Cannot Find Memory Stick in Control Panel

[callicat]

Hi,
I have a computer with XP on it when I put the memory stick in the USB slot; a sound comes on detecting the device found but it does not pop up nor you cannot find it Control Panel. It will appear after you go into Explorer and type the drive such as G: but it will not show in the Microsoft Explorer window. If your put the memory stick in the computer and then turn it on (boot up) it does show. I have read that you can change the drive letter but it doesn't work doing that either. I have tried multiple sticks and they all do the same and tried different USB slots too. Any idea on how to fix this problem. Thanks in advance!:

 

[dashdanw]

if it were me id make sure my USB drivers were up to date...maybe this'll bump t so someone else can help srry

 

[MaverickUK]

Do you have SP2?

 

[callicat]

I had uninstalled the USB drivers and reinstalled but to no avail

 

[callicat]

Yes, I have SP2 installed. Thanks still cannot figure this one out. It does it to all sticks so I have ruled out that too.

 

[JohnWill]

I'm obviously missing something here. If the USB FLASH drives shows up in My Computer, I will ASSURE you that it appears in Device Manager.

Whenever I plug in a USB FLASH drive, two entries show up. I can't imagine them not appearing if the drive functions and appears in My Computer.

 

[callicat]

Thanks for the reply, but the flash drive does not show up in the control panel, that is my problem. It did at one time but the only way I found out was to put the stick in and then boot up the pc, then it will recognize the stick. I have even changed the drive name at this point and have read that if you put deamon tools on there could be a file you need to get rid of but that isn't the case either. Still wonderin on this one! Thanks

 

[JohnWill]

Can you post a display of the two sections above with the drive installed? Also, post a display of the drive in Disk Management at the same time.

 

[callicat]

Will be able to do a print screen but that is about. I will try to figure out something though.

 

[guitar]

do they appear in my computer i don't think they are supposed to appear in control panel

 

[callicat]

To clarify the other drive for the mem stick doesn't show up in my computer where the DVD etc. should show up nor does it appear by going into disk management. It used to at one time but if you know the letter drive and type it in Explorer you can find it. Hope this helps.

 

[JohnWill]

I can't imagine how it functions at all if it doesn't show up in Device Manager. Does it appear in the list when you click the "Safely Remove" icon on the taskbar?

You wouldn't happen to have something like TweakUI loaded and some drive letters hidden, would you?

 

[callicat]

The only thing different on this pc is that it has diskkeeper on it. The drive for the flash does show up in device manager but it is awkward to find it that way; I am not at that pc but have noticed that strange things happen to the computer if you use a USB 1 rather than a 2 port on my computer at home. Once again if you type the drive in Internet Explorer it brings up the flash stick. Flash sticks usually beep first letting you know that there is hardware out there and then shows the drive it is in. Just confused but maybe a rebuilt would do it.

 

[JohnWill]

Before a complete re-install, try this:

First step, Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Create a restore point and name it something like "Before USB Fix". This is to bail you out if something goes wrong during the following process and makes things worse.

Create a file with NOTEPAD containing the following lines and save it as FIX.REG

-------------------------- Use text after this line --------------------------------
REGEDIT4
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment]"DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES"="1"

-------------------------- Use text before this line --------------------------------

Double click on FIX.REG and say yes to the Merge Into Registry question.

Unplug ALL USB devices.
Open Device Manager.
View, Show Hidden Devices.
Uninstall all devices under USB Controllers.
Uninstall all devices under Disk Drives that you know are not present.
Uninstall all devices under Storage Volumes. Say no to any reboot prompts until you are finished. Also, if a Storage Volume doesn't uninstall, ignore it and move to the next one.
If you have a yellow ? with unknown devices, uninstall all of the entries there as well.

When this is done, reboot TWICE.

Reconnect the USB devices and see if they're recognized properly.

NOTE: If you have a USB keyboard and/or mouse, you'll have to modify the instructions and leave enough parts for those to function. I don't have one yet, so I haven't had time to modify the instructions.

 

[callicat]

I was told that since the Norton Anti-Virus cannot be uninstalled one cannot do a restore, maybe we need to do that first?