The computer may not see the USB flash drive for a variety of reasons. In this article we will try to figure out the main ones.
And so .. let's go.
1. Inoperability of the device
First, check the performance of the flash drive itself. If one computer does not see it, try inserting it into another PC - if it works on it, you can go to step 2. By the way, pay attention to the LED (it is on many flash drives). If it is off, this may indicate that the flash drive has burned out and has become unusable.
2. Inoperability of USB ports
Try inserting another device into the USB to which you are connecting the flash drive and see if it works correctly. You can take another USB flash drive, printer, scanner, phone, etc. You can also try to insert a USB flash drive into another connector.
On the system unit, in addition to the front panel, there are USB connectors on the rear wall. Try connecting your device to them.
3. Viruses / Antiviruses
Viruses can often cause the invisibility of a flash drive. they can also block access to a flash drive if a potential danger to the computer is found on it. With a certain degree of risk, you can try to disable the antivirus and insert a USB flash drive.
In principle, if you have disabled auto-start (this option is disabled in) and you will not start anything from a USB flash drive, then no viruses on such a medium should infect the PC. If, after disabling the antiviruses, the flash drive began to appear, copy the files you need from it and carefully check them with an antivirus program before opening.
4. Bios settings
It often happens that USB ports can be disabled in bios settings. They do this for various reasons, but if the computer does not see the USB flash drive, then it is highly desirable to look into the bios. By the way, in this case, not only the flash drive, but also other media and devices will not be read and recognized!
When turning on the computer, press the F2 or Del button (depending on the PC model) until you see a blue table with the settings (This is Bios). Next, you need to find the USB settings here (often it will just say Configuration USB). Since there are a great many options for the bios menu, it is unlikely that it will be possible to unambiguously indicate the path. In principle, although everything here is in English, everything is intuitively clear.
In my case, first I had to go to the tab Advanced... Next choose USB Configuration .
After changing the settings, be sure to save them before restarting your computer. You can exit bios in two ways: with saving settings and without saving. In the menu on the right or below, there will be buttons for exit, select the one with the inscription Save and Exit .
5. Assigning a letter to an already recognized device
Very often, a USB flash drive inserted into the USB connector is assigned the letter of an existing drive in Windows. To fix this error, go to control Panel and open the tab administration .
Now in the left column you need to select the option disk management ... Further, in the central part, you will see all disks and media connected to the system. The flash drive will be marked as removable drive... Right-click on it and click on the function drive letter replacement ... Change to the letter that you did not have in the system before (go to My computer - and you will immediately find out which letters are already taken).
6. Outdated drivers
A common reason for the invisibility of a flash drive is the lack of the required driver in the system. If you have an old computer, it is impossible to read flash drives larger than 32GB on such computers. Although why use a flash drive of this size is still unclear (their reliability is still far from perfect).
Basically, this problem applies to older operating systems. For example, Windows 95/98 / ME simply do not see the NTFS file system, therefore, the medium on which this file system will be cannot be read in such an OS. To fix this, you will need to download special programs or drivers that allow you to see such a USB flash drive.
8. Dirty USB input
It also happens, but rarely. Due to the fact that a flash drive is often worn in pockets, like a key fob, etc., dust and plaque accumulate in its entrance. If it is not cleared, over time on some models of flash drives, this can cause their poor readability: the flash drive will not be detected the first time, often freezes when working with it, etc.
The first thing you need to pay attention to if the computer does not see the USB flash drive is the serviceability of the USB flash drive itself, as well as the serviceability of the USB connector. If everything is in order, then a special light indicator should be blinking at the flash drive / port (depending on the drive model and input).
Malnutrition
Very often, a USB flash drive is not recognized by a computer if it is connected to a port located on the front of the computer (we are talking about stationary computers, in the case of which there is a place for flash drives in the front). Sometimes these connectors just don't connect to power, or they just don't get the right amount of power. Then it is best to remove the USB flash drive and try to plug it in from the back.
It also happens that the flash drive does not work if there is not enough general power supply. This happens when there is a USB overload in the computer. There is also an option that the power supply is not working properly. In extremely rare cases, the computer does not read the USB flash drive due to the fact that it has a very large volume. But this is more the exception than the rule.
Non-working USB flash drive
If everything is fine with the computer, you need to pay attention not to the USB flash drive. In order to check its serviceability, you just need to connect it to another computer. If it does not work there, then this indicates its malfunction. In such cases, it can be attributed to diagnostics and repair, but this is done only in rare cases, when the data on it is important to the user. The fact is that repairs and diagnostics will cost much more than the cost of a drive.
BIOS settings
Sometimes the problem is hidden in the settings of the operating system and BIOS. This happens in situations where there is no USB support in the BIOS or it is not enabled.
The system assigned an occupied letter to the USB flash drive
A very common problem is that a USB flash drive has been assigned the same letter that, for example, a floppy drive or a local disk already has. To eliminate such a problem, you must:
- Go to the Control Panel;
- Open Administration, and then - computer management;
- After that, you need to go to disk management;
- After that, you need to click on the identifier of the flash drive with the right mouse button and click on "Change drive letter";
- Then everything is simple - you need to select an unoccupied button, click OK and exit the control panel.
Driver problems
The computer does not see the flash drive due to the lack of a USB driver. In order to check this, you need to follow several steps:
- Open the "Control Panel", and there - Device Manager;
- Next, you need to find a USB flash drive, but this is not difficult to do. If the computer does not have a driver for a USB flash drive, it will be highlighted with a question mark;
- If there are any, you must remove the device and then reinstall it.
Sometimes the OS does not see the flash drive due to the lack of necessary drivers. DPS or Everest will help you find the missing ones.
Viruses
In some cases, viruses hidden in the OS can affect the correct operation of the USB flash drive. Then it is strongly recommended to scan your computer using specialized anti-virus software.
Active PC users often have the problem that the computer does not see the USB flash drive connected to the computer port. The situation is rather unpleasant ... You wanted to copy data from the flash drive to your computer, you connected the drive and nothing happens. How to be? What to do about it?
Reasons why the computer does not see the USB flash drive
Lack of food
The computer may not see the USB flash drive if it is connected to the USB port on the front of the system unit. There may be two reasons for this:
Try plugging your flash device into the USB port on the back of your computer.
If, after what has been done, the computer does not see the USB flash drive, try connecting it to another computer, and preferably not to one, but to several. If it doesn't help, read below.
Driver crash
The second very common problem is that the computer does not see the USB flash drive due to a driver failure in Windows. In such a situation, you can try the following:
Click on the "My Computer" icon (1) with the right mouse button, select "Properties" in the context menu (2):
In the window that appears, select the "Hardware" tab (3) => "Device Manager" (4):
Next to the item "USB Controllers" click on the black plus sign (5). You will see a list of usb device drivers (6) that were connected to your computer:
Insert the USB flash drive into the computer and see which driver has changed, it must be removed (right-click on it and select "Remove").
Remove the USB flash drive from the computer and insert it back. The flash device driver is updated.
If the above method did not help you, try reinstalling the chipset drivers. They include drivers for all controllers. The DriverPackSolution program will help you to do this.
The presence of a virus on a USB flash drive
The third fairly common problem is that the computer does not see the USB flash drive due to the infection of the device with one of the Autorunner viruses. When you try to open a flash device, a warning is issued: "Access is denied." To log into a flash device, you need to do the following:
Go to "My Computer", in the address bar (7) enter the address of your flash drive, for example G: /
If you managed to get to the USB flash drive, then make the hidden files visible. To do this, click the "Service" item in the title bar (8), in the drop-down menu select "Folder options" (9):
Click the "View" tab (10), scroll the slider (11) down and in the settings uncheck the box next to the sub-item "Hide protected system files and folders" (12). Check the "Show hidden files and folders" circle below (13):
Paul - the job is done, now it remains to find and delete the malicious autorun.inf (14) file:
Made? Now scan the USB flash drive for viruses with your antivirus (note - the antivirus databases must be updated).
Partition issues
The computer also does not see the USB flash drive due to problems with the device partitions. Let's say you insert your flash device into your computer. It was successfully recognized, a characteristic sound sounded and a shortcut was displayed in the taskbar (15). But the system did not assign a partition letter to your device. It's easy to fix:
Go to the "Start" menu (16) => "Control Panel" (17):
In the window that opens, look so that in your sidebar it says "Switch to category view" (18). If instead it says "Switch to classic view", then click click on this inscription and you will be what you need. Click on the "Administration" icon (19):
In the window that opens, select "Computer Management" (20):
In the window that appears, select "Disk Management" (21). There you will see all information media present in the system: flash drives, hard disks, disk drives and their partitions marked with letters. If you find your flash device there (you will see that the letter of the section (22) is not next to the name of the flash drive):
This needs to be fixed: Right-click on your storage device. From the context menu select "Change drive letter or drive path" (23):
A small window will pop up, in which click the "Change" button (24):
In the new window, select the letter of the section from the drop-down list (25):
Mechanical problems
Well, the very last case is perhaps the saddest. If all the above operations did not save your flash drive, then most likely your flash drive has mechanical damage.
Hello.
Today, one of the most popular types of media is a USB flash drive. And whoever says what, the age of CD / DVD discs is coming to an end. Moreover, the price of one flash drive is only 3-4 times more than the price of a DVD disc! True, there is one small "but" - it is much more difficult to "break" a disk than a USB flash drive ...
Although not often, one unpleasant situation sometimes occurs with flash drives: you take out the microSD flash card from your phone or photo device, insert it into a computer or laptop, but he does not see it. There can be quite a few reasons for this: viruses, software errors, failure of a flash drive, etc. In this article, I would like to stop on the most popular reasons for invisibility, as well as provide some advice and recommendations on what to do in such cases.
Types of flash cards. Is SD card supported by your card reader?
Here I would like to dwell in more detail. Many users often confuse some types of memory cards with others. The fact is that there are three types of SD flash cards: microSD, miniSD, SD.
Why did the manufacturers do this?
There are simply different devices: for example, a small audio player (or a small mobile phone) and, for example, a camera or photo camera. Those. devices are completely different in size with different requirements for the speed of flash cards and the amount of information. For this, there are several types of flash drives. Now in more detail about each of them.
1.microSD
Size: 11mm x 15mm.
Flash microSD cards are very popular for portable devices: players, phones, tablets. Using microSD, the memory of the listed devices can be increased by an order of magnitude very quickly!
Usually, upon purchase, a small adapter is included with them, so that this flash drive can be connected instead of an SD card (about them below). By the way, for example, to connect this USB flash drive to a laptop, you need to: insert the micsroSD into the adapter, and then insert the adapter into the SD slot on the front / side panel of the laptop.
2.miniSD
Size: 21.5mm x 20mm.
Once popular cards used in portable technology. Today, they are used less and less, mainly due to the popularity of the microSD format.
3. SD
Size: 32mm x 24mm.
Flash cards: sdhc and sdxc.
These cards are used mostly in devices that require a large amount of memory + high speed. For example, a video camera, a video recorder in a car, a camera, and other devices. SD cards are classified into several generations:
- SD 1 - from 8 MB to 2 GB in size;
- SD 1.1 - up to 4 GB;
- SDHC - up to 32 GB;
- SDXC - up to 2 TB.
Very important points when working with SD cards!
1) In addition to the amount of memory, the speed (more precisely, the class) is indicated on SD cards. For example, in the screenshots above, the card class is "10" - this means that the exchange rate with such a card is at least 10 MB / s (for more details about the classes: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital). It is important to pay attention to what class of flash card speed is required for your device!
2) microSD using special. adapters (they usually write adapter (see screenshots above)) can be used instead of ordinary SD cards. True, it is not recommended to do this always and everywhere (just because of the speed of information exchange).
3) SD card readers are backward compatible: i.e. if you take an SDHC reader, it will read 1 and 1.1 generation SD cards, but will not be able to read SDXC. That is why it is important to pay attention to what cards your device can read.
By the way, many "relatively old" laptops have built-in card readers that are not able to read new types of SDHC flash cards. The solution in this case is quite simple: buy a card reader connected to a regular USB port, by the way, it looks more like a regular USB flash drive. Issue price: several hundred rubles.
SDXC card reader. Connects to a USB 3.0 port.
The same drive letter is the reason for the invisibility of flash drives, hard drives, memory cards!
The fact is that if your hard drive has a drive letter F: (for example) and your inserted flash card also has F: - then the flash card will not be displayed in the explorer. Those. you will go to "my computer" - and you will not see the flash drive there!
To fix this, you need to go to the "Disk Management" panel. How to do it?
In Windows 8: press the combination Win + X, select "disk management".
In Windows 7/8: press the combination Win + R, enter the command "diskmgmt.msc".
Next, you should see a window that will show all connected disks, flash drives, and other devices. Moreover, even those devices that are not formatted and that are not visible in "my computer" will be shown. If your memory card is on this list, then you need to do two things:
1. Change the drive letter to a unique one (for this, just right-click on the flash drive and select the operation of changing the letter in the context menu, see screenshot below);
2. Format the flash card (if you have a new one or do not have the necessary data on it. Attention, the formatting operation will destroy all data on the flash card).
Change drive letter. Windows 8.
Lack of drivers is a popular reason why the computer does not see the SD card!
Even if your computer / laptop is completely new and only yesterday you brought it from the store, this does not guarantee anything at all. The fact is that the sellers in the store (or their specialists who prepare the goods for sale) could simply forget to install the necessary drivers, or simply be lazy. Most likely you were given disks (or copied to your hard drive) all the drivers and you only need to install them.
In general, there are special programs that can scan your computer (or rather all of its devices) and find the latest drivers for each device. I already wrote about such utilities in previous posts. I will only give 2 links here:
- Driver update software:;
- Search and update drivers:
Connecting an SD card via USB using a device
If the computer does not see the SD card itself, then why can't you try to insert the SD card into some device (for example, a phone, camera, camera, etc.) and already connect it to the PC? To be honest, I rarely remove a flash card from devices, preferring to copy photos and videos from them, connecting them to a laptop via a USB cable.
Do you need special programs to connect your phone to a PC?
New OS, such as Windows 7, 8, are able to work with many devices without installing additional software. Installation of drivers and configuration of the device occurs automatically when the device is first connected to the USB port.
For each brand of phone / camera there are utilities recommended by the manufacturer (see the manufacturer's website) ...
1. Try to connect the card to another computer and check if it recognizes and sees it;
2. Check your computer for viruses (). Rarely, but some types of viruses come across that block access to disks (including flash drives).
That's all for today, good luck everyone!
At one fine moment, when the user inserts his storage device into the USB port, the computer may not react in any way. Until that moment, everything was fine: the system calmly determined the information carrier and could work with it. But now everything is different and the computer flatly refuses to even show that a USB flash drive has been inserted into it. In such a situation, you should not panic, because everything can be fixed, the main thing is to know how to do it correctly so as not to completely ruin the drive.
In most cases, a banal reconnection helps. If you removed and reinserted your storage medium, but the problem persists, then our guide will help you.
It is very important to adhere to the order in which all actions will be described below. If you decide to use any method separately, this is unlikely to solve the problem. In the course of describing the methods, we will be able to check all possible reasons why the flash drive is not detected by the operating system.
Method 1: check the device itself and the computer
First you need to do the following:
- Determine if the media itself is working. To do this, plug it into a USB port and see if the indicator light on it comes on. In some cases, a special sound is also used. In any case, there should be some kind of reaction on the flash drive.
- Connect the drive to a different USB port. It is advisable to use the one that works exactly (this can be, for example, the connector that you use to connect a mouse or printer).
- Take a close look at your USB stick. Perhaps there is some kind of debris or dust on it that prevents it from being detected by the computer.
Device problem
If your drive is detected (something glows or there is a characteristic sound), but nothing happens further, then the problem is in the ports or in the computer itself. But if the drive itself has no reaction to the connection, then the problem is in it.
To verify this, be sure to try connecting it to a different connector. First clean the dust thoroughly. To do this, use brushes and cotton wool with alcohol. Let the device dry and use it again.
The problem persists? Then the obstacle may be in the device itself, or rather, in its contacts. In this case, it can be taken for repair, but the restoration procedure is likely to be very expensive. It is often better to buy a new USB stick than to pay to repair an old one. 
Ports problem
If the drive has some kind of reaction to the connection, but the computer itself does not react in any way, the problem is in the USB ports. To verify this, do the following:
- Try connecting it to another computer (very convenient if you have a PC and laptop).
- Use the disk management tool on your computer. To do this, simultaneously press the buttons on the keyboard. "Win" and "R" to launch a Runtime Window. Enter the command "Diskmgmt.msc"... Click on "Enter"... When the tool we need starts, try removing and reinserting your USB flash drive. If there is no response in disk management, then the problem is definitely in the ports. But if there is a reaction, everything is much simpler. Then use method 2-7 of this manual to solve the problem.
So, if you can determine that the problem is in the ports, do this:
It is likely that after these steps, the flash drive will begin to appear on the computer, at least in the disk management tool. If this manual does not help and the media is still not readable, contact a specialist and have the computer repaired. It is quite possible that the problem is a complete malfunction of the ports and it would be better to simply replace them. It is worse if there is some kind of malfunction in the motherboard. But all this can be verified only with a more detailed analysis using special tools.
Method 2: use the Windows USB troubleshooter
So, everything is fine with the USB ports, the flash drive has some kind of reaction when it is connected to the computer, and it appears in the disk management tool as an unknown device. But then nothing happens and the files, accordingly, cannot be viewed. In this case, use the standard Windows troubleshooter. The system will probably be able to independently determine what the problem is and how to solve it.
To do this, follow these steps:
Unfortunately, this program does not always allow you to correct errors. Therefore, if all else fails, try the following methods manually.
Method 3: update your drivers
There are two methods for performing this action: through the Windows Device Manager and through additional software. To use the first one, do the following:
Method 4: Check the USB flash drive and computer for viruses
This method is relevant for those cases when the drive is detected by the computer, but still does not open. An error appears instead. It, for example, can be written "Access denied" or something like that. Also, the media can be opened, but there will be no files on it. If this is not the case in your case, just check your computer for viruses and if nothing is found, skip this method and move on to the next.
Use your antivirus to make sure your computer is free of viruses. If you have a weak anti-virus program, use one of the special utilities to remove viruses. One of the best is. In the event that no virus is detected, do this:
Method 5: Change the name of the removable media on the system
It is possible that there is a conflict because of the names of several disks in the system. In simpler terms, it means that the system already has a drive with a name, under which your USB-drive should be identified. However, it will still be detected in the disk management program. How to run it, we have considered Above, in the first method. So open Disk Management and follow these steps:
Method 6: Format the storage medium
In some cases, when you try to open the drive, a warning appears stating that the drive needs to be formatted before use. Then it will be most efficient to do it. Just press the button "Format Disk" to start the process of erasing all data. 
Even if the above warning does not appear, it is still better to format the USB stick.
To check the file system, in "Computer", on the hard disk, right-click.
In the window that opens, go to the tab "Are common" and pay attention to the inscription "File system"... It is very important that the USB stick is formatted on the same system. 
If the drive still does not display anything, all you have to do is use one of the recovery tools.
Method 7: Recover your drive
You can accomplish this task using a standard Windows tool. To do this, do the following:
In addition, there are specialized programs for recovering removable media brands such as, and. For devices from other manufacturers, please refer to method 5 in the Kingston recovery instructions. It describes how to use the flashboot iFlash service. It allows you to find special programs for flash drives of various companies.
