USB flash not being recognized

larrydonline · 18 Nov 2017

Even rebooting won't make my Windows 10 Home program recognize a USB flash drive plugged into any port of the computer. I've tried three different flash drives, including two that are new and one that plays in the car. I don't get that musical note that tells me the computer recognizes something that has just been plugged in.

I'd appreciate any suggestions as to what's going on and how to solve it. Thanks, Larry

dalchina · 18 Nov 2017

Just a thought- are your USB drives that aren't 'seen' USB 2 only?
I.e. if you plug them into a USB 3 port they are not seen, but are if you use a USB 2 port.

However you say some are new, so it sounds more like an autoplay related problem.

When viewed in Disk Management, is there a drive letter? If not, explorer won't see them.

larrydonline · 18 Nov 2017

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the USB drives are 2.0 since 3.0 won't work in my car. And I have tried them in the computer's 2.0 ports as well as the 3.0 ports. They were filled with songs using this same computer so they were recognized as external USB drives recently. The new ones (SanDisk 16 GB) of course, are still empty.
No, they don't show up in Disk Management.
I had trouble a few days ago getting the system to recognize a DVD player and also an external hard drive. A cold reboot solved both of those problems. I don't think a simple reboot forces a rescan of all drives. That hasn't fixed the problem of not recognizing USB flash drives, however.

dalchina · 18 Nov 2017

Check Device Manager.

Try uninstalling your USB root hubs and any USB mass storage device, remove any usb storage devices, and reboot.

larrydonline · 22 Nov 2017

I finally got around to going through the shut down and reboot without attachments. That little trick fixed my problem and I thank you for sharing your knowledge.

There's usually a way to fix every problem. It's finding solutions that consume us.

dalchina · 22 Nov 2017

Good thing it was an easy one! Windows is NOT a consumer product - your neighbourhood geek will never be out of a job.

Recommendation we always make- if not yet doing so, start using disk imaging routinely to secure your PC, your data and possibly your sanity. E.g. Macrium Reflect (free).