USB Flash Drive – Recognizing

Topic

New Reply

My pc is not recognizing that I am inserting a memory stick. Last week, the pc guru gave me access to some stuff and, in the process, all my drives changed. The two drives I’d like to use should be F and G, and although F appears G does not — plus, nothing happens when I insert the memory stick into either one of them. A different pc guy fixed this once. Does anybody know how I can do this? Thanks – O.Q.

Reply | Quote

Replies

Your info is a little sketchy – what operating system are you running? When you say “gave you access to some stuff” are you on a workplace network? What kind of memory stick device do you have – external or internal?

The usual way to re-assign drive letters in Windows XP is to right-click on My Computer, select Manage and then Disk Management. For hard drives you would then right-click in the right pane but for a removable disk, you should right-click the left pane (where the current drive letter appears) and then you can see the entry selection for changing drive letters. Let us know where you stand, OK?

Reply | Quote

Hello, bigaldoc: OS = XP Pro. Yes, we are on a workplace network. I have an external memory stick. I played around in the My Computer, and under Removable Storage, I found that the computer recognizes that it is in the drive, but says that it is idle. Any ideas how I can make it “unidle”?

This is frustrating, because we do not have an on-staff pc support person. I need to get a file off of it, and although my notebook pc opens up the list of files on it like my pc used to, the notebook dropped its information on how to connect to our network. Can you recommend a good book I could have on hand for this type of stuff? I’m not a total novice, but this is new territory being on my own with no on-deck pc support. THANK YOU !

Reply | Quote

The idle message is normal since you are not accessing the memory stick and neither is the PC. It’s just sitting there “idle”.

Your terminology is a bit confusing here. You say that the memory stick is plugged into the “drive” when I believe you mean that it is plugged into a USB port. You also say that you have found it as “Removeable Storage” in My computer.

Ok…. the easiest way to get a file off that memory stick or “portable storage device” should be to go to My Computer and double-click on the Removeable Storage device. This will open a window with the contents of the memory stick or portable storage drive displayed. First locate the file you want within the window and highlight it. If the window is open full screen then make it small enough that you can see an open area of your desktop. Then right click and hold the mouse button while you drag and drop the file on your desktop and then choose Copy Here from the dropdown. Close the open window and you will find the file on your desktop and available for you to work with. HTH.

BTW – This is just a quick and dirty workaround. Most file management like this is bes accomplished using Windows Explorer.

Edited by Doc to add… I can recommend a few good books for you to reference for problems like this, but my first suggestion to everyone who asks is to put a shortcut to Google on your desktop or in your Quicklaunch bar. Any questions you have… just ask Google. That’s where I go first when I need a quick answer.

Reply | Quote

Sorry – I should have been even more clear: the memory stick will not display its files; it doesn’t show up in My Computer in the regular list of files. Normally when you plug one of these things in, the files pop up. I can click on every USB port “drive” letter and nothing happens. But, the memory stick works correctly on my notebook, and it worked well on my pc until the outside consultant/pc guru clicked a couple of buttons to give me access to a couple more things, and in the process, all my drive names changed. Don’t know if that’s connected to this or not, but I had no problems until after he did this. He may not be back for a couple weeks, unfortunately.

P.S. Thanks for the Google tip. Would still appreciate book recommendations.

Reply | Quote

Take a look at Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out (Paperback).

Reply | Quote

Link doesn’t work for me Doc. But this one does:
Barnes & Noble.com – Microsoft Windows XP inside Out – Ed Bott – Paperback – Older Edition

Alan

Reply | Quote

Perfect, Thank you!

Reply | Quote

In the reviews for this book, it says that a user should be familiar with Windows before getting this book. I’m still going to get the book, but is there a book you can recommend on Windows? (Sure a lot to know for one little machine, but I’m determined to learn it!) Appreciate your time.

Reply | Quote

No insult intended here, nor is this a plug for “Da Boss”, but take a look at Windows XP All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies by our boss Woody Leonhard.

Reply | Quote

Thanks … I don’t know enough at this point to get cocky enough to be insulted! Will just get them both. Someday, then, I may know what I don’t know … which would be better than my state today. Have a good day –

Reply | Quote

Here is a guess of what might be going on, I could be wrong but it kind-of fits the description you have given.

Someone has mapped an additional network drive on your computer. This has been mapped to a drive letter that used to be used for your USB memory stick. If this happened then it can cause exactly the symptoms you have described – the memory stick will not be accessible because it expects to use a drive letter that is not available.

You can work around this by using Disk Manager to assign a different drive letter to your memory stick.

• Right click on “My Computer” and choose Manage from the menu
• Select Disk Management in the left hand pane
• Find the removable drive in the right pane, and right click on the partition containing your data
• Choose “Change drive letter and paths…” from the menu
• Click Change
• Assign an unused drive letter
• Exit from all the open dialog boxes
• Access your data using the newly assigned drive letter
  [/list]StuartR

Reply | Quote

[indent]

---

the memory stick will not be accessible because it expects to use a drive letter that is not available

---

[/indent]Stuart, I didn’t know that memory sticks “cared” which USB port they got plugged into or which drive letter they had been assigned the last time they were used. I’d always thought that they were simply removeable storage, like a CD or floppy and when plugged into any USB port just took the next available drive letter.

Reply | Quote

This is it! This is what I saw the person do that fixed this problem for me the last time. Now, however, it’s still not working, but when I changed the drive, it flashed. After changing the drive, I right clicked on that and looked at properties, and everything looks like it (probably should). Keep in mind, this is the first time I’ve ever done this. I’m not totally ignorant, but I’ve got a ton to learn about everything except the MS software.

Reply | Quote

[indent]

---

…I played around in the My Computer, and under Removable Storage…

---

[/indent] Whew! Looks like we have a big communication gap here! What does that statement mean? Did you go to Disk Management and check the drive letter assignments as I suggested? As an example, I have a SmartDisk media reader plugged in to my computer on a USB port and the attachment shows the THREE drive letters that are assigned to that device. The first thing we need to know is what does YOUR media (stick) reader look like in disk management, for without that being set correctly, you might NOT be able to access or see a stick plugged into that device.

Reply | Quote

You’re right … my technospeak regarding hardware is nearly non-existent. See my reply to Stuart, and then I think that what you explained in this post is what the problem is. Everything I can think of to look at shows that the pc acknowledges the presence of the memory stick, but I can’t get it to work still. I know it’s possible, just don’t know whether you all have the time/patience to help me achieve this!

Reply | Quote