Why doesn’t the computer see a flash drive or external hard drive and what to do about it. The computer does not see the flash drive - what to do? Windows 10 does not recognize USB 2.0 flash drive
Operating systems of the Windows family produced by Microsoft often do not see USB devices, and there can be a lot of reasons for this.
How this manifests itself and whether there is a way out of the situation is the topic of our article. We will dwell on the reasons in more detail and try to consider each case separately. If your laptop or personal computer does not see the USB flash drive, this manifests itself as follows:
- You connected a USB flash drive, but the computer displays the message “insert USB device.”
- The flash drive is connected, as evidenced by the icon and sound, but file manager she's not there.
- A warning appears about formatting the USB device.
- A data error warning appears.
Check if the computer sees the connected flash drive in Disk Management
To launch a special utility that manages USB devices, do the following:
Open the Disk Management tab and turn the flash drive on and off several times. If a connected USB device appears, the computer will notify you that each of its sections (there is only one in the flash drive) is working. In this situation, the easiest way to fix the error is that the PC does not see the flash drive. Right-click on a section to make that section active. You can also assign the letter E or D to the flash drive. After this, you will see that the computer has recognized the USB device.
And if, after reconnecting the device, the partition status is displayed in “Disk Management” as “Not allocated,” then it either does not exist, or it is working with errors. Right click and create a partition. But this can only be used if the menu has the “Create a simple volume” item. If you create a partition, the flash drive will be formatted, although all data stored on it will be lost.
If in the utility you find a label “uninitialized” USB device, it means it is damaged. You can try to restore the drive's memory. We will tell you how to do this later. If you have previously created partitions on a USB device that are not supported by the Microsoft operating system, then you need to delete them. Step-by-step instructions will tell you how to do this.
Further simple steps
Using the OS device manager, you can view all installed USB devices and check that they are working correctly. See how your USB flash drive is displayed in the manager. The flash drive connected to the computer may be unknown, identified by its own name, or labeled as a USB storage device.
This flash drive must be removed. Then "update USB storage configuration".
Very often, after these steps, the updated USB device is displayed in the OS file manager.
There are also other situations that lead to an error in which the computer does not see the flash drive. Perhaps you are connecting a USB device using an extension cord or USB hub? Then try directly connecting the device to each of the USB ports in turn. Perhaps one of the ports is inoperative and you don't know about it.
Try another option. Turn off your computer and remove everything that was connected to it (printers, cameras, external media, card readers and other devices connected with via USB), leaving only the necessary minimum and storage. After this, turn on the computer. If the PC saw the connected storage device, you have found the problem. The problem is that there is little power supplied to the computer's USB ports. In this case, replacing the power supply or purchasing a USB hub will help you.
Windows 10 does not see the flash drive after updating or installation (suitable for Windows 7, 8)
If you have updated your operating system, there is a high probability that you will encounter such a problem. In this case, the problem lies either in the lack of a recent version of USB drivers, or in the fact that the registry entries for USB devices are outdated.If this is the second option, you can use the USBOblivion program. You can download it for free to the author and remove all outdated entries. Be careful! Before deleting, it is better to create a restore point so that if USBOblivion does not work correctly, you can undo the erroneous actions and return to the previous settings.
Before starting the utility, disconnect all flash drives connected to the USB ports. Only after that, run it and clean the registry, after saving old entries to a file.
After cleaning the registry, reboot and reconnect the drive. If the computer again does not see it, follow step by step all the steps we wrote about above: remove it, update the configuration and connect again.
If you have an operating system version 10, then an error may occur due to driver incompatibility. If so, there will be a mark opposite the driver - Exclamation point. In this case, download updated versions from the official developer pages. Do not use third-party sites to search for drivers, especially if you need to update them for your mobile computer. In some cases, it is recommended to update the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) as well.
If the flash drive is not seen by Windows XP
Owners of Windows XP, especially SP2 builds, often encounter a problem in which the computer does not see the flash drive. This problem is due to the lack of updates in the operating system that would allow working with USB devices.If you have this operating system and encounter the problem, follow these steps:
- Update the build to SP3 and remove the IE browser.
- Update your operating system, even if you have a new build.
- If the problem occurs on Win Vista, also update the software first.
- KB967132 - in previous version It was impossible to connect multiple flash drives or other devices. When interacting with each other, they caused crashes, freezes and critical system reboots.
- KB898962 - when the printer is turned off, the flash drive also stops working correctly.
- KB315634 - it is impossible to connect new USB flash drives, although old ones that were previously used work without problems.
- KB924196 - this error indicated that personal/ mobile computer I did not see the connected flash drive or portable media player.
- KB88840 - when connecting/disconnecting a USB device, a computer or laptop displays a warning about a common Rundll32.exe error.
- KB362370 - new Windows build XP now supports USB port version 2.
- KB881233 - after the computer wakes from sleep mode, the flash drive does not appear in Device Manager. A problem similar to the previous case occurs after the computer comes out of hibernation.
- KB857900 - after turning flash devices on/off again, the port did not work correctly.
Completely remove old USB drivers
You connect a flash drive, but the computer does not see it and displays a warning about its absence. The problem may be that your old drivers do not work correctly and, therefore, the USB device cannot be assigned a letter. Old drivers can also cause problems with rebooting, freezing, or incorrect operation of the computer when a flash device is connected.Drivers operating system Microsoft is installed by default, immediately after the first connection external storage. Then this installed driver remains in the OS. But when connecting another device, the driver may not work, causing crashes and other problems. In a word, to solve all kinds of problems associated with incorrect work drivers, they must be removed and new ones installed again.
How to remove drivers for all USB devices
Step one After turning off the computer, remove everything: printers, cameras, external media, card readers and other devices connected via USB.Step two Boot the operating system.
Step three Download from official page author free program DriveCleanup, compatible with all versions of Windows.
Step four The drivecleanup.exe file must be copied to
C:\Windows\System32\
Step Five In the command line, write drivecleanup.exe.
Step six The program will clear all drivers and entries.
After the computer restarts, insert the flash drive and wait while the utility installs the updated drivers.
Reinstalling USB devices in Windows Device Manager
If you have used all the methods discussed and none of them helped, follow these four steps:- In Device Manager, enter devmgmt.msc.
- From Device Manager, open the USB Controllers tab.
- Delete everything where the names include USB hub, Hub, Host Controller.
- Update the USB device configuration from the manager.
Additional actions
It would also be a good idea to perform the following four steps in sequence:- A possible reason that a computer or laptop does not see flash media is the presence of viruses. Download if you do not have it installed, and check all disks.
- A possible cause could also be an incorrect registry entry. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer. NoDrives must be removed, and then restart your PC or laptop.
- In registry entries HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Control you also need to remove StorageDevicePolicies.
- If all else fails, completely unplug your computer. Unplug the cord from the outlet, having first disconnected the PC or the battery from the laptop, and hold the power button for a while. After this, you can turn on the computer and try the flash drive.
Recovering data from a flash drive that the computer cannot see
If the computer sees your flash drive, but it is listed as “uninitialized” with an “unallocated” partition, then the device’s memory is damaged. Do not despair prematurely: in some cases, all information stored on a removable drive can be restored.When using flash drives, remember two simple things that, in case of unexpected situations, will help you restore everything that was stored on them:
First, if you want to restore a flash drive, do not copy additional information to it.
Second, if you are restoring the device’s memory, save the information from it to another flash drive.
We recommend that you use the best utility- . The program is free, effective, has a clear Russian-language interface and two versions - installation and portable - therefore it is very popular among different categories of users. Using this software, you can recover absolutely all information from all media, not just flash devices.
The utility works both manually and automatic mode, and even beginners who have never dealt with such software. Recuva itself will offer The best way to restore all information from a damaged flash drive, you just have to agree by clicking the confirm button.
If after all the manipulations you still cannot connect the USB device to your computer or laptop, the recovery program cannot be used, and the information stored in its memory is very important, we recommend professional help from specialists who deal with these problems. They will restore both files and all content stored on the damaged device.
Usually the suspects in this case are software failures, incorrect settings operating system, outdated drivers, malfunctions of computer USB ports, adapters or the drives themselves.
Depending on the reasons, the problem manifests itself differently in each case. It happens that the computer does not react at all to the flash drive or HDD. In other situations, the sound of connecting a new device is heard, but the drive icon does not appear in Explorer. And sometimes the computer simply freezes immediately after contact with the USB device.
What to do if your Windows computer does not see a flash drive or external hard drive
First, figure out what exactly the problem is with: the computer, the adapter (if the connection is via a cable) or the drive. Try connecting the USB device through other ports. If this does not help and you are using a cable, try replacing it with a spare one. If unsuccessful, check whether the drive opens on other computers.
If the device works on another PC or you do not have the opportunity to check it
Connect your hard drive or flash drive to your computer and follow these steps in order. If the first does not help, move on to the next and so on.
If the other PC also does not see the drive or all of the above tips did not help
In this case, most likely the problem is in the drive itself.
If you have a flash drive and not a hard drive, you can use special utilities to fix software errors. Such software can usually be found on the manufacturer's website. For example, the JetFlash Online Recovery program is for Transcend drives. And USB Flash Drive Online Recovery is for ADATA brand flash drives. But keep in mind that during the recovery process, these utilities erase all data from flash drives.
If none of the above helped, then it's probably physical malfunction hard drive or flash drives. Then it is better to show the device to a specialist or return it to the store under warranty.
What to do if Mac does not see a flash drive or external hard drive
On Apple computers, the verification procedure is slightly different, but follows approximately the same algorithm. We will assume that you have already tried restarting the computer, disconnecting and connecting the flash drive, and also made sure that the connection is reliable. If this does not help, you need to do the following:
Open the built-in disk tool (Programs → Utilities → Disk Utility) and check if the problematic flash drive is displayed there. If the drive is still visible, try it by clicking the “Erase” button and reconnect it. Keep in mind that all data from the flash drive will be permanently deleted.
Mac diagnostic software provides detailed information about all software and hardware components on your computer, including USB devices. Open the Apple menu, then hold down the Option key, click "System Information" and go to the USB section in the menu that opens.
If the flash drive is there, then the problem lies in the software and you can try to restore the disk by referring to the manufacturer’s recommendations. If there is no information about the flash drive, then the matter is a physical malfunction, and you should contact the store or service center, if repair makes sense.
Despite the widespread cloud technologies and increasing data transfer speeds over the Internet, removable USB storage media are still actively used in working with computers. The latest generation flash drives transfer large amounts of information at significant speed and do not depend on the connection, provider or network restrictions. This article describes the most common reasons why a personal computer does not see a USB flash drive, and provides instructions for solving these problems.
Physical problem with the flash drive
This is not the most common, but the most obvious reason why the computer does not see the flash drive. Inside these devices there are microcircuits that, like any other electronics, can burn out. It is possible that water got inside the case and caused the contacts to short out. Also, due to improper use, one of the plug contacts could be damaged.
There are even special viruses that burn out all devices connected to a specific USB port personal computer. In this case, nothing can be done to help.
Physical problem with the port
Another obvious reason why the computer does not see the flash drive lies in problems with the port itself on the computer. The condensate that got inside it could oxidize the contacts, which leads to a loss of their performance. The port may have burned out due to power outages and unstable operation of the power supply.
Also similar problem may occur if the port is not connected to motherboard. Similar situations often happen with the front panel of a PC case. The controls and ports located on it must be additionally connected to the motherboard. If the wire comes loose, or they simply forgot to connect it, nothing will work.
In this case, you should check the wiring inside the system unit yourself, or contact an assembly specialist.
Drivers for USB 3.0
The USB 3.0 generation, which came into use not so long ago, has not yet completely conquered the market. Typically, such ports are installed in cases along with the still relevant, but slower 2.0. They can be identified by a blue strip of plastic inside the connector itself.
The problem may be that the BIOS version used or the “clean” installed operating system only has second-generation drivers installed. Regular ports in this case operate in normal mode, and the “blue” ones will not show any signs of life.
The problem is solved by installing drivers on your motherboard. They can be found on the included DVD or downloaded from the official website of the product manufacturer. You can also try updating the operating system - Wizard Windows updates independently pulls up and installs all the necessary patches.
Reinstalling drivers
If you are confident in the operation of your ports and a portable device that the computer cannot read for some reason, you can try reinstalling the driver for the USB port. Extreme caution is recommended when working with installed drivers. Incorrect actions can disrupt the stable operation of the OS. It is best to create a Windows restore point before following these instructions.
The necessary drivers will be automatically installed on your computer.
Virus infection
If the PC or laptop does not detect the flash drive, perhaps the problem lies in some malicious code. Firstly, there may be a script running on the computer itself that interferes with the correct operation of the controllers or Windows Explorer. To solve this problem, you need to scan your system for viruses and clean it. This is done using special programs– antiviruses.
If you do not have an antivirus installed, it is highly recommended to download it. you can use free utility from Microsoft - Security Essentials, which can be downloaded from this link https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/download/details.aspx?id=5201.
Install the program and run it. In the options menu on the right, select “Full” and click the “Check Now” button. After this, you will need to wait a while while the utility searches malicious scripts on your system. 
Another problem may be that viruses have infected your removable device, and the installed computer antivirus program blocks the infected flash drive. In this case, the PC detects the media, but will not work with it until it is cleaned. Wait some time until the antivirus prepares the device for safe operation.
System Configurations
The issue where your PC won't read your flash drive may be caused by specific settings in your Windows. You can change them by editing entries in system registry:
Every computer and flash drive user has at least once found himself in a situation where the flash drive failed. That is, it is impossible to view the information that is stored on it. The flash drive does not work, the computer does not see the flash drive, files are either not written, or are not transferred from the flash drive, or it shows a discrepancy in the storage capacity of the storage device.
But first things first.
The computer does not see the flash drive
In fact, there are a lot of problems that affect the computer’s detection of a flash drive - even the version of the operating system itself.
And so, you inserted a flash drive into the computer, it is not detected. How does this manifest itself?
The computer tells you what you need " insert disk" Even when you did.
The computer writes that the disk needs to be formatted because it is not formatted;
A data error has occurred;
The computer freezes when a flash drive is inserted;
The device is not recognized.
Now you will read a short instruction on how to solve the problem when the computer does not see the flash drive. But this does not mean that this instruction will help you 100%. If one method does not help, move on to another until the problem goes away.
Go!
The first thing you can do is check whether the utility sees " disk management» your flash drive. To do this, run this very utility:
Click Start → Execute (Win+R)→ enter → diskmgmt.msc→ press Enter. OR
Control panel → Administration → Computer management → Disk management.
In the disk management window, pay attention to what happens when you connect and disconnect a flash drive to the computer - does the disk disappear and appear again, or not?
As the most a good option- this is when the computer sees the flash drive, and all the partitions on it are in the “ OK" If so, then do the following: click on it right click mouse and context menu select the item “ make the section active" You may need to assign a letter to the partition.
Well, in principle, this will be enough for the computer to see the flash drive.
Well, what if suddenly this utility displays the message “ Unknown" or " Not initialized", as well as one partition in the state " Not distributed", this will mean that the flash drive is damaged. Therefore, the computer does not see the flash drive. You need to perform data recovery (more on this later).
If you connect your flash drive through an extension cord or USB hub, then try connecting it directly. Also try connecting to all available USB ports. Next, as an option, you can turn off and restart the computer, disconnect other devices from the computer (well, except for the keyboard and mouse, of course), and then restart the computer. In this case, if the flash drive is detected and starts working, then the problem is obviously in the power supply to the USB ports, there is simply not enough power. There is only one piece of advice - replace the power supply with a more powerful one.
Option to remove old drivers
Use this option when the computer does not see the flash drive and writes “ Insert disc", provided that the flash drive is already inserted. This problem and more can be caused by old drivers that are available in Windows. For example, when you connect a flash drive to your computer, your PC turns off or reboots.
The reason is that Windows installs drivers for flash drives the first time you connect them to the port, and when you unplug the flash drive, the drivers remain in the system and do not go anywhere. Then you connect new flash drive, a conflict arises that is caused by the reaction of Windows when trying to use the old driver that was installed when connecting the first flash drive.
How to remove old drivers?
First, turn off the computer. Disconnect all memory devices from it and peripherals, accessories.
Turn on your computer.
Download the utility DriveCleanup.
We copy, depending on your Windows versions, 32 or 64 bit version drivecleanup.exe to daddy C:\Windows\System32.
Let's launch command line as administrator (right mouse button on menu " Start") and enter drivecleanup.exe . Click Enter and watch as the computer deletes all drivers and entries.
After the removal is complete, simply restart your computer, insert a new USB flash drive and Windows will install new drivers on it.
USB device not recognized
When you connect a flash drive, printer or any other device that connects via USB in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, and you see an error, an unidentified device - read these instructions and we will try to figure it out.
There are actually many reasons why Windows cannot recognize a USB device, and therefore there are also quite a few solutions.
The device is not recognized. What to do?
If you encounter a problem when you insert a USB flash drive and a message appears that you have connected an unidentified device when connecting any device via USB, make sure that the USB itself is in good condition. This will save you and me time. To make sure the USB plug is working properly, you can try connecting it to another computer or laptop. If everything also does not work, then the problem is in the device itself. If it works, read on.
This method is for those cases where the device previously worked without comment. Everything was determined.
We disconnect our USB device, which cannot be recognized by the computer, we disconnect all devices that are in this moment We don’t need time, so we connect a device that is not detected to the rear panel of the system unit and see if the problem is solved.
Correction of the message " Device not recognized" through Device Manager and USB Drivers.
Let's go to device Manager(press Win + R keys) enter devmgmt.msc what field do we click on? Enter.
The connected device will most likely be in the list USB controllers or Other devices(and be called " Unknown device»).
If it is in the list with other devices and you are connected to the Internet, you can right-click on it and press the button update drivers.
If an unidentified device is still in the list USB controllers, then right-click on it, and on the Driver tab, click the button roll back or Delete.
Another option is in the USB properties in the “ Power management» uncheck the box « Allow this device to turn off to save power».
You can also try for all devices that are in the " USB controllers» do the following:
Click " Update driver».
Click search for drivers on this computer.
Select a driver from the list of already installed drivers.
In the list you will see that there is a driver that is compatible with the device. Select it and click " Further" The driver will be installed, after which the computer may recognize the device.
In Windows 8.1, this problem occurs with external hard drives and flash drives that run on USB port 3.0.
This problem can be solved in the menu for managing the parameters of the laptop power supply circuits.
To do this, go to the panel Windows management in the power supply section, select the power supply scheme used and click “Change” Extra options nutrition." In the USB settings, you need to disable temporarily disabling USB ports.
Why doesn't the computer see the flash drive? My friends ask me at the end of the working day and put the system unit in front of me, in response to my remark that the computer is not new, I hear the answer: they bought it recently, everything worked for the previous owner, but for some reason they didn’t, and they put a camera in front of me that needs to be connected , a flash drive, and in addition they show the printer in the corner, I was very tired, but I need to solve the issue, USB specifications, compatibility, the USB controller in the BIOS were spinning in my head, with which I decided to start.
Why doesn't the computer see the flash drive?
If you connect a device to the USB connector of the system unit, it should automatically be detected and available in the My Computer window, but this does not happen and the device is not detected.
Let's start with the BIOS, and how to get into it? In most cases, you need to frequently press the F2 or Delete keys in the very initial phase of booting the computer, or read the instructions for your motherboard, or you can read our article
We went into the BIOS, we have it from Award, then go to the tab Advanced and move to the point Integrated Peripherals, press Enter
and we see that ours USB Controller included
but he specs USB 1.1, so what, our devices should work with it.
Here I had the idea to reinstall the operating system, but first I decided to look inside the system unit and saw a USB 1.1 hub connected to a 9-pin connector on the motherboard, this hub outputs to back panel The system unit has four USB standard connectors, on the motherboard itself there are only two USB 1.1 ports and you may not even notice them.
- Note: The point is that hubs USB 1.1 cannot be used to connect devices USB 2.0. Of course, the old owner knew about this and tried to connect all devices directly to USB ports on the motherboard, but my friends don't.
Let's connect our devices directly to USB ports on the motherboard.
After turning on the computer, we saw a message from the operating system indicating that a faster USB 2.0 specification device is connected to the port.
Flash drive I saw it quickly, but for the Hewlett-Packard camera I had to download a driver package from the official website and only after installing them did it start working. By the way, I tried connecting the camera to system unit With motherboard supporting the USB 2.0 interface, also to no avail. The hardware installation wizard also did not solve the issue.
As for the Samsung printer, all labels with numbers and names were erased, the drivers had to be searched by the device code, we have a good article about this. Once the drivers were found, our printer worked perfectly.
Let me give you another example why computer Maybe can't see the flash drive, may be useful to you.
I have a laptop at work, connected to it Canon scanner CanoScan LiDE, which is powered directly from the USB port. The manufacturer claims energy efficiency, this is good, but as soon as I connect two more devices to my laptop, for example, a USB interface keyboard, and then a flash drive, the laptop stops seeing the scanner or does not see the flash drive at point-blank range, why?
This means that there is a power shortage for these devices, sometimes the overall level of energy consumption connected to USB connectors, is approaching the limit of its capabilities.
Power USB controller on your computer can be found in the device manager Properties- tab Nutrition, it is equal 500 mA for USB 2.0 and 900 mA for version 3.0, and printers and scanners require much more power to power.
To avoid overloading this interface, Windows may disable some devices
Here's another answer to the question Why doesn't the computer see the flash drive?
Let's prevent Windows from managing the power supply of the USB controller, go to the device manager and expand the branch Universal Serial Bus Controllers, Further USB root hub, double-click on it with the left mouse button and select Power management. You need to uncheck Allow this device to turn off to save power and press OK, this needs to be done for everyone USB root hub.
