no pen drives working on PC!!

zippy75

Hi guys:)

Any solution to this would be greatly appreciated; I'm tearing my hair out!

I have a 256mb Kingston Datatraveller that I keep my docs on instead of saving them to My Documents - I find it more convenient. It was working fine on both my and my parents' PCs.

I had my PC upgraded last week as the PSU broke and I decided to get new motherboard / processor / rewriter / RAM etc. fitted while it was in the shop (I can post exact details of what was done and the programs I've reinstalled if needed).

When I first went on the PC yesterday after it came back from the shop, I was reinstalling various bits and pieces as I went along - including my USB wireless adapter and USB all-in-one printer which are working perfectly - when I came to the Datatraveller.

The windows message came up telling me that "USB device not recognised, one of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned. etc."

Also, in My Computer, it is not listed; the stuff that is listed is:

local disk C
floppy a
dvd/cdrw drive d
dvd ram drive e
removable disc f (I don't even know what this refers to! )
and my printer under scanners and cameras

In device manager, everything under USB controllers is indicated as working OK.

I tried everything I could think of, visited loads of forums including this one, and none of the suggestions fitted exactly. I have even installed (and since uninstalled) various bits of software that claim to extract the stuff on the pens, but it is not recognised as even being there either so that doesn't help!

The other weird thing is that I also have a new 1GB Datatraveller, which had never been plugged in (any PC) prior to this so I plugged that in to see if it was recognised, and it wasn't (got the same messages).

I also got a message at one point telling me to install the drivers (can't remember what I did to make that come up), but the point is the DataTraveller is a Plug and Play device.

I tried the add new hardware wizard which didn't work because it wasn't in the list.

I have tried all of the six USB ports to no avail (in some I get the messages, some nothing happens at all). This is making me think it must be to do with the pen rather than the ports as I have just unplugged my network adapter to try that port, and no response with the pen but when I re-attached the adapter that was recognised again.

I even tried switching PC off at the wall and removing plug for a while as suggested on one forum.

I did wonder if the problem was caused by not using safely remove hardware every time but would that account for the second, 1GB pen?

At this point I was going to call the repair shop but I thought as a last thought I'd try them again on my parents' PC fully expecting them to be OK, and they're not showing up on there either!!!! This is the bit that's got me really perplexed - could it be some sort of malware? But in that case I'd have other problems wouldn't I? (and I installed all virus protection before I tried the pen drive).

Please please any suggestions? The fact that I've got stuff that I need on the first pen (details of my budget etc.) is the worst bit, but it's also the fact that I've got a brand new supposedly perfect pen that I can't use!!

Thanks again,

Zippy

gooner045

Hi Zippy
maybe the removable disc is your pen drive just a thought and im no expert

gooner045

As a 2nd thought maybe you should try clicking on that removable disc in my computer and see if it holds any info

Backbiter

I'd have thought the removable disc is the USB drive, too.

zippy75

No, sorry I should've said before, when I've clicked on that drive it just says:

Please insert a disk into drive F:.

so I'm none the wiser about that!

bookduck

control panel, system,hardware, device manger - is the usb stuff ok? If so
insert usb mem click start, run, type in diskmgmt.msc you should see (a) your usb drive there (b) a drive letter assigned to it - if there is no letter assign one to it.

the drive hould now be there.

zippy75

control panel, system,hardware, device manger - is the usb stuff ok? If so
insert usb mem click start, run, type in diskmgmt.msc you should see (a) your usb drive there (b) a drive letter assigned to it - if there is no letter assign one to it.

the drive hould now be there.

The usb stuff in Device Manager is indicated to be OK. And in Disk Management, there is only the C drive, F drive, and CD drives D & E.

Regarding the F: drive, I think it must be assigned to the printer (it's card readers?)

I have now tried my mp3 player and external hard drive, (after installing their software) and they're not recognised either!!

There is no message when I put them in the back ports; I get the USB device not recognised when I put them in the front ports.

Also, the printer and wireless adaptor do not work when I try them in the front ports - what's that about?!

Anyway, I rang the guy at the repair shop today, and he asked:

were they USB 2? (yes)
how old were they (one approx. 6 months, one brand new)
had I tried them in all the ports (yes)
did I have SP2 (yes)

He then said it sounded like "the USB files are corrupt on the hard drive", and to go to the Microsoft site and download "USB fixes", but I don't know what I'm looking for on that site and it's not an easy site to navigate at all. The guy said the site would walk you through the problem and the files to download would be at the end? . I also queried how come the printer and wireless adapter work and the other USB stuff doesn't, and he said that was common, printers usually work regardless - is that true? Apart from that he said I could bring it back in, but there'd be a charge. It's really getting me down now as I've already shelled out nearly £200 for the repair and upgrades that I couldn't really afford, and I can't understand how everything was working fine when I took it into that shop, and now it's not. He also mentioned something about reinstalling Windows, but I can't remember what - would this help and what would I need to do? I don't have an XP disc (pre-installed), but the product key is on the machine, and my parents have a disc.

So... does anyone have any ideas about the USB fixes and how I can access them? Or any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Zippy

fwor

A quick search came up with this, but I can't check it as I'm on Linux:

http://www.patton.com/support/faqs_detail.asp?id=92

I must confess I have seen some weirdness with Win XP - a friend who is blind uses screen reader software which has a USB "dongle". If we unplug it from one USB port and plug it into another, it insists on installing the dongle's driver, which is really irritating.

If you have the Win XP installation disk to hand, it might be worth going into Device Manager, picking the USB devices, then "Update Driver" and then choose the XP CD as the source.

Good luck...

CIS

Have you made sure that the USB drivers from the manufacturers driver disk for the motherboard are installed - Ive had issues before simialr to this where installing the motherboard drivers worked.

ormus

almost certainly a usb driver problem.
remove the usb drivers in device manager and then reboot.
xp should find em on restart and install them.
if not, then have the mobo disk ready.

bookduck

zippy75 wrote: »

Hi guys:)

.... and I decided to get new motherboard / processor / rewriter / RAM etc. ...

You did reinstall the os again, or did you just swap out the parts, reboot and it seemed to work? I suspect the latter and if i'm right think you will have to re-install again.

Seen a similar post and this problem happened when the person put on hp printer drivers???

I've changed my systems board for another and there are times deleted usb driver to fix, if that did not work I'd reinstalled the os. There have been times that did not work too and I ended up wiping the disk to fix it. Hopefully someone will come up with a better idea?