Flash drive problem

I have a 512 Sandisk Micro flash drive that works well once I get data to it. However, my system gives it a drive letter but drops displaying it off Explorer within a second or two. I can still read it and use it with the command line but that can be an inconvenience.

 

Hi tenbob,

What's the drive letter?

Is it the same one each time you plug it in?

Do you have any other USB devices that are not plugged in when you plug this particular flash drive in? And if there are other devices, have you tried this flash drive with the others plugged in?

Have you tried uninstalling all your USB (not the Printer) devices in Device Manager - rebooting and have XP detect them again? If you do this, start from a shutdown, plug in a device one at a time, then shut down and add the next.

Regards - Charles

 

The drive letter is G: every time and the command line sees it.
Except for the printer, I only have my USB scanner plugged in. I am very hesitant to uninstall that scanner because of the difficulty I have had getting it up and running when I have.

That and the printer work fine. In the direct USB (not a hub) at the front of the computer, I have an 300G Maxtor external plugged with no problem. I have the flash drive plugged in right next to the Maxtor and it does not show.

I don't think I mentioned it but the speaker does beep-boop when plugging and unplugging the flash drive and DOS (or the command line) both see it.

 

Start > run and type diskmgmt.msc > ok.

When that occurs, what drive letter if any shows up in Disk Mangement?

Right clicking on the flash drives graphic portion in the Disk Management window > Change drive letter and paths option, can you change the drive letter?

Another thought is, can you create a shortcut for it, although it sounds like you don't have enough time for that. If you can, that would relieve you of having to access thru the command line.

Regards - Charles

 

Did that and changed G: to K:. It held but looking via Explorer, it was still hidden.

 

Maybe some other suggestions:
Try changing the drive letter of your optical drive to a higher one so the flash drive can take it's drive letter.

If you can see it in My Computer, right-click and select Format. Do a full format, not a quick format. If you get the choice, it should be formatted as Fat 16. If you cannot see it in My Computer, you will need to try formatting it on another computer.

Check at the manufacturer's website for a firmware update (make certain it is the correct one for your model).

If you are not using Win XP, find a Win XP computer to do the format and firmware upgrade. I could not do it on my daughter's drive using Win 98 or Win 2000.

Matt

 

I have formatted it from the command line

I have gotten to the mfg URL but no way to contact them or find a driver

 

Hi tenbob,

Can you try another flash drive?

I'm beginning to think there is something physically wrong with yours.

While visiting my daughter, I used one of my older flash drives (256 MB). Worked fine for a few days, then when I plugged it in, the system's response was to create three drive letters and getting a no disk message for each drive letter. This is on a Dell 2100 where the front USB (2) ports are at the bottom of the tower, easily stepped on or brushed by a foot. What a great piece of design The next time, I'm going to take a USB cable, plugging that in so the the drive itself is on top of the tower.

When I tried on my system, the systems's response was to hang at "installing new hardware ". This drive had its own drive letter and worked with no problems for more than a year.

My point is the inconsistent respones from XP to this same flash drive - both systems are XP SP2. I've never read about or seen a response from the system that you describe.

Regards - Charles

 

I'll be going to CA tomorrow morning and I am taking some things with me on that Flash Drive. Even if it doesn't show in explorer I'll be able to access it from a command line. But this way I'll be able to see if its the drive or my
computer

 

Back from CA . I left that flash drive in CA by mistake but nothing on it that mattered.

Bought a new one and had the same problem BUT when I used dskmgt (SP?) I was able to change it to H. It held and Iwas able to read it in MyComputer. Tomorrow will tell the tale.

 

Hi tenbob,

How did the CA system react to the drive?

Regards - Charles

 

I didn't use it in CA. took it just in case. The new one is fine on H instead of G. Didn't work as G
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