automatically protects the port from damage;
- Unsuitable drivers.
The computer does not see the USB flash drive if there is no USB driver software or the program is incorrect. This situation is mainly faced by users who have recently reinstalled the OS and have not yet configured its operation;
- The drive is not formatted.
The first connection of a flash drive to a computer may be accompanied by a message about the need to format the storage. This will erase all data and files. Without formatting, you will not be able to use the flash drive in this system, since its parameters are not compatible with the OS settings. To save the data you need, you must connect the drive to another PC.
- Incorrect device definition.
When you hear the sound of a connected device, but do not see it in the explorer, you can say that an error has occurred in the system partitions and drive name. This is the reason why the flash drive is not visible on the computer. The system simply assigned it the letter of an already existing drive;
- The conflict between the file system of a PC and a flash drive.
In this case, you will be able to open the drive folder, but it will be empty. For example, if NTFS is configured on your computer, and on a FAT 32 flash drive, two devices will be able to set up a connection, but the user will not be able to view files or add them to the drive folder;
- Infection of a flash drive with viruses.
According to statistics, more than 70% of all malicious programs are written specifically for installation and distribution via external USB gadgets. It is possible that the built-in OS defender simply “does not let through” the USB flash drive so that the virus does not spread.
- The USB port is disabled in BIOS settings.
In this case, the user needs to enter the system menu on his own and activate the port.
Hardware reasons:
- The drive connector is dirty.
We often carry flash drives in our bags and pockets. So the device can be damaged by third-party objects. Be sure to check if the USB connector on the flash drive is dusty. If necessary, it can be cleaned with a dry cotton swab.
- The USB port is not powered.
If you are using a desktop PC, the ports on the front of the case may not be powered. This happens when, at the assembly stage, the front panel of the PC was not connected to a common power system. You can fix the problem at any service center.
We also note cases when the computer does not see the Micro SD flash drive. This happens when the connector (the adapter that connects the memory card and the USB port on the computer) is faulty. Also, different file systems can be the cause of the problem.
What to do: diagnostics and correction
You need to start solving the problem by working with the standard diagnostic utility. This utility is installed by default. Its main advantage is the ability to determine exactly why the computer does not see a USB flash drive or other connected device.
Follow instructions:
- Open the Notification Center and click on the "Settings" tile;
- Next, click on "Update and Security", and in a new tab, go to "Troubleshooting";
- On the right side of the screen, find the "Hardware ..." item and select it. A diagnostic utility will open, which will automatically detect the problem and solve it.
To start the recovery tool in Windows 7, you must press the key combination Win + R and in the Run window that opens, enter the command shown in the figure. Click OK and the diagnostic utility will open in a new window.
Checking with Disk Management
Disk Management is a standard utility for analyzing and managing all disks in the system. If the diagnostic tool did not help, we recommend checking whether the system recognizes the connected USB flash drive at all.
The absence of a drive name in the list of drives indicates that it is defective. Follow instructions:
- Connect the drive to the laptop;
- Next, click on Win + R and enter "diskmgmt.msc" in the text field;
- In the Disk Management window, look at each item in the list. Also, it is recommended to reconnect the drive. See if it appears on the list. It may be that the computer recognizes the flash drive, but due to the similarity in the names of the sections, it disappears.
To force open a folder containing the contents of a drive, select it in the list and click on the drive section at the bottom of the window. Also check if the partition is correct. Its status is displayed at the bottom of the window. To troubleshoot, right-click on the drive and select "Fix".
Forced Partition Rename to Flash USB
If you see that the letter of the flash drive matches an already installed disk, you can be sure that the computer will not see the USB flash drive.
The user can independently assign another free letter to the device. To do this, in the "Disk Management" window, right-click on the name of the drive and click on "Change letter or path ...".
In the window that opens, click on the letter, and then on "Edit". Enter any other Latin letter that is not used by existing devices. Save the changes and reconnect the flash drive to the computer. Everything should work fine.
If the computer does not see the micro flash drive (Micro SD) even after changing the Disk Management settings, we recommend that you restart the computer and proceed to the next solutions.
Flash drive not recognized after update
If problems with connected USB devices in the system began after switching to a new version of Windows or after installing the next update package, we recommend that you remove all USB drivers and reinstall them through the Device Manager.
If the computer does not see the SD flash drive, micro flash drive, smartphone connected via USB, you must use the command line to remove the USB port drivers. This will erase from the system even those drivers that were manually installed from unreliable sources. Follow instructions:
- Disconnect all storage devices that are connected via USB from the PC (including a webcam, flash drives, smartphone, card readers). The mouse and keyboard can be left on;
- Restart your computer;
- Download the DriveCleanup program (a utility that can search and remove all USB hardware drivers through the command line). Link: http://drivecleanup.ru.uptodown.com/windows/download;
- Install the utility;
- Launch Command Prompt on your computer. To do this, press Win + R and enter the cmd command;
- In a new window, enter the drivecleanup.exe command and press Enter to execute it;
- Next, the removal of absolutely all drivers and related entries in the registry will begin. Wait for the process to complete and close the command prompt window.
Note that drivers for all USB devices are removed at once, so after performing the operation, the connected mouse or keyboard may stop working. To further control the computer, use the touchpad or reconnect the USB mouse. Its drivers will be installed automatically.
Now go to device manager. To do this, right-click on the Start menu icon and select the appropriate item:
In the new window, find the field with the name of your computer (usually the top line of the list). Right-click on it and select "Update configuration" in the list of actions that opens. Thus, new “correct” drivers will be installed immediately for all types of devices. An Internet connection is required to perform this action.
Now restart your computer and check if the flash drive is still visible on the computer. In 95% of cases, this solution option helps to fix all types of software errors.
Fixing Registry Entries
Another solution is to use a third-party USBOblivion program to automatically find and edit invalid registry entries that are related to USB operation. These errors sometimes occur during the transition to a new version of the OS.
Follow instructions:
- Download the USBOblivion utility from the developer's website https://www.cherubicsoft.com/projects/usboblivion and install it on your computer;
- Disconnect all previously connected flash drives;
- Run the application and check the boxes "Real cleaning" and "Save undo file";
- Click on the "Clear" button.
- All keys with information about USB devices will be deleted. Now you can reconnect the drives. They will work in standard mode, and new correct entries will be created in the registry.
BIOS check
It happens that the computer does not see any
If one of the lines named "USB Controller" has the value Disabled , change it to Enabled . Save your settings, close the system menu and restart your computer. Now the port will work.
Now you know what to do if the computer does not see the flash drive. Write which method helped you solve the problem and whether you managed to recover files on the drive.
You connect the flash drive to the laptop, but nothing happens - the drive is not displayed in the system, and it is impossible to work with the data stored on it. A very unpleasant situation that requires immediate resolution.
Identification of the cause
The first step is to understand what is not working: a laptop USB port or a flash drive. To check, you can use another USB flash drive - if the laptop detects it, then the problem lies in the drive. If the laptop does not find any media, then you will have to check several system parameters, the failure of which could lead to such an unpleasant result.
Checking media through Disk Management
Let's check if the laptop detects a USB flash drive connected to it using the Disk Management system utility:
- Using the combination Win + R, launch the Run menu.
- Enter "diskmgmt.msc" in the window and click "OK".
- See if your removable drive is in the list of connected drives.
Ideally:
- connected flash drive detected;
- all partitions of the drive have the Healthy status.
In this case, just right-click on the removable media and select the "Make partition active" option. Additionally, you may need to assign a letter to the flash drive - if this was not done automatically by the system.
The status "Not initialized" or "Unknown" instead of "Healthy" indicates that the flash drive is defective; you need to think about recovering the data that was stored on it.
Reset BIOS settings
Sometimes the laptop does not see the flash drive due to a BIOS settings failure. You can fix this by resetting the settings to the factory state or manually enabling the USB controller in the BIOS.
After rebooting again, check if the flash drive is detected. If resetting BISO settings did not help, go to the next solution.
Removing Old USB Drivers
Windows installs drivers for the flash drive the first time it is connected to the computer. However, after removing the drive, the installed software does not disappear anywhere. Furthermore, sometimes old drivers interfere with the correct operation of other removable media. To eliminate this influence, you need to update the software of the USB device:
After removing the device, you need to disconnect the flash drive, and then plug it back in - the old drivers will be removed, and the problem with detecting the flash drive should be resolved.
Recovery of USB flash drives has its own characteristics. The good news is that these devices, unlike SD cards, are repairable. Therefore, if it is impossible to exchange a flash drive under warranty, why not take advantage of a 60-70% chance to repair it.
The article will consider various cases, typical problems associated with the breakdown of flash drives, and options for solving them.
Recover data or repair flash drive?
They are not the same thing, although the concepts are related.
The main task that the repair solves is to restore the performance of the flash drive so that it:
- was identified as a storage device in Disk Management,
- was correctly defined in Explorer,
- read and write data.
As a result of repairing a usb flash drive, it is easy to lose all the data on it, while it will be available for writing and reading.
File recovery is possible only on a working USB flash drive.
The main reasons for the failure of a usb flash drive
How to understand that a USB flash drive needs repair:
- When a flash drive is connected, the LED on its case does not light;
- The device is not recognized on another computer / laptop;
- The flash drive is defined as an unidentified usb device.
Damage to a USB drive is easy. Like any physical device, flash memory is subject to external influences (shock, thermal effects, water ingress, etc.). In addition, there are a number of software errors due to which the flash drive does not work.
Damaged USB connector pins
Often, the problem lies in a damaged contact between the controller and the USB connector.
How to check. To check the flash drive for this problem, test it on another computer. Alternatively, insert another USB flash drive (if available) into the USB port of the same computer.
If other flash drives are readable on a PC without problems, the problem is probably in the current storage medium.
If you are unable to read data from a flash drive only on this computer, the problem may be in the USB sockets of the PC or laptop motherboard.
How to fix.
- Here is a link to a third-party guide on how to repair a usb connector: Repairing a usb connector on a laptop yourself.
- If you don't want to mess around with wires, it's better to send a PC or USB flash drive with a broken usb port in for repair. The approximate cost of replacing usb is $ 20 - 50.
Hardware-mechanical problem: damaged controller
Most often, everything rests on the flash drive controller, which is the main link in the operation of the drive. The controller contains important microcircuits, and disconnecting a contact or burning out a leg will make data recovery on a flash drive very problematic.
How to fix a flash drive.
- Replace the controller yourself (which is unrealistic at home).
- Take the USB drive to the service - however, repairing the flash memory will cost decent money. You will not find a controller for a USB flash drive on sale. In the laboratory, they can find a donor flash drive and “replant” the faulty controller.
- If the data stored on a flash drive is vital and you would like to recover it, the laboratory can use an expensive software and hardware system to extract data bypassing the hardware controller.
The cost of services can be found directly from specialists in a company that repairs flash drives in your city. It can start from $30 and go up to $500-1000.
Flashing a damaged flash drive
The USB flash drive contains firmware - microcode with service data. If the firmware of the usb flash drive is damaged, it will inevitably stop working.
How to fix. Such a flash drive cannot be formatted with the usual universal software like SDFormatter., It will need a complete “trepanation” - flashing. This will require a proprietary utility from the manufacturer.
However, you can only reflash a flash drive by learning the name of the controller. The difficulty lies in the fact that manufacturers, as a rule, use different types and models of controllers and can implement not only their own, but also other people's developments. Therefore, it is not always possible to immediately determine the type of flash controller.
Fortunately, there are special programs that allow you to determine the type of VID & PID * for Transcend, Silicon Power drives, etc .; we will list them with reference to the installers.
(* VID is manufacturer ID, PID is device ID.)
After the warranty repair, all the photos on the smartphone and on the SD card disappeared.
Answer. A very vague question. Was there a warranty repair of what - a mobile device or a memory card? All your claims against the performers are governed by your contract.
As for data recovery on an sd card, use specialized applications, which, in fact, this site is dedicated to.
A 2GB flash card from an old Nokia phone, the phone sees the flash drive perfectly, the tablet and other phones do not see it. Other people's flash cards my equipment sees.
Answer. If other flash cards do not open on your, as you say, old Nokia, then most likely because the phone simply does not support new technologies. Read the documentation and specifications for your device. Maybe it's time to upgrade your hardware?
My 32GB micro flash drive broke in half. How can I recover information on this flash drive, tell me, please, where and who can help me, how to fix the flash drive?
Answer. Alas, this flash drive cannot be repaired or somehow reanimated. If the firmware “flew” on your flash drive, then you could give some chance for recovery. As for physical damage, it all depends on the damage. If the flash memory chips are intact, you can read the data through a PC 3000 Flash reader, etc.
The only possible solution (if the files are not of particular importance) is to purchase a new microsd card.
The flash drive does not open, does not appear as a removable disk, does not appear in the device manager. Physical impact is excluded, because. There are three such flash drives, different people worked with them.
Answer. You didn't specify the type of memory you're working with. In any case, if a flash drive or sd card does not open, I would advise you to check the operation of the flash card on other devices. Test it on other phones or devices to which it can be connected. If it's an sd card, try connecting it to your PC via a card reader.
Check if the attached device is detected in Device Manager. If yes, use any disk partitioning program or regular Windows tools, or proprietary software available on the flash drive developer's website to format the flash drive in NTFS or FAT.
During the formatting of the flash drive (transcend), the flash drive was pulled out from the PC. It was clear that she would no longer work, the check confirmed this. The computer does not detect the flash drive, the indicator blinks all the time, it is not in "my computer", it is in the device manager, it says that it is working fine, it is defined as a storage device. Help to restore the transcend flash drive!
Answer. Probably, the file table on your flash drive has been damaged. You can still restore the operation of a flash drive if you create a partition on it and format it. You can reanimate a flash drive, as already mentioned, using specialized utilities like Acronis Disc Director and so on, but it is best to use the TestDisk application to partition and restore a transcend flash drive.
The flash drive was encrypted in TrueCrypt, I reinstalled the OS, I mount the flash drive, the files are displayed, but when I try to open them, I get an error - access denied. Can you tell me if it is possible to save information if the flash drive is not detected after encryption?
Answer. You will need a client program to work with Truecrypt. Alas, the site truecrypt.org is currently unavailable, and the project itself is closed. So try to find the app somewhere on the internet. After that, when opening files, you will be required to enter a password to access your files.
The flash drive has been reset and the system requires to format the flash drive, but I need to save very important and expensive files. Help!
Answer. In no case do not agree to format your flash drive! Instead, use data recovery software and try to restore the missing partition on your storage device. You can safely copy all the saved information to your hard drive and then search among these blockages for exactly what you need.
There is a flash drive JetFlash Transcend 8GB. Has ceased to be determined by the system. I formatted it with JetFlash Online Recovery and it deleted all data from the flash drive. Is it possible now to recover the Transcend flash drive, that is, the data on it?
Answer. To recover a Transcend flash drive, the Unformat program is suitable. The chances of recovery depend on the depth of formatting. Anyway, use the deep scan option. Alternatively, try Recuva with a similar scanning option.
A flash drive is a storage device that can be connected to any PC via a USB interface. Quite often, this device stops working normally. What should I do? Below will be considered the most effective ways to treat a flash drive and corrections of typical errors when working with the device.
Follow all steps sequentially - if the first method did not help, move on to the next one and so on.
What to do if the flash drive stops working
In the modern IT industry, the KISS-principle is relevant in a narrow circle, meaning "Make it easier!". Without special need, there is no need to edit the registry, apply complex hardware troubleshooting methods, or try to implement other procedures - it is worth starting with the simplest steps.
- Try connecting the flash drive to another PC, laptop or other device for communication via the USB interface. If the flash drive does not work, then with 100 percent probability it can be argued that the problem is in it - and it is necessary to immediately move on to utilities for repairing and fixing a flash drive.
- If the flash drive works on another computer or is at least detected by Windows (but “Explorer” and “This / My Computer” do not appear), then you need to Troubleshoot the OS or file system using the instructions below.
- Disconnect the drive by pulling it out of the USB connector.
- Shut down the PC by selecting the Shut Down option.
- Disconnect the system unit from the 220V power supply, hold down the power button for 5 seconds - this will remove the residual charge on individual motherboard modules.
- Connect your computer to a power outlet.
- Turn it on, wait for the download to complete and insert the USB flash drive.
- Try connecting it to a different connector, especially if external front USBs were previously used for this task. The best option is the ports on the back
- Sometimes the cause of flash drive failures is assigning it system ID in the form of a letter, or the disappearance of this parameter altogether, to fix an OS problem, use the Disk Management utility
Utilities for flash drive recovery
Be sure to check the flash drive through utility"USB Troubleshooter" from Microsoft - it is not bundled with the OS, but is available for download from the official portal at the link free, and only works with OS W7 and above.
Using it is simple - run the program and click "Next". 
After that, the software will try to find and fix typical problems with displaying the flash drive in the system. 
If you hear a characteristic sound when you connect the device, but it does not appear in the "Explorer", then open the "Device Manager"
Often Problem reading USB flash drives appears after updating the operating system - it is provoked by incorrect entries in the registry left after connecting physical storage media.
Looking for them manually is quite long and better use a special program to find and clean non-working keys in the registry.
Best suited for this Vit Registry Fix utility
(free and does general search and cleanup) And utility
USBOblivion
(free and cleans all data about previously connected flash drives from regedit).
Main advantages:
The interface is intuitive and there is Russian localization.
Download the program, start the automatic search, after it ends, start cleaning (after checking the boxes on saving all changed .reg keys in the archive in order to “roll back” the operation if necessary).
Sometimes the flash drive does not work due to driver incompatibility for USB 2 and 3 versions. In this case, you need to download updated versions on the official website of the motherboard manufacturer.
Why does not see the flash drive. If the PC does not accept any flash drives, then you need to completely reinstall all drivers for USB drives.
The easiest way to do this is through the "Device Manager" (hold Win + R and enter devmgmt.msc, click on "OK"). Find the "USB Controllers" section in the drop-down list and sequentially delete (right-click on the object, "Delete" item) the USBHostController, GenericUSBHub and USB Root Hub subsections, then update the current hardware configuration and restart the PC.
As an add - on , run a full scan of the entire system .
- Run the registry (hold Win + R, type regedit and confirm the action by clicking on "OK").
- Right-click on the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key and select Find, then type Explorer in the search field. If the folder contains NoDrives, then you need to select and delete it (using the Delete button). In addition, in the same registry editor, search for the StorageDevicePolicies parameter (under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key) and delete it (if any).
Sometimes all the above methods do not give any tangible result.
If the flash drive is identified in the system (at the level of determining an unknown connected device), then you can try to restore the normal operation of the device, formatting it in a special way using a third party HDD Low Level Format Tool .
In this case, work with the device occurs at the level of physical sectors, and not the file system (as with standard formatting), which guarantees:
- Wipe bad sectors
- Troubleshooting any software issues
- Permanent deletion of all data from the media.
The program is free and available for download from the official website. After installing and running it, select the required drive, click Continue. 
Find the Low-levelFormat tab and accept the operation by clicking on Formatthisdevice. 
The duration of the procedure depends on the type of flash drive and its capacity, on modern PCs the process takes an average of 30-60 minutes. Once completed, you should safely remove the device and restart your computer.
