How to recognize a flash drive that the computer does not see. Why the computer doesn’t see the flash drive - what to do

Hello friends! in this article you will find out why the computer does not see the flash drive and what to do in such a situation. Today I will tell you how to deal with a common problem when the computer stops seeing the flash drive and does not display the contents.

We will also consider the option when the laptop does not see the flash drive after formatting. Go? I ask everyone in advance to like the article in order to help me develop this blog. Thank you!

The computer does not see the flash drive - what to do?

We have already talked about. But what can you do if the computer does not see the flash drive? We have tried to collect solutions that are really useful and will help resolve this issue for you. If you have any additional questions, be sure to mention them in the comments.

Reasons for flash drive failure

First, let's look at the causes of the described problem, because, as you know, there is no smoke without fire. In our case, there may be many of these reasons, so it is worth paying attention only to the most important ones.

Often, the front panel is turned off on a personal computer, considering it unnecessary. And as a result, we get a number of non-working USB ports.

Not working flash drive. Everything in our world tends to break. For example, flash drives often simply burn out due to improper use or long service life.

It's the 21st century, century high technology, without viruses there is simply nowhere. Transferring infected files from another PC can be fraught with the following things: in the first case, the flash drive itself will not be visible to the computer, and in the second, you will not see the files on the drive. Of course, your machine could also be an infected device, so I advise you to check everything for viruses.

Driver malfunction. This doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

File system conflict. It may be that the drive (flash drive) has a file system installed that is different from the computer, so they may conflict, and the flash drive is not visible on the computer.

Faulty USB port.

The computer does not see the flash drive? Solution!

The reasons why the computer does not see the USB flash drive have become more or less clear, but now let’s figure out how to solve our problem so that the computer finally starts seeing the flash drive.

Let's start with the non-working front panel. In this case, you need to know exactly where the cord is connected to motherboard, otherwise even bigger problems cannot be avoided.

I would advise you to contact service center, where competent specialists would quickly and effectively solve the problem.

Non-working flash drive. A burnt-out flash drive will have to be replaced with a new one.

Malicious programs or utilities. As you may have guessed, the solution to this problem is to scan all disks on your PC with an antivirus program.

Driver malfunction. This problem is not solved as easily as the previous ones, but if you approach its solution headlong, then everything will turn out to be much simpler.

What do we need?

Update driver USB port through device manager. You know how to find the latter from my previous articles.

When you insert a flash drive into one of them, you may notice a slight flicker in one of the list lines. This is what we need to delete by clicking on the appropriate button.

After removing the driver, you will need to install a new one. To do this, insert the flash drive into the same port to which you performed the previous manipulations. That's all, all USB port software is updated.

Point by point, we approached the problem associated with file system conflicts. It can be solved very simply. Format the flash drive, changing the type file system to a similar one installed on your computer. File system name Can find out as follows: My computer - Disk C (click on the icon right click mice). The properties that appear will show all the necessary information.

The last problem is the easiest to solve. If one of the ports is faulty, then try inserting the flash drive into another; if the others are faulty, there is only one way out - send the PC for repair.

So, I described the solution to our problem for a desktop PC, but users with laptops were unhappy. Don’t worry, because in your situation everything is a little simpler, since there are correspondingly fewer reasons and problems. And they are exactly like this:

• The flash drive is broken
• Malicious code
• Drivers are not working properly
• File system conflict
• Non-working USB port

conclusions

You already know well how to deal with them, so go ahead! That's all I have for today! I hope now you know why the computer does not see the flash drive and what to do about this problem. If you found the article useful, like it. Also, don’t forget to ask your questions and suggestions in the comments. Peace and goodness to everyone!

You connect the flash drive to the laptop, but nothing happens - the drive is not displayed in the system, and it is impossible to work with the data stored on it. A very unpleasant situation that requires immediate resolution.

Identifying the cause

The first step is to understand what is not working: the laptop’s USB port or the flash drive. You can use another flash drive to check - if the laptop detects it, then the problem lies in the drive. If the laptop does not find any media, then you will have to check several system parameters, the failure of which could lead to such an unpleasant result.

Checking media through Disk Management

Let's check whether the laptop detects the USB flash drive connected to it using the Disk Management system utility:

1. Using the Win+R combination, launch the Run menu.
2. Enter “diskmgmt.msc” in the window and click “OK”.
3. See if your removable drive is in the list of connected drives.

Ideally:

• the connected flash drive is detected;
• all drive partitions have the “Good” status.

In this case, just right-click on the removable drive and select the “Make partition active” option. Additionally, you may need to assign a letter to the flash drive - if this was not done automatically by the system.

The status “Not initialized” or “Unknown” instead of “Good” indicates that the flash drive is faulty; you need to think about recovering the data that was stored on it.

Resetting BIOS Settings

Sometimes the laptop does not see the flash drive due to a failure in the BIOS settings. This can be fixed by resetting the settings to the factory state or manually enabling the USB controller in the BIOS.

After rebooting again, check if the flash drive is detected. If resetting BISO settings does not help, move on to the next solution to the problem.

Removing old USB drivers

Windows installs drivers for the flash drive when it is first connected to the computer. However, after removing the drive, the installed software does not disappear. Moreover, sometimes old drivers interfere with the correct operation of other removable media. To eliminate this influence, you need to update the software of the USB device:

After removing the device, you need to disconnect the flash card and then plug it back in - the old drivers will be removed, and the problem with detecting the flash drive should be resolved.

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

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

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 not enough 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 USB flash drive after updating or installing (also suitable for Windows 7, 8)

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.

If you have an operating system version 10, then an error may occur due to driver incompatibility. If this is the case, there will be a mark next to the driver - an 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

If you have this operating system and encounter the problem, follow these steps:

1. Update the build to SP3 and remove the IE browser.
2. Update your operating system, even if you have a new build.
3. If the problem occurs on Win Vista, also update the software first.

• KB967132 - in the 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 - the new build of Windows XP now supports the second version of the USB port.
• 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

Drivers operating system Microsoft is installed by default, immediately after the first connection of the external drive. Then this one installed driver it 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 sorts of problems associated with incorrect operation of drivers, they must be removed and new ones installed again.

How to remove drivers for all USB devices

Step two Boot the operating system.

Step three Download from the official page of the 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 B command line write drivecleanup.exe.

Step six The program will clear all drivers and entries.

Reinstalling USB devices in Windows Device Manager

1. In Device Manager, enter devmgmt.msc.
2. From Device Manager, open the USB Controllers tab.
3. Delete everything where the names include USB hub, Hub, Host Controller.
4. Update the USB device configuration from the manager.

Additional actions

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. In registry entries HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Control you also need to remove StorageDevicePolicies.
4. 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

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.

There can be many reasons why a computer or laptop does not see a flash drive. And it’s quite difficult to determine what’s wrong. After all, the reason may be related to both the PC and the USB device itself. There is only one way out in this case: try all possible options.

And to make this task easier for you, below are 8 recommendations on how to fix this problem. The tips are universal and are suitable for all PCs and laptops running Windows XP, 7, 8 or 10.

Checking the functionality of the USB flash drive

If the flash drive is not recognized by the computer, then first of all check whether it works at all? The easiest way is to connect it to another laptop or PC.

Look at the USB device LED (available on all modern models). If it does not light up, then the flash drive is probably no longer working. Although you could simply extract it incorrectly. In this case, I recommend reading.

Checking USB ports

The second reason why the flash drive is not recognized by the computer is that you connect it to a non-working USB connector. Even if it worked yesterday, it still needs to be checked. To do this, connect another device to the same port - a mouse, printer, smartphone. Or you can connect a USB flash drive to the connector on the rear panel.

Configuration update

If the flash drive is not displayed on Windows 7, 8 or 10, go to “Device Manager” (it can be opened through Start - Control Panel).

After that:

1. Find your flash drive. It is usually located in the "USB Controllers" or "Other Devices" section and may be named as a mass storage or unknown device (or the standard name - Kingstone, Silicon Power, etc.).
   
2. Select it, right-click and click Delete.
   
3. In the top menu, select Action – Update configuration.
   

Installing a utility from Microsoft

After this, you need to open the settings (“USB Configuration”). Since there are many BIOS versions, the path will be different in each case. For example, in the screenshot below, the required item is in the “Advanced” section.

Open it and check that next to “USB Controller” the option “Enabled” is indicated. If this is not the case, select the appropriate item.

Changing the device letter

To fix this error:

1. Go to Start – Control Panel – Administrative Tools.
   
2. Select the Computer Management shortcut.
   
3. On the left, go to the Disk Management tab.

   
   Disk Management Tab

4. Select the flash drive (it is labeled “Removable device”), right-click and select the “Change drive letter” line. To check which letter is not in use, look in My Computer.

   
   

Driver Update

If the flash drive is not recognized on the laptop, the reason may be outdated drivers. In this case, they need to be updated. Easiest to use (they do everything automatically).

By the way, if you have an old PC, then flash drives with a capacity of 32 GB or more will not be displayed on it.

Hello!

Flash drive on this moment, this is one of the most popular types of storage media (except for the ability to share files over the network).

In fact, a USB flash drive has a lot of advantages: it is mobile (can be put in any pocket), universal (connects to any PC, laptop, gadget), copying/reading information from it is quite fast, etc.

But one small thing happens to them" problem“- sometimes the computer refuses to recognize and see it. There are quite a few reasons for the invisibility of a flash drive, in this article I want to give the most basic ones that I most often encounter in my work.

Also from the article you will learn what can be done to restore the functionality of your device (you shouldn’t always immediately throw it away and run to buy a new one?! 👣).

To help!

If you want to buy flash drives at bargain prices, I recommend using Chinese online stores:

Reasons for the invisibility of a flash drive

10 Main reasons and their solutions...

Problem #1: the flash drive is not formatted

This reason is the most common! The fact is that after purchasing a flash drive, you need to format it (very often new flash drives and disks are not formatted at all and therefore they are not visible in “My Computer/This Computer”...).

Solution

It is most likely pointless to go into “My Computer”, because... in some cases you won’t see a flash drive there.

Therefore you need to open "Disk Management" . To do this, press the button combination Win+R (The Run window should appear) , enter the command diskmgmt.msc and press Enter (screenshot below).

Remark! If your flash drive is not visible in Disk Management, go to the 3rd problem.

Find your flash drive in the list (guide by its size and name, for example, "Kingston...8 GB") , then click on it right mouse button and in the context menu that appears, select - " Format... " (example in the screenshot below) .

Actually, that's all. By the way, I recommend choosing NTFS as the file system (because on FAT 32, which is often the default on flash drives, it is impossible to copy and place files whose size exceeds 4 GB).

Problem #2: incorrect auto-installation of drive/flash drive letter

When you connect any disk drive, flash drive, floppy disk, etc. to your computer - it automatically assigns a unique drive letter to your drive, e.g. "System disk C:\" or " Local disk F:\", etc.

Everything would be fine, but sometimes the auto-installation of the letter fails and assigns a non-unique letter to your connected drive. As a result, the drive is not visible...

To solve this, you just need to try changing the letter (this is done quickly and very often solves the lion's share of problems).

Solution

You also need to go to "Disk Management" (how this is done is described above), then select your “invisible” drive, click on it right mouse button and select the function " Change drive letter or drive path ".

To help!

By the way, in some cases, Windows may not assign a drive letter to all connected drives at all. To fix this, use the following recommendations:

Problem #3: Outdated or broken drivers

A very, very common problem is outdated drivers (also sometimes drivers can fail and conflict with each other). It is worth noting that on older computers another problem is possible - the inability to see a flash drive whose size is more than 32 GB.

This can be solved in the following way: first remove the old drivers, then install new ones.

Solution

First of all, open the device manager, where you can see all the devices connected to the computer. To do this, open, then switch the view to "Large icons" and select "from the list" device Manager " (example in the screenshot below).

To help! Alternative ways to open Device Manager -

Note!

Devices that do not have drivers will display a yellow exclamation mark. In general, it is not advisable for you to have such devices marked exclamation marks(or red crosses).

After uninstalling, click the "" button - it is located at the top of the Device Manager window. After which, your manager window will blink a couple of times, and the drivers will be reinstalled...

Problem #4: the front panel of the system unit is not connected

Very often, the USB ports on the front panel of the system unit are not connected to the motherboard (apparently, they forget to connect this socket when assembling the PC). In this case, you simply insert the flash drive into a port to nowhere...

Solution

1. Quite simple: connect the flash drive to the back of the system unit - it always has 2÷4 USB ports. At the very least, it is recommended to do this simply for testing - to confirm that the USB ports on the front panel are not working.
2. Try connecting the front panel to the mat. board. If you have never had such experience before, go into system unit I don’t recommend it, it’s better to use the services of service centers.

Problem #5: viruses on a PC or flash drive

Settings for enabling USB ports are usually located in the "Advanced" tab. On opposite point USB Controller need to convert the value to Enabled(i.e. enabled, see screenshot below). Then save the settings and exit (usually F10 key).

You can also just reset BIOS settings to optimal (USB ports are always included in them. At least I have not yet seen the opposite...).

Problem #8: File system error

In cases of file system failure - when you connect a flash drive, you will most likely see a message that the flash drive is not formatted, that it has a RAW file system and Windows will prompt you to do something with it 😊.

In some cases, formatting a flash drive cannot be completed due to some errors...

In general, the problem is with file system- quite “big”, and its solution is not always simple and quick (especially if the flash drive has the necessary data).

Solution

If the data on the flash drive is needed- I don’t recommend formatting it. In general, I advise you not to do anything with it, but take it to a service center. If you want to do everything yourself, then first try to remove your data from it using recovery utilities: Recuva, R.Saver, Easy Recovery Professional, etc.

To help!

How to recover photos from MicroSD cards memory or USB flash drive -

If the data on the flash drive is not needed (or you have already copied it): I recommend trying to format the flash drive using one special. utilities - HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool.

HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool

A simple utility for low-level formatting of disks and flash drives. In a number of cases, it helps to bring drives back to life, for which there was practically no hope left. By the way, it formats even those disks that Windows does not see or gives reading/formatting errors.

The utility works quite simply: after launching, it will present you with a list of all connected drives to the system, you select the one you need and format it. After formatting, the disk (or flash drive) starts working as it should!

Formatting a flash drive

To help!

How to format a flash drive (FAT32, exFAT, NTFS) -

Problem #9: USB port malfunction

It also happens that the USB port becomes unusable. Most often this happens due to frequent and careless use of it: for example, many people sharply pull the flash drive (or USB cable), over time the USB port begins to fit poorly to the inserted flash drive (i.e. there is no contact between the flash drive and the port). As a result, the flash drive is invisible.

Note. By the way, the USB port may not work stably: i.e. you will first see the flash drive, and after you start copying information onto it (or reading it) - you may see an error, or the connection will simply disappear...

Solution

1. Try connecting the flash drive to another USB port, or to another computer/laptop. If the problem is related to the USB port, you will immediately notice the difference...
2. I also recommend paying attention to dirt in the USB port. Often, over time, a layer of dust, plaque, etc. accumulates, which leads to poor contact. If there is a lot of dirt, try removing it with an old toothbrush dipped in alcohol. (perform the operation with the PC turned off!) , and then reinsert the flash drive.

Problem #10: USB flash drive malfunction (for example, after being dropped)

This is perhaps the worst thing that could happen to the drive, especially if it contains important data. Most often, the user guesses that the flash drive may have become unusable, because... before that:

• the drive fell to the floor;
• was dropped into water;
• accidentally touched or hit by any object;
• The drive shows deep scratches, chips or cracks.

In general, when you insert a flash drive into a USB port, the LED on it should light up (most flash drives have one). The characteristic sound of connecting the device should “ring” on the PC. If all this is missing, especially when connecting a flash drive to different devices– then this is a bad sign, most likely there is a problem with the flash drive itself.

Solution

1. Buy a new flash drive (banal and simple 😉, especially since the prices for them are now quite affordable (and they generally cost “pennies”));
2. Try taking it to a service center, maybe the technician will be able to resolder the contacts and it will work again (but I would recommend this method only for). After repairing the drive: using it for important data is not justified!