Do-it-yourself usb flash drive repair: we fix hardware and software problems. Ways to recover a Kingston flash drive: from simple to complex Does not see a flash drive Kingston micro 16 GB

Many users neglect the safe removal of flash drives, as a result of which the drives stop working correctly: they are not recognized by the system, they require formatting, they do not read / write data, they show the wrong volume (for example, 14 Gb instead of 16 Gb). If you are faced with a similar problem, then the question of how to restore a flash drive will surely become relevant for you.

Can a flash drive be restored?

It may seem to someone that restoring a flash drive is a pointless exercise. Transcend drives, Kingston, A-Data, and others have flooded the market by making flash memory cheap. Memory cards and flash drives from 8 Gb to 32 Gb are not so expensive that you can’t safely throw them away and buy new media. However, old flash drives and Micro SD memory cards are usually not thrown away at all: they lie on the table and are waiting to be restored.

Recovery is possible if the flash drive or memory card has not “died” completely (usually death occurs when the controller burns out).

But if the drive is simply not detected or shows the wrong volume, then the reason for this behavior is most often a controller firmware failure. How to recover a flash drive after such a failure, we will analyze in detail below.

Saving information and searching for the right software

If the flash drive or SD card is stored important information, then before flashing and restoring the controller (and with it the health of the drive), you need to extract the data. This can be done using the Photorec utility, which can work with media that do not have a file system detected.

After extracting the necessary information from the SD card or flash drive, you can start searching for a utility for flashing the controller. But in order to flash the controller, you first need to determine its model. To do this, we use the CheckUDisk utility (distributed for free) and the flashboot.ru website:

After completing the verification and receiving necessary information(VID PID of the drive) you need to download the utility to restore the performance of a flash drive or SD drive. Go to the flashboot.ru website and open the "iFlash" tab. Here you need to enter the VID PID values ​​and find the correct manufacturer of the memory card or flash drive (HP, Generic Flash Disk, Protex, Oltramax, Smartbuy, etc.).

If your model of flash drive or SD memory card is in the database online service but no, it's okay: the main thing is that the VID PID and the manufacturer match. If the required data matched, then you need to get information about the exact controller model for flashing and restoring it, as well as the name of the appropriate utility.

The table has columns "Controller" and "Utility". You need to pay attention to the volume - the controllers of flash drives and SD cards for 16 Gb and 32 Gb may differ. You need to copy the full name of the utility and download it through the "Files" section on the flashboot.ru website or from another source. Often, along with the recovery program, instructions for its use are downloaded, which it is advisable to carefully read.

Controller Firmware

Let's say you have a 16 Gb Protec flash drive. You find it by VID PID through the iFlash online service and download the controller firmware utility for free. What to do next? Carry out measures to restore the flash drive (SD memory card).

Universal instructions for restoring all flash drives:

If the firmware is successful, then you should see the positive status of the flash drive - “OK” or “Good”. If problems occur during the operation, an error code will appear: its decryption can be found in the utility help found by VID PID, or on other online services.

Recovery of any flash drives (SD cards) is carried out approximately according to the same scheme, however, the instructions may differ slightly for different utilities: you need to find the program for flashing the controller by VID PID and run usb recovery drive.

To recover a flash drive, you must additionally format it. You can execute it standard means Windows or using special programs. It is recommended to run a full format rather than a quick format. It will take a little longer (especially if the drive is larger than 16 Gb), but you will be sure that the flash drive is now completely clean and functional.

A variety of problems with USB drives or flash drives is something that, probably, every owner of them faces. The computer does not see the flash drive, files are not deleted or written, Windows writes that the disk is write-protected, the amount of memory is displayed incorrectly - this is not a complete list of such problems. Perhaps, if the computer simply does not detect the drive, this guide will also help you: (3 ways to solve the problem). If the flash drive is detected and working, but you need to recover files from it, I recommend that you first read the material.

If different ways to fix USB errors drive by manipulating drivers, actions in Windows Disk Management, or using command line(diskpart, format, etc.) did not lead to a positive result, you can try utilities and programs for repairing flash drives provided by both manufacturers, for example, Kingston, Silicon power and Transcend, as well as third-party developers.

On the official website of Silicon Power in the "Support" section, a program for repairing flash drives from this manufacturer is presented - USB Flash Drive Recovery. You will need to enter an address to download. Email(not tested), then the UFD_Recover_Tool ZIP archive is loaded, which contains the SP Recovery Utility (requires the .NET Framework 3.5 components to work, will be loaded automatically if necessary).

Similar to the previous program, SP Flash Drive Recovery requires an Internet connection to work and recovery takes place in several stages - determining the parameters of the USB drive, downloading and unpacking the appropriate utility for it, then - automatic execution necessary actions.

Download Silicon Power SP Flash Drive Repair Software Recovery Software can be free from the official website http://www.silicon-power.com/web/download-USBrecovery

If you are the drive owner Kingston DataTraveler HyperX 3.0, then on the Kingston official website you can find a utility for repairing this line of flash drives, which will help you format the drive and bring it to the state it had when you bought it.

You can download Kingston Format Utility for free from https://www.kingston.com/ru/support/technical/downloads/111247

ADATA USB Flash Drive Online Recovery

The manufacturer Adata also has its own utility that will help you fix flash drive errors if you cannot read the contents of the flash drive, Windows reports that the disk is not formatted, or you see other errors associated with the drive. To download the program, you will need to enter serial number flash drives (so that exactly what is required is loaded) as in the screenshot below.

After downloading - run the downloaded utility and run a few simple steps to restore work USB devices a.

Official page where you can download ADATA USB Flash Drive Online Recovery and read about using the program - http://www.adata.com/ru/ss/usbdiy/

Apacer Repair Utility, Apacer Flash Drive Repair Tool

Several programs are available for Apacer flash drives at once - different versions Apacer Repair Utility (which, however, cannot be found on the official website), as well as Apacer Flash Drive Repair Tool available for download at official pages some of the Apacer flash drives (search the official website for your specific USB drive model and check out the downloads section at the bottom of the page).

Apparently, the program performs one of two actions - simple formatting of the drive (Format item) or low-level formatting (Restore item).

Formatter Silicon Power

Formatter Silicon Power is a free low-level formatting utility for flash drives, which, according to reviews (including in the comments to the current article), works for many other drives (but use it at your own peril and risk), allowing you to restore their performance when no other methods do not help.

The utility is no longer available on the official SP website, so you will have to use Google to download it (I do not give links to unofficial locations within this site) and do not forget to check the downloaded file, for example, on VirusTotal before running it.

SD Memory Card Formatter for repairing and formatting SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards (including Micro SD)

The Association of SD Memory Card Companies offers its own universal utility to format the respective memory cards in case of problems with them. At the same time, judging by available information, it is compatible with almost all such drives.

The program itself is available in versions for Windows (there is support for Windows 10) and MacOS and is quite easy to use (but you will need a card reader).

You can download SD Memory Card Formatter from the official website https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/

D-Soft Flash Doctor

The free program D-Soft Flash Doctor is not tied to any particular manufacturer and, judging by the reviews, can help fix problems with a flash drive through low-level formatting.

In addition, the program allows you to create an image of a flash drive for subsequent work no longer on a physical drive (to avoid further malfunctions) - this can be useful if you need to get data from a Flash drive. Unfortunately, the official website of the utility could not be found, but it is available on many resources with free programs.

How to find a program to repair a flash drive

Actually this kind free utilities there are much more to repair flash drives than listed here: I tried to take into account only relatively “universal” tools for USB drives different manufacturers.

It is possible that none of the above utilities are suitable for restoring the health of your USB drive. In this case, you can use the following steps to find the right program.

Additionally: if all the described ways to repair a USB drive did not help, try.

Hello!

Flash drive on this moment, this is one of the most popular types of storage media (except for the ability to share files over a network).

In fact, a USB flash drive has a lot of advantages: mobile (you can put it in any pocket), universal (connects to any PC, laptop, gadget), it is quite fast copying / reading information from it, etc.

But it happens to them one small " problem"- sometimes the computer refuses to recognize and see it. There are quite a few reasons for the invisibility of a flash drive, in the same article I want to give the most basic ones that I most often encounter in my work.

Also from the article you will learn what can be done to restore the working capacity of your device (do not always immediately throw it away and run to buy a new one?! 👣).

To help!

If you want to buy flash drives at bargain prices, I recommend using Chinese online stores:

Reasons for the invisibility of a flash drive

Top 10 Causes and Solutions...

Problem number 1: the flash drive is not formatted

This reason is the most common! The fact is that after buying a flash drive - it needs to be formatted (very often new flash drives and disks are not formatted at all and therefore they are not visible in "My Computer/This Computer"...).

Solution

It is most likely pointless to go into "My Computer"; in some cases, you will not see a flash drive there.

So you need to open "Disk Management" . To do this, press the button combination Win+R (The Run window should appear.) , enter the command diskmgmt.msc and press Enter (screen below).

Remarque! If your flash drive is not visible in Disk Management, go to the 3rd problem.

Find your flash drive in the list (refer to its size and name, for example, "Kingston...8 GB") , then click on it right mouse button and in the appeared context menu choose - " Format... " (example in the screenshot below) .

Actually, that's all. By the way, I recommend choosing NTFS as the file system (because on FAT 32, which is often the default on flash drives, it is impossible to copy and place files larger than 4 GB).

Problem #2: Incorrect auto-set drive/flash drive letter

When you connect any disk drive, flash drive, floppy disk, etc. to your computer - it automatically assigns a unique letter to your drive, for example, "System disk C:\" or " local disk F:\", etc.

Everything would be fine, but sometimes the auto-installation of the letter fails, and assigns a non-unique letter to your connected drive. As a result, the drive is not visible ...

To solve this, you just need to try to change the letter (this is done quickly and very often solves the lion's share of problems).

Solution

You also need to go to "Disk Management" (how it's done - described above), then select your "invisible" drive, click on it right mouse button and select the function Change Drive Letter or Drive Path ".

To help!

By the way, in some cases, Windows may not assign a drive letter to all connected drives at all. To fix this, use the following tips:

Problem #3: Outdated or broken drivers

A very, very common problem is outdated drivers (also sometimes drivers can crash and conflict with each other). It is worth noting that on older computers, another problem is possible - the inability to see a flash drive, the size of which is more than 32 GB.

This is solved as follows: first remove the old drivers, then install the new ones.

Solution

First of all, open the device manager, it is in it that you can see all the devices connected to the computer. To do this, open , then translate the view into " Large icons" and in the list select " Device Manager (example in the screenshot below).

To help! Alternative ways to open Device Manager -

Note!

Devices that do not have drivers will display a yellow exclamation mark . In general, it is undesirable that you have such devices marked with exclamation marks (or red crosses).

After uninstalling, click the "" button - it is located at the top of the Device Manager window. After that, the dispatcher window will blink a couple of times, and the drivers will be reinstalled ...

Problem number 4: the front panel of the system unit is not connected

Very often, the USB ports on the front panel of the system unit are not connected to motherboard(apparently, they forget to connect this socket when assembling a PC). In this case, you simply insert the USB flash drive into a port to nowhere...

Solution

1. Quite simple: connect a flash drive to the back of the system unit - it always has 2÷4 USB ports. At the very least, it is recommended to do this just for testing - to confirm that the USB ports on the front panel are not working.
2. Try connecting the front panel to the mat. board. If you have never had such experience before, I do not recommend climbing into the system unit, it is better to use the services of service centers.

Problem number 5: viruses on a PC or flash drive

The settings for enabling USB ports are usually located on the "Advanced" tab. On against paragraph USB Controller need to convert the value to Enabled(i.e. included, see the screen below). Then save the settings and exit (usually the F10 key).

You can also just drop BIOS settings to the optimal ones (they always have USB ports enabled. At least I have not seen the opposite yet ...).

Problem #8: File System Error

In cases of file system failure - when you connect a flash drive, you will most likely see a message stating that the flash drive is not formatted, that it has a RAW file system and Windows will offer you something to do with it 😊.

In some cases, the formatting of the flash drive cannot be completed due to some errors...

In general, the problem with the file system is quite "big", and its solution is not always simple and fast (especially if there is the necessary data on the flash drive).

Solution

If you need data on a flash drive I don't recommend formatting it. In general, I advise you not to do anything with it, but to give it to a service center. If you want to do everything on your own, then first try to remove your data from it using recovery utilities: Recuva, R.Saver, Easy Recovery Professional, etc.

To help!

How to recover photos from microSD cards memory or USB flash drive

If the data on the flash drive is not needed (or you have already copied it): I recommend trying to format the flash drive using one special. utilities - HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool.

HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool

A simple utility for low-level formatting of disks and flash drives. In some cases, it helps to bring back "to life" drives, for which there was practically no hope left. By the way, it even formats those disks - which Windows does not see or gives reading / formatting errors.

The utility works quite simply: after launch, it will present you with a list of all drives connected to the system, you select the one you need and format it. After formatting - the disk (or flash drive) starts working as it should!

Formatting a flash drive

To help!

How to format a flash drive (FAT32, exFAT, NTFS) -

Problem #9: USB port failure

It also happens that the USB port becomes unusable. Most often this comes from frequent and inaccurate use of it: for example, many people sharply pull on a USB flash drive (or USB cable), over time, the USB port begins to fit poorly to the inserted USB flash drive (i.e., there is no contact between the flash drive and the port). As a result, the flash drive is invisible.

Note. By the way, the USB port may not work stably: i.e. you will first see the flash drive, and after you start copying information to it (or reading it) - you may see an error, or the connection will simply be lost ...

Solution

1. Try connecting the flash drive to another USB port, or to another computer / laptop. If the problem is with the USB port, you will immediately notice the difference...
2. I also recommend paying attention to the dirt in the USB port. Often, over time, a layer of dust, plaque, etc. accumulates, which leads to poor contact. If there is a lot of dirt, try to remove it with an old toothbrush dipped in alcohol. (perform the operation with the PC turned off!) , and then reinsert the flash drive.

Problem #10: USB flash drive malfunction (for example, after being dropped)

This is perhaps the worst thing that could happen to the drive, especially if it contains important data. The fact that the flash drive could become unusable, most often, the user guesses, because. before that:

• the drive fell to the floor;
• was dropped into the water;
• accidentally hit or hit by any object;
• The drive shows deep scratches, chips, or cracks.

In general, when you insert a USB flash drive into a USB port, an LED should light up on it (most flash drives have one). On the PC, the characteristic sound of connecting the device should "ring out". If all this is not there, especially when connecting a flash drive to different devices- then this is a bad sign, most likely there is a problem with the flash drive itself.

Solution

1. Buy a new flash drive (banal and simple 😉, especially since the prices for them are now quite democratic (and they generally cost "penny"));
2. Try to take it to a service center, perhaps the master will be able to re-solder the contacts, and it will work again (but I would recommend this method, only for). After repairing the drive: using it for important data is not justified!

Over the past few years, flash media have become very popular and are used by us, literally, daily, due to its advantages over disk media. It is hardly possible to overestimate its usefulness of a flash drive, because you can quickly write information to it or count it, it does not take up much space in a briefcase or bag, and the price segment is pleasantly pleasing.

Despite all positive points, sometimes there are situations when it is impossible to read the data due to the flash drive or computer itself. 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 solutions to why the computer does not see the USB flash drive.

The most common problems why the computer does not see the flash drive:

Flash drive not working

This is the worst scenario for a person whose documents are stored on a flash drive, because it is almost impossible to bring it back to life. You can disable a flash drive with mechanical action on the device chip or its controller, by shorting electrical circuit, damage to contacts on USB board. This is what a flash drive looks like after an electrical circuit is closed or moisture gets inside the drive.

Determining if this happened to your drive is easy enough. The very first thing to do is to check the flash drive for mechanical damage, chipped cracks, etc. If it is completely broken, you can look for a replacement in a computer peripherals store. If you doubt its inoperability, you can check it with a practical method.

Plug the flash drive into the USB connector of the computer, if the LED on it lights up and you hear a sound on the computer 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 suitable for use.

You can try to take the flash drive to service center, where the master will try to solder the contacts or replace the controller, but it will be very expensive, and this action will be justified only if you have important documents stored 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 not powered.

This issue is very common among desktop users. Most computer owners are accustomed to plugging a flash drive into the front USB ports because it's fast and convenient.

But there is a situation when, for some reason, during the assembly of a PC, 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 full serviceability.

This problem can be solved in two ways. If you urgently need to use information on removable media, you can plug it into the back of your computer. The front connectors will still remain inoperative, but you will get access to documents. It is impossible to call such manipulations a full-fledged solution, so we will consider the second option.

Method number 2 involves connecting the power cable on the motherboard to the front panel of the computer. Depending on the model of the computer case, the connectors for connection may differ. 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 wire types are "VCC", "D-", "D+" and "GND". Moreover, the color marking of the cable and the connector on the motherboard match, but it's better to keep a guide on 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. Locate the cable that leads to the front panel and find the same connector on the motherboard. In the image below you can see what the connector should look like.

It is not recommended to connect on your own, 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’s 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 disabled USB port on the computer

Sometimes the problem of unreadable information on removable media is not related to the problem of the flash drive itself, but to the connector into which it is connected. Definite USB port may be inoperative, and such a condition can be caused by a banal damage to the connector contacts. Then not only the flash drive, but also other USB devices will not work in this port.

Decide this problem You can, armed with a conventional soldering iron and minimal knowledge of circuitry. If there is no such knowledge, skill and equipment, then this can be fixed at the nearest service center for a low fee.

However, if no response to USB connection device is not 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 brand and BIOS version, it may be different. On the first image that pops up when loading, it is indicated.

Once you have entered the BIOS itself, we need to follow 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 your settings and exit the BIOS.

USB port dirty

The flash drive is mobile device storage of information and therefore is often worn in pockets, briefcases or as a keychain. Due to such operating conditions, dust may accumulate in the connector, small trash. This does not happen often, but it can cause the flash drive to fail. Dust and small debris collects on the contact and prevents connection 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 transfer or read information and be determined not the first time.

To clean the USB connector of a flash drive, arm yourself with a match and a cotton swab. Wielding a match, remove all debris from the connector, and then moisten a cotton swab with alcohol and wipe the contacts of the flash drive. So you save it from debris and oxidation.

Virus infection

Nowadays, the issue of storage device security is becoming more and more urgent, because viruses are in full swing. You can visit your site social network on the Internet and get infected, not to mention downloading files from unverified sources.

Modern computer viruses can also reproduce, no matter how strange it may sound. They infect files on your flash drive or computer hard drive, and their number grows exponentially.

Very often, the problem of the inoperability of a flash drive is virus infection. The drive is detected by the system, you can hear the characteristic sound of the device connecting to the system, but when you try to read the information, you will see the message "" or " Application not found».

Before solving this problem, it is worth installing anti-virus software on your computer and conducting complete diagnostics files. To access the data on the drive, we need to delete the virus file and scan it. To do this, go to the Start menu and enter the following phrase "" in the search box.

Click on the found element with the left mouse button. Before you will be open window with the name " Folder Options", here you need to do the following:

• Uncheck the " Hide protected system files»
• Check the box ""

After that, be sure to press the key " Apply"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 free antiviruses, the Dr.WEB Cure It utility can handle this perfectly.

Now you can fully use the flash drive and no problems should arise. If nothing has changed, then the problem is the lack of drivers, we will analyze it below.

Crashing drivers or using outdated drivers

A very common problem is when a computer does not want to display a USB flash drive due to outdated drivers or their system failure. The failure may be due to a power surge or an unexpected shutdown of the operating system. Or, older computer models may not work with 32 GB or larger drives. We can say one thing, the problem is solved only by updating the drivers.

First of all, you need to go to "". You can do this in several ways, for example, through " My Computer", Or you can find this section in the system search, as we will do.

We go to this menu, after which we connect the flash drive to the computer, after which we open the sub-tab "USB controllers". Select the line " Memory device", By right-clicking the mouse opens the system menu and click" Delete».

Such manipulations allow you to remove the driver installed in the system for your storage device. As soon as you remove it, feel free to remove the USB flash drive from the computer and connect it again. Then the driver on the flash drive will be installed again and the problem will be solved.

If the problem persists, you may need to update the driver for all USB chipsets, this is quite easy to do. You can use the special disk that came with 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 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 afraid!

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 speed of reading and writing information.

File system errors

The computer may also not recognize your flash device due to file system errors. Let's check if this is so, go to "", how to do this was described above. Now you need to open the sub-tab " Disk devices", if you see your flash drive there, then it is working, and the file system does not perceive it as it should, and, accordingly, does not display it in 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 that either the controller burned out or the contact soldered off. Specialists in service centers can try to bring it back to life. However, this is an expensive exercise, 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 data on a flash drive.

File system conflict

Quite often, the contents of the flash drive are not displayed due to a conflict file systems on the computer and the removable media itself. For example, if a computer operates on the NTFS file system and FAT32 is used on a flash drive, a conflict situation is not ruled out. Moreover, this problem is widespread not only in Windows environment but also Mac OS. For example, if you format a flash drive on your Mac device to ExFAT or the standard Macbook file system, then the flash drive is unlikely to be readable on Windows devices.

The very first thing to do is find a computer that uses a different file system, open the 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 what file system is used on your computer. Go to " My computer", right-click on the hard drive, open the submenu and select the item " Properties".

In the window that opens, you will see information about the free and used disk space, as well as find out what 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 into 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 tick in front of the attribute " Fast"And click" Start".

A few words about why we use the Fast attribute. Firstly, formatting a flash drive will happen much faster. But there is another side of the coin. If there were any documents on the flash drive, then only with a quick format you can restore this data using special utilities. If you did not check the box, then the information that was on the flash drive for you will be lost forever.

Flash drive is not formatted

A fairly common problem is when you insert a USB flash drive into a computer (mostly new flash drive and its first use), and the operating system gives you a warning that says that before using, removable drive needs to be formatted. And if the flash drive was used earlier and data is recorded on it, then it will not be possible 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 flash drive and this is not its first connection, then try connecting it to another computer, the problem may 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 "File system conflict" section.

But I would like to draw your attention to two points. To avoid problems with the file system (FS) after formatting, find out which FS is used on the computer and install the same for the drive. And secondly, if the flash drive had the information you needed, then be sure to use the "Quick" attribute, so the formatting of the flash drive will take place only by the table of contents, and the lost information can be returned using special utilities.

A problem with a partition or flash drive is automatically assigned a busy letter

There are situations when the operating system incorrectly detects your removable media. Everything seems to be fine, the device connection is displayed and the flash drive icon appears in the tray, but it cannot be used for its intended purpose.

The problem may be that the system has not assigned a letter to the partition, under which it will appear removable storage or appropriated, but this letter is already taken, and because of this, an address conflict is obtained.

The solution to this problem will be to force the partition letter that we choose, everything happens in manual mode. So let's get started.

First of all, you need to hold down the key combination " Win + R", 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 take us to the disk and storage management section.

In the storage media manager that opens, we need to define our USB device. You can do this 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 called "20151114_17", you can also identify it by a special icon. Now you need to right-click on it, and in the menu that opens, select the item " Change letter".

Now another additional window will open before us, a smaller one. In it, you must click on the button " Change"And" Ok".

Now another auxiliary window will open, where you must select any letter of the English alphabet, and after clicking on the button " OK"The letter will be assigned to the section.

It is worth paying attention to one important point! When choosing a letter to assign to a partition on your flash drive, look at what letters are already in use by the system. This is very important, because we may not fix the problem, but leave it. This will happen if you, for example, designate a partition of a flash drive through the letter “D”, which is already assigned to a local disk.

Faulty power supply or excessive current overload of the USB portal

This problem is very common nowadays. The fact is that the computer may simply not see the USB flash drive due to a malfunction of the 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 computer nodes. 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 the processor. Now it consumes much more energy compared to the past, which means that it simply does not reach somewhere, and in this case this “somewhere” is USB network computer. Accordingly, the energy consumption parameter must be calculated in advance, and if such a situation has already occurred, you will have to replace the PSU 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 stated and than it gave out before. You will not be able to solve such a problem, since you risk the performance of the entire computer. The only solution is to replace the power supply.

There is another feature of this issue. Recently, USB devices for computers have become very common, for example, now the following devices are powered: a mat for heating a cup, desk lamp, wireless mouse, removable HDD, and in addition, the smartphone is also on charge. And you still want to connect a USB flash drive, but that's bad luck, the computer sees it. The fact is that there was an overload on the current on USB ports. Those. all your devices are already consuming the maximum amount of current and you will not be able to connect one more. Therefore, in order to use a 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

Has a variety of reasons why a flash drive may not be detected in Windows system xp. Moreover, the problem may lie both in the operating system, and in the malfunction of the flash, and even in the hardware of the computer.

If the problem is related to the operating system, then it can be eliminated only by making additional changes in the settings, it is best to do this manually, despite the abundance of special utilities that can help in this matter.

However, if the drive itself is faulty, then the only thing left for you is to try to save the data recorded on it. And after that, purchase a new and more reliable device.

If your computer cannot detect the 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 disk" pops up.
• The system notifies you that the drive must be formatted for further use.
• Errors pop up about the impossibility of obtaining access to data.
• The system may freeze as soon as you plug the flash drive into the computer's USB port.

In this section, we will look at all the most common reasons for the non-functionality of a flash drive in Windows XP and give practical advice by their decision. Carefully read the description of the problem, if it is not similar to yours or its solution did not help you, go to the next paragraph until the problem goes away. The first thing to do is to try to determine if the flash drive is working. This is signaled by a light indicator located on it. If you connected the drive, and it blinks or lights up, then the flash drive is working and the problem lies either in the system or hardware of the computer.

Try changing the port into which you connect the flash drive or even the computer, perhaps only the port or the entire system is faulty, and on another PC the flash drive will work properly. For example, if you see a complete system freeze when you connect a flash drive to the port, this means that given port defective and should not be used.

If you are using USB hubs or extension cables and the flash drive is not displayed, the problem may lie in the device itself, and not the flash drive. If this turned 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 electric current in USB system ports. 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 is displayed in the system and you can access it, then the problem lies in a weak power supply. You can solve this problem only by replacing the power supply with a more powerful one, but it will help to postpone the purchase of a PSU USB usage hub with its own power source.

However, if the problem persists after turning off all other devices, there may still be an actual problem with a lack of power supply power and an outdated USB port. In other words, on older laptops, you won't be able to open a flash drive of 36 GB or more. It will not work here to 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 being allocated to them. You can connect the front panel yourself using the instructions located above in the section of the same name.

Does not see the 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 that provide normal USB operation devices. Moreover, it is possible that only a few USB devices can work in one port.

The solution to this issue will be updating the system to SP3 and installing 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 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 icon " My computer"Right-click 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 for and update the computer's system. To do this, just go from the control panel to Windows Update.

As soon as you do this, the system will start searching for updates, after which you will be prompted to update all at once or select only the ones you need. If you do not understand which update changes what, then it is better to let the system be updated 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 the USB flash drive and use it.

If you decide to choose which updates to install instead of downloading them all to automatic mode, then here is a guideline that will help improve the perception of USB drives by the system.

Driver conflicts in Windows XP

There is also the issue of driver conflicts. 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 the data on it, and the system immediately knocks out an error message asking to insert a disk. Or, the system just freezes, and even assigning an existing letter to a flash drive partition is real.

The reason for such 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 flash drive, which is fully 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 start the second one, but they are not compatible.

Reinstalling Windows XP Drivers for USB Devices

This problem can be easily fixed in several ways. Reinstalling drivers automatically or manually. Let's analyze a little theory, the 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 remove all available drivers for USB drives, and then reinstall them.

Such a problem may display the message “USB device not recognized”, or inexplicable processes occur at the system level that block access to data or cause the system to freeze.

Remove via DriveCleanup

You can effectively remove all available drivers for USB devices 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 uploading, pay attention to the file version.

Automatic installation

You have removed all drivers from your computer. In order for the device to function normally, the operating system must have drivers for it. Process automatic installation the driver is incredibly simple, you just need to plug the USB flash drive into the USB port, after which the installation will immediately begin. 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. Within one or two minutes, the installation will complete and you will be able to use the device.

Manual installation

Under manual installation the installation of drivers is implied not directly from the storage medium itself. We can also install drivers for a flash drive from third-party Internet resources, but in order to avoid conflict situations, we will install drivers for a 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 a coincidence Windows versions on both computers. We use system searches and find two files.

By any means, we transfer them to the problem computer, whether it be 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 restart the computer and enjoy its performance with FLASH disks.

We have considered only the most common reasons why a flash drive is not displayed on a computer. In fact, there are many more. 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 disk" appears even if the USB 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 uninstall all USB device drivers 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 if 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 conflict of drivers, a conflict of file systems and a failure of the flash drive itself. It is solved by reinstalling the drivers, if it didn’t help, then a quick format to save the possibility of recovering data on a flash drive. Step by step instructions are above.

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:

1. Driver conflict.
2. Bad port.

It is easy to check what problem you have, insert the USB flash drive into another port, if the freeze repeats, then it means a problem with the drivers. Instructions and tips for reinstalling them were given as part of this article.

Why does the computer not see the flash drive when the indicator on it is lit

Possible damage to the contact on the flash drive, which is responsible for the transfer of information. A driver conflict and the assignment of an occupied letter to the partition are not ruled out. If the problem persists, after connecting the flash drive to another computer, try checking the accessibility 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 immediately access the data. There are several problems that can cause Error 43.

• A malfunction of the device itself is the first of them. Check on another computer if this situation happens again.
• Driver conflict - the solution is described above.
• Updating the hardware configuration - just roll back the driver version in the Task Manager.

conclusions

We have studied in detail the reasons that may prevent the computer from reading the flash drive and the information on it. Described solutions with step by step instructions will definitely help you to get rid of this problem. The unreadability of a flash drive can only be a sentence 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.

You probably had such that the computer does not see the USB flash drive. To be honest, the situation is not pleasant. You urgently need data from a flash drive, connected it to a computer and nothing happens. No need to be nervous, let's get down to business and find out what could have caused this and how it can be fixed.

First reason: Lack of nutrition

Is your flash drive connected to the USB port on the front of the system unit? Because:

Front ports on system block may not be connected to power at all;

The front panel ports are not getting enough power.

The second reason: Driver failure

This is a very common cause - due to a driver failure in your OS. In this case, you can try the following:

Right-click on the “My Computer” shortcut, then select “Properties” In the window that appears, click on the “Hardware” tab, then “Device Manager”

Next to the USB controllers item, click on the black plus sign. Before you appeared a list of usb device drivers that connected to your PC:

We insert the USB flash drive into the computer, and look - which driver has changed, and you need to remove it. Take out the flash drive and put it back in. The flash device driver will be updated. Must earn

Third reason: The presence of a virus on a flash drive

This is perhaps the most common reason - the computer does not see the flash drive due to a virus infection. When you insert a flash device, a warning pops up: "Permission denied".

Fourth reason why computer does not see USB device - Partition issues

You may also have a problem with device partitions. Let's say you insert your flash device into your computer. And it was recognized as usual, a label was displayed. But the system did not assign a partition letter to your flash card. As a result, it does not work, but this is easy to fix:

Go to the Start Menu >>> Control Panel

In the window, we carefully look so that the following is written in your sidebar "Switch to category view". If instead it says "Switching to the classic view", then click on this inscription and it will be what you need. Click on the "Administration" icon:

In the window that opens, select "Computer Management":

Next, select "Disk Management". There you will see all media. There you will find your flash device and you will see that there is no partition letter next to the name of the flash drive. Give it a letter that you don't have.

And the fifth reason: Mechanical problems

But the last reason is perhaps the saddest. If all the reasons above did not cure your flash drive, then most likely it has mechanical damage which means she is dead. :(

Well, that's all, I hope this article will help you solve your problem. Alexander Medvedev was with you, see you soon :)

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