Doesn't read USB flash drive. What to do if the USB flash drive is not detected. USB drive is not detected by the system due to errors

Good afternoon You have a flash drive and you need to transfer information from it to your PC. You connect it to the USB port of your computer and there is no response. The computer does not see the USB flash drive. What to do?

If your PC does not notice the flash card, the first thing that comes to mind is a broken flash drive or USB connector. We just have to find out. How do we do this? When we connect a working flash card to a working connector, the flash card indicator light starts blinking. When the light blinks, it becomes clear to us that both the flash drive and the connector are in working order. There is a problem somewhere within the operating system. If the light does not blink, there is a problem with either the flash card or the connector.

Sometimes it happens that the PC does not notice the flash card when it is connected to the front of our system unit. Quite often, computer store technicians simply don’t bother to connect the connectors at the front. It happens that insufficient energy is supplied to the front connectors.

In this case, connect the flash drive to the system unit connector on the back, which is located directly on the motherboard. Did you earn it? What a score!

It happens that a flash drive simply does not have enough energy, regardless of the connector. This happens when the USB connectors or hubs are heavily overloaded, or you simply have a problem with your . There may not be enough energy for large USB devices. This often happens to old people. There is nothing you can do in this situation.

When connecting many external USB devices to the PC at once, the computer also sometimes does not notice the new connection. In this case, it is enough to disconnect unnecessary connections and reconnect the flash card.

Again, the computer does not see the USB flash drive? Then the problem is most likely not in the connector, but in the flash card. Connect your flash drive to a third-party PC and preferably to many. If a third-party PC also does not notice the flash card, it is broken. Show it to the master. The damage may not be major and can be repaired. But there is one caveat. The repair may cost you more than the flash drive itself is worth.

In this case, you turn to the wizard when the data on the flash drive is very valuable and you simply need to recover it. Otherwise, it’s easier to buy a new flash drive.

Does the flash card work on other computers? The problem may be in the operating system or its configuration. For example, a PC often does not recognize a USB device if USB support is disabled in your BIOS. Are you configured correctly? Then, when connecting a USB, the PC will display the error: - “Unrecognized USB”, and where there should be a safe removal icon there will be an exclamation mark (!). There may be several problems.

The computer does not see the USB flash drive, let’s check the OS settings

It often happens that when connecting a USB, the operating system will assign the flash drive the symbol of the already connected device. This can happen when using network drives. To eliminate this situation, let's enter Control Panel. Let's choose Administration, Further Computer management. Next we select Disk management.

You will see a list of drives that are installed on your PC. This list will also include a flash card. Select an item flash drives and right-click on the item in the context menu Change drive letter or disk path. Next, select a symbol that is not assigned to any disk in the operating system, click OK.

The computer does not see the USB flash drive due to drivers

Your PC may not see the USB device if it is outdated (they may be missing altogether). To fix this, just update the drivers (firewood) of the system board. Review the instructions for your maretinka and find out its model. This can also be done using . We download firewood for our motherboard from the motherboard manufacturer’s website, otherwise we can damage the PC.

It may happen that the computer does not see the driver for the flash card. To check, open Device Manager. Let's pay attention to the USB controllers section. If the PC does not see the firewood flash cards, you will see yellow question marks next to the USB connections.

Then unplug the flash drive and reinstall it again. Difficulties may arise, then you will have to remove all the USB drivers. In this case, when we restart the computer, the operating system will ask you to install USB controllers automatically. But, unless absolutely necessary, this method should not be used.

The computer does not see the USB flash drive due to viruses

In this case, scan your PC with an antivirus. There are many different antiviruses on the global network, both paid and not. Moreover, many free antiviruses are not much inferior to paid ones. One of them will solve your problem.

It may also happen that your computer does not see the USB flash drive due to a conflict between the file systems of the flash card and the PC. This can happen if the USB device's file system is FAT. In this case, format the flash drive by selecting NTFS or FAT32. Sometimes it helps.

I think their article made it clear to you that if the computer does not see the USB flash drive, there may be a number of reasons. You need to carefully consider each of them and choose the one that will really help you! Good luck!

Andrey Zimin 04/09/2014

Anecdote in each article:

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

Despite all the positive aspects, sometimes situations occur when you cannot read the data due to the flash drive or computer itself. After all, at the most important moment, you may lose access to 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 ways to solve why the computer does not see the flash drive.

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

The flash drive itself does not work

This is the worst situation for a person whose documents are stored on a flash drive, because it is almost impossible to bring it back to life. A flash drive can be damaged by mechanical impact on the device chip or its controller, by shorting an electrical circuit, or by damaging the contacts on the USB board. This is what a flash drive looks like after the electrical circuit is closed or moisture gets inside the drive.

It is quite easy to determine whether this happened to your drive. The very first thing you need to do is check the flash drive for mechanical damage, chips, cracks, etc. If it is completely broken, you can look for a replacement at a computer peripherals store. If you doubt its inoperability, you can check it using a practical method.

Connect the flash drive to 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, the flash drive is most likely no longer suitable for use.

You can try to take the flash drive to a service center, where the technician will try to resolder the contacts or replace the controller, but this will be very expensive, and this action will only be justified if you have important documents stored on it. If no fatal malfunction was detected and the flash drive shows signs of life, try the methods to restore its functionality, which will be described below.

The USB port on the front panel of the computer is de-energized

This problem is very common among desktop PC users. Most computer owners are accustomed to inserting a flash drive into the front USB ports, because it is fast and convenient.

But there is a situation when, during PC assembly, for some reason the front panel is not connected to the power system; usually this happens due to the forgetfulness of the computer technician. 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 connect it to the back panel of your computer. The front connectors will still remain inoperative, but you will have access to documents. Such manipulations cannot be called a full-fledged solution, so let’s consider the second option.

Method No. 2 involves connecting the power cable on the motherboard to the front panel of the computer. Depending on the computer case model, the connection connectors may differ. But don’t be afraid, they all have markings and you won’t 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 markings of the cable and the connector on the motherboard are the same, but it is better to keep a guide by 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. Find 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 make the connection yourself; it is better to call a specialist. If you connect the cable and connector incorrectly, you can burn these contacts and even devices. If you decide to connect front USB connectors, then it is better to tell us the model of your case and motherboard, and we will tell you how to do it correctly and explain what the connector and cable look like.

The USB port on the computer is faulty or disabled

Sometimes the problem of unreadability of information on removable media is not related to the problem of the flash drive itself, but to the connector into which it is connected. A certain USB port may not be working, and this condition can be caused by simple damage to the connector contacts. Then not only the flash drive, but also other USB devices will not work in this port.

You can solve this problem by arming yourself with a regular soldering iron and minimal knowledge of circuit design. If you don’t have such knowledge, skills and equipment, then it can be fixed at the nearest service center for a low fee.

However, if no response to connecting a USB device is 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 up the menu. Most often, the default key is F2 or Del, but depending on the motherboard brand and BIOS version, it may be different. It is indicated in the first image that pops up when loading.

After you have entered the BIOS itself, we need to go through the following route: “”.

Find the line “USB Controller”, so that you are allowed to use the ports, the value opposite should be “Enabled”.

Once you have enabled the USB ports on your computer, press the F10 key. This will save your settings and exit the BIOS.

The USB flash drive connector is dirty

A flash drive is a mobile information storage device and is therefore often carried in pockets, briefcases or as a keychain. Due to such operating conditions, dust and small debris may accumulate in the connector. This does not happen often, but it can cause the flash drive to malfunction. Dust and small debris accumulate on the contact and prevent 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, transfer or read information slowly and may not be detected the first time.

To clean the USB connector of a flash drive, arm yourself with a match and a cotton swab. Using a match, remove all debris from the connector, and then moisten a cotton swab with alcohol and wipe the contacts of the flash drive. This way you will rid it of debris and oxidation.

Virus infection

Nowadays, the issue of storage device security is becoming more and more urgent, because viruses are in full force. You can visit your usual social networking site 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 located on your flash drive or computer hard drive, and their number grows exponentially.

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

Before solving this problem, you should install anti-virus software on your computer and conduct a full diagnostic of the files. To access the data on the drive, we need to delete the file with the virus and scan it. To do this, go to the “Start” menu and enter the following phrase “” in the search line.

Click on the found element with the left mouse button. You will see an open window called “Folder Options”, here you need to do the following:

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

After this, be sure to press the “Apply” button 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 the free antiviruses; the Dr.WEB Cure It utility can do this perfectly.

Now you can fully use the flash drive and no problems should arise. If nothing has changed, then the problem lies in the lack of drivers; we’ll look at it below.

Drivers failing or using outdated drivers

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

The first thing you need to do is go to "". You can do this in several ways, for example, through “My Computer" or find this section in the system search, which is what we will do.

We go to this menu, after which we connect the flash drive to the computer, after which we open the “USB controllers” subtab. Select the line " Memory device", right-click to open the system menu and click “Delete".

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

If the problem is not solved, you may need to update the drivers for all USB chipsets; this is quite easy to do. You can use the special disk that came with the motherboard; all the necessary drivers are recorded on it. If you don’t have it, download the DriverPack program, it will automatically select all the 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 the different USB formats. Don't be scared!

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 true, go to “”, how to do this was described above. Now you need to open the subtab " Disk devices“If you see your flash drive there, it means 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 don’t see your drive there, then the problem lies in the malfunction of the flash drive itself, which means either the controller is burned out or the contact has become unsoldered. Specialists at service centers can try to bring it back to life. However, this is an expensive exercise; it’s easier to buy a new one, of course, if important information was not recorded on the faulty one and you need to restore the data on the flash drive.

File system conflict

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

The very first thing you need 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 “Properties” in it.

In the window that opens, you will see information about the free and used amount of disk space, and also 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, check the box next to the “Fast” attribute 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 to the coin. If there were any documents on the flash drive, then only with quick formatting will you be able to recover this data using special utilities. If you do not check the box, then the information that was on the flash drive will be lost forever.

The flash drive is not formatted

A fairly common problem is when you insert a flash drive into your computer (usually a new flash drive and its first use), and the operating system gives you a warning that states that the removable drive needs to be formatted before use. And if the flash drive has been used before and there is data written on it, then there is no way to access it. Moreover, the volume of the flash drive becomes 0, i.e. as if there was nothing there at all, not even a storage device.

If you have already used a flash drive and this is not the first time you have connected it, then try connecting it to another computer, perhaps the problem will go away and you will be able to 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 want to draw your attention to two points. To avoid problems with the file system (FS) after formatting, find out what FS is used on the computer and install the same one for the drive. And secondly, if the flash drive had the information you needed, then be sure to use the “Quick” attribute, so the flash drive will be formatted only according to the table of contents, and the lost information can be returned using special utilities.

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

There are situations when the operating system does not correctly detect your removable media. Everything seems to be fine, the device connection is displayed and a flash drive icon appears in the tray, but there is no way to use it for its intended purpose.

The problem may be that the system has not assigned the partition a letter under which the removable drive will appear, or it has assigned it, but this letter is already occupied, and this results in an address conflict.

The solution to this problem will be to force the assignment of the partition letter that we choose; everything happens manually. So let's get started.

First of all, you need to hold down the key combination “Win ​​+ R", a window will open in front of you with the name “Run".

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 identify our USB device. This can be done simply, disconnect the flash drive and connect it again, the partition that first disappears and then appears is what we need.

In my case, the flash drive is a drive with the name “20151114_17”, you can also identify it by a special icon. Now you need to right-click on it and select “Change letter” in the menu that opens.

Now another additional window will open in front of us, a smaller one. In it you need to 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 “Ok” button, 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 of your flash drive, look at which 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, for example, you designate a flash drive partition with the letter “D”, which is already assigned to the local disk.

Malfunction of the power supply or excessive current overload of the USB portal

This problem is very common these days. The fact is that the computer may simply not see the flash drive due to a faulty power supply. Let's look at it in order, the power supply consumes electrical energy from the network, and then converts and distributes it to all nodes of the computer. 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.

This problem may appear if you have recently replaced some important component in the system, let it be the processor. Now it consumes much more energy compared to the past, which means it simply doesn’t reach somewhere, and in this case, that “somewhere” is the computer’s USB network. Accordingly, the energy consumption parameter must be calculated in advance, and if such a situation has already occurred, you will have to replace the power supply with a more powerful one.

Moreover, the problem may lie in a malfunction of the power supply; it may produce much less power potential than stated, and than it produced before. You will not be able to solve this problem, since you risk the performance of the entire computer. The only solution is to replace the power supply.

There is one more feature to this question. Recently, USB devices for computers have become very common, let’s say the following devices are now powered: a mat for warming a cup, a desk lamp, a wireless mouse, a removable hard drive, and in addition, a smartphone is also charging. And you want to connect a flash drive, but bad luck, the computer sees it. The fact is that there was an overcurrent on the USB ports. Those. All your devices already consume the maximum amount of current and you will not be able to connect another one. Therefore, to use a flash drive, you need to disconnect several devices from the computer’s USB ports and then the problem will disappear.

If the computer does not see the flash drive in Windows XP

There are many reasons why a flash drive may not be detected in Windows XP. Moreover, the problem may lie in the operating system itself, or in a faulty flash drive, or even in the computer hardware.

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

However, if the drive itself is faulty, then the only thing you can do is 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, it notifies the user with the following signals:

• Your flash drive is inserted and you try 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 appear about the impossibility of gaining access to data.
• The system may freeze as soon as you plug the USB 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 recommendations for solving them. Carefully read the description of the problem, if it is not similar to yours or its solution did not help you, move on to the next point until the problem goes away. The first thing you need to do is try to determine whether the flash drive is working. This is indicated by a light indicator located on it. If you connect 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, but on another PC the flash drive will work properly. For example, if, when connecting a flash drive to a port, you observe a complete system freeze, this means that this port is faulty and it is better not to use it.

If you are using USB hubs or extenders and the flash drive is not displayed, perhaps the problem lies in the device itself, and not the flash drive. If this turns out to be the case, you can take the hub to a service center or try to repair it yourself. To do this you will 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 of electric current in the USB port system. To check this, you need to disconnect all USB devices on the computer (camera, printer, lamp, etc.), leaving only the keyboard and mouse. If after such manipulations the flash drive appears in the system and you can access it, then the problem lies in a weak power supply. This problem can only be solved by replacing the power supply with a more powerful one, but using a USB hub with its own power source will help delay the purchase of a power supply.

However, if the problem is not resolved after disconnecting all other devices, the problem may still be related to the lack of power from the power supply and an outdated USB port. In other words, on older laptops you will not be able to open a flash drive with a capacity of 36 GB or larger. There is no way to solve the problem; you can only buy a more modern laptop or computer.

A very common situation occurs when the user connects a flash drive to the front port of the PC, but the system does not see it. This means that the ports are not connected to the power supply on the motherboard, or too little power is allocated to them. You can connect the front panel yourself using the instructions located above in the section of the same name.

Can't 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 ensure the normal operation of USB devices. Moreover, it is possible that only several USB devices can work in one port.

The solution to this issue will be to update the system to SP3 and install 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 an 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 “My Computer” icon with the right mouse button 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 and update the computer system. To do this, just go from the Control Panel to Windows Update.

As soon as you do this, the system will begin searching for updates, after which it will offer you to update everything at once or select only the ones you need. If you don't understand what update changes what, then it's better to let the system update completely.

After downloading all the updates, the operating system will require you to restart your computer to apply the new settings. Click “Ok” and wait patiently. That's all, now you can connect the flash drive and use it.

If you decide to choose the updates that should be installed, and not download them all automatically, then here is a guideline that will help improve the system's perception of USB drives.

Driver conflicts in Windows XP

There is also the problem of driver conflict. The fact is that some outdated drivers can cause errors at the system level, moreover, they can prevent the normal operation of new drivers. A striking example of such a problem is a situation when a user inserts a flash drive into a computer, tries to access the data on it, and the system immediately displays an error message asking to insert the disk. Or, the system simply freezes, and even assigning an existing letter to a flash drive partition is possible.

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 necessary drivers for this device are immediately installed. You have made the necessary manipulations to write or read files and removed the drive. After that, you insert a second flash drive, which is completely working, 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 launch the second, but they are not compatible.

Reinstalling Windows XP drivers for USB devices

This problem can be easily resolved in several ways. Reinstalling drivers automatically or manually. Let's look at a little theory: a driver from one USB device can be mistakenly used by the system to launch another USB device. To eliminate these problems, we need to first remove all existing drivers for USB drives, and then reinstall them.

Such a problem may display the message “USB device not recognized,” or unexplained 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 existing 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 and disconnect all USB devices from it in order to avoid conflict situations while the program is running. 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 bitmaps. When downloading, pay attention to the file version.

Automatic installation

You have removed all drivers from your computer. In order for a device to function normally, the operating system must have drivers for it. The automatic driver installation process is incredibly simple, you just need to plug the USB flash drive into the USB port, after which the installation will begin immediately. A window will pop up that will display the installation progress; on some systems this may occur in a mode invisible to the user. Within one to two minutes, the installation will be completed and you will be able to use the device.

Manual installation

Manual installation means installing drivers not directly from the storage medium itself. We can also install drivers for a flash drive from third-party Internet resources, but to avoid conflict situations, we will install drivers for a flash drive using another computer.

So, we take our problematic flash drive and insert it into another computer, where it is recognized. A prerequisite for this process is that the versions of Windows on both computers match. We use the system search and find two files.

We transfer them to the problem computer by any means, be it 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 reboot the computer and enjoy its performance with FLASH disks.

We looked at only the most common reasons why a flash drive is not visible on the computer. In fact, there are many more of them. Moreover, there are problems that are expressed by other system messages, and their solution is already described in the paragraphs of the article.

The “Insert disk” message appears even if the flash drive is already connected to the USB port

This system error occurs if drivers overlap each other and interfere with the normal functioning of USB devices. In order to fix this error, you need to remove all drivers for USB devices and install them again. This process is described step by step in this article.

Message about the need to format the disk

This message appears if you are using a flash drive for the first time or if it has experienced a system failure. In addition to the message, you can make sure that it is not suitable for use, 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 occurs in 3 cases. This is a driver conflict, a file system conflict, and a failure of the flash drive itself. It can be solved by reinstalling the drivers; if that doesn’t help, then do a quick format to preserve the ability to recover data on the 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 point out that this error can occur for two reasons:

1. Driver conflict.
2. Faulty port.

It’s easy to check what problem you have, insert the flash drive into another port, if the freeze continues, it means there’s 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?

The contact on the flash drive, which is responsible for transmitting information, may be damaged. A driver conflict and the assignment of a busy letter to a partition cannot be ruled out. If the problem does not go away after connecting the flash drive to another computer, try checking the availability of the partition. If everything is fine 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 we won’t be able to immediately access the data. There are several problems that can cause Error 43.

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

conclusions

We have reviewed in detail the reasons that may prevent a computer from reading a flash drive and the information on it. The described solutions with step-by-step instructions will definitely help you get rid of this problem. An unreadable flash drive can be a death sentence only if the flash drive is faulty. In other situations, this is an easily reversible process. If you have any questions or couldn’t find a solution to your problem in the article, leave a comment and we’ll try to clarify the situation together.

When you connect an external USB drive or flash drive, it will immediately appear in Explorer (my computer) and will be displayed as a local drive. However, sometimes when you connect a USB flash drive to a computer, the drive may not appear in “my computer”, this also applies to SD and microSD memory cards. If the flash drive is not showing up in File Explorer, you can try the solutions below to enable your external drive in File Explorer again. Before testing these solutions, I recommend unplugging the flash drive, rebooting your computer once, and plugging the flash drive back in to see if it shows up in This PC.

Adding a drive letter to an external drive

• Press a combination of buttons Win+R and enter diskmgmt.msc to enter disk management.

• In the "Disk Management" section, check if your external drive (flash drive) has a letter. If there is a drive letter, it will appear next to the drive name as shown in the image below. If there is no letter, you will need to follow the next steps.
• Right click on the flash drive that you want to see in My Computer Explorer, and then click " Change drive letter or path".

• Click the button Add. When you click the "Add" button, a dialog box will open " Add a drive letter"or"Path". As you can see in the image below, Windows 10 automatically assigns a drive letter to the selected flash drive, but you can choose your own letter by clicking the down arrow next to the drive letter. Click OK to complete the process.

Show empty drives in My Computer

A parameter in the folder properties can restore the display of the flash drive to “my computer”. The option is used to hide empty drives in Explorer.

• Open My Computer. Click File, then Options.

• Go to the tab View And remove tick Hide empty disks. Click apply, if the flash drive does not appear even after the above solutions, try connecting it to another computer and check if it appears there.

Hello dear site visitors! In this article I would like to tell you about why doesn't the computer see the flash drive?, and what to do to fix it.

Reasons why the computer does not see the flash drive.

Before you decide what to do, you need to understand the reasons, and there can be many of them.

Reason #1. The USB port on the front panel of the computer is not connected.

This is one of the main reasons. Most often, people insert a flash drive into the USB port on the front panel of the computer, as it is very convenient. But it happens that during assembly, the craftsmen forgot to connect the front panel to the motherboard. As a result, the flash drive is not visible, and you still cannot insert headphones into the front output :).

Reason #2. Not a working flash drive.

This is the second of the main reasons. Flash drives, like everything in this world, do not last forever, sometimes they break. Most often they burn out.

Reason #3. Virus.

Where would we be without them :). Unfortunately, when transferring data from a computer infected with a virus, two things can happen:

1. The files on the flash drive will not be visible, I talked about how to solve this problem in this article -
2. The flash drive itself will not be visible.

Well, your computer may also be infected, and because of this the computer does not see the flash drive.

Reason #4. Driver failure

Driver failures are very rare. However, it does happen.

Reason #5. File system conflict.

It happens that the file system on the flash drive is FAT, and on the computer it is NTFS. Sometimes these file systems conflict. Because of this, the computer does not see the flash drive.

Reason #6. Faulty USB port.

Sometimes it is not the flash drive that is faulty, but the USB port itself.

We figured out the main reasons. Now let’s figure out how to make the flash drive visible.

Let's get rid of problems.

Let's decide first problem— The USB port on the front panel of the computer is not connected. Unfortunately, many people cannot solve this problem on their own, because... The front panel is connected to the motherboard, and for this you need to know where to “plug the cord”. If you want, you can call a specialist and he will connect everything for you, it shouldn’t cost much. However, there is an easier way out - connect the flash drive to the rear panel, which also has USB ports.

Problem #2- Not a working flash drive. If the computer does not read the flash drive at all, then most likely it has simply burned out or failed. And there’s nothing you can do about it except throw away this flash drive and buy a new one. But it happens that the computer makes a sound when “inserting” a flash drive, but does not show the flash drive itself. This most often refers to reasons 3,4 and 5.

Let's figure it out with the third problem, that is, with a virus. To do this, you need to check all disks and file media on your computer. That is, we insert the flash drive and check the PC thoroughly. I talked about how to do this in lessons and

Problem number 4– driver failure. But here you have to puff, but in principle it’s nothing complicated.

Specifically in this case, you need to update the USB port drivers. To do this, you need to go to Device Manager. The most convenient way to do it is this:

You can also open the device manager using the command devmgmt.msc in Run. You can read about how to do this

Now we find the item “USB controllers” and left-click on the small button to the left of this inscription.

We are given a list of all the USB ports that you have on your computer. Next you need to insert the USB flash drive. After this, a change will occur on one of the lines (you will definitely notice it, because the entire device manager will seem to flash). On the newly appeared or changed line, right-click and select “Delete”.

With this action, we will remove the driver.

After that, remove the flash drive and insert it again. That's it, we updated the driver.

If updating the drivers does not help, then it may be a file system conflict. Here we are crept up on the fifth problem.

We will solve it by formatting the flash drive in the file system we need.

To find out what file system you have, go to Computer -> Right-click on drive C

Select Properties. And it will show what file system you have.

We will format the flash drive using the program HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, this program sees the flash drive even when the computer does not see it (unless, of course, the problem is the difference in file systems).

I talked about how to format a flash drive using this program in the article. You can also download this program there. The only thing is that in the File system item, select the system that is on your computer, in my case it will be NTFS.

well and solve the problem for reason No. 6, easiest. If your USB port is faulty, then you simply try to “plug” the flash drive into other USB ports, and if they don’t “function”, there is only one way out - a repair shop.

Well, what to do if laptop Can't see the flash drive? Here everything is even simpler, because there are fewer reasons.

1. Not a working flash drive.
2. Virus.
3. Driver failure
4. File system conflict.
5. Faulty USB port.

And you already know how to deal with all this.

Well, that's all. See you again!

Let's go from simple to complex. If one tip doesn't help or you can't follow a recommendation, try the next step. They may seem obvious to you, but experienced admins know how many problems were solved by simply rebooting or plugging in a power socket.

1. Remove the flash drive and reinsert it

It happens that the flash drive is not inserted all the way or the port, which has survived thousands of cycles of inserting and removing devices, does not provide proper contact.

Something may have gotten into the connectors. Use compressed air, tweezers or a natural fiber brush to clean them. Of course, you should first turn off your computer - safety comes first. Insert metal tweezers into the port of a computer that is turned on, and you risk being left without a motherboard.

3. Try a different port

Insert the flash drive into a slot that is sure to work. For example, the one that is currently used to connect a mouse and keyboard.

4. Try connecting another device to the port

Take a known working mouse, keyboard or other simple device and connect it to the port into which the flash drive was inserted. If the device is not receiving power or is not working properly, there is a problem with the port.

5. Try a different flash drive

Take a guaranteed working flash drive. It is better if it has an LED - this way you can immediately understand whether power is being supplied to it or not. If there is power, but the flash drive is not detected, the problem is in the software (most likely, the drivers for the USB port are to blame, read about it below).

6. Restart your computer and try again

Perhaps the operating system has crashed, and because of this the flash drive is not detected in the computer. As soon as the computer boots everything correctly, the problem will disappear.

7. Try a different computer

Or a smart TV, smartphone or tablet (via an adapter), in short, any device that accurately reads flash drives. This will allow you to understand whether the flash drive is working. If yes, then the problem is in the computer.

8. Run the Windows Diagnostic Utility

For Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10, Microsoft has released a special utility that helps solve problems with USB ports. Download it from the official technical support website and run it, in the window that appears, click “Next”. The utility will do the rest itself.

If everything is OK with the ports, the utility will issue the following report:

A similar window will appear if the utility was able to solve the problem itself. If something goes wrong, you will see this picture:

This is a reason to try other tips, and if it doesn’t help, contact a service center - perhaps the port is physically damaged or the contact has come loose.

9. Change the drive letter

Sometimes after this the computer sees the flash drive again.

• Windows 7: go to the menu “Control Panel” - “Administrative Tools” - “Computer Management” - “Disk Management”;
• Windows 10: go to “Settings” (called from the “Start” menu, which is displayed after clicking the Windows button), enter “Administrative Tools” in the search bar, in the window that appears, click on the “Computer Management” icon and go to the “Disk Management” tab .

Right-click on the desired drive (it may not have a volume label, but the size must match that stated by the manufacturer) and select “Change drive letter.”

In the window that appears, select the desired letter from the list and save the changes. After this, be sure to restart your PC so that everything works correctly.

10. Remove the device and then add it

Go to Device Manager.

• Windows 7: on the desktop, right-click on the “Computer” icon, select “Manage”, in the window that appears, click on “Device Manager”.
• Windows 10: Go to Settings (accessed from the Start menu that appears after you click the Windows button) and type Device Manager in the search bar.

Alternatively, press Win + R, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter (works on both systems).

If there are devices in the list marked with a question or exclamation mark, right-click on each of them and select “Remove device.” After that, click “Update hardware configuration”:

The system will detect the device and automatically install drivers.

11. Reinstall drivers manually

If the system could not find the devices on its own, go to the website of the manufacturer of the laptop or motherboard of your computer and download the latest version of the drivers.

12. Check the voltage at the port

Normally, the USB port outputs a voltage of about 5 V. Use a multimeter in DC mode, set the limit to 20 V. If the value is more than 10% above or below 5 V, turn off the computer and contact a specialist - there is a risk of “killing” the devices When connected to such a port, there may be problems in the computer's power circuits.

If the computer sees the flash drive, but does not read it or reads it incorrectly (slow, freezes when reading, etc.):

1. Scan the flash drive with an antivirus.

Perhaps the reason is due to the malware that infected the flash drive. By the way, also check your computer right away - malware does not wait for an opportune moment, but spreads immediately.

2. Format the flash drive

If possible, transfer the necessary data to a hard drive or other storage device. Then on the desktop, left-click on the “Computer” icon, in the window that opens, right-click on the flash drive and click “Format”. Another option is to go to “Disk Management”, right-click on the flash drive and click “Format”.

Most often, a quick format (clearing the disk table of contents) is sufficient, but we recommend choosing a full format. In this case, the utility checks each sector of the disk, marks the damaged ones, and is more likely to restore the drive's functionality.

Attention! Formatting will destroy all data on the flash drive. If the media contains information that is critical to you, contact a specialist.

3. Restore the flash drive using special utilities.

• D-Soft Flash Doctor;
• JetFlash Recovery Tool;
• Flash Memory Toolkit.

They help recover flash drives that Windows cannot format or recover. In addition, utilities for flash drive recovery can be found on the manufacturer’s website.