USB flash drive challenge 1

[j0ckser]

i use a (Verbatim 2 Gb) flash drive to carry important docs between home and work. it worked friday (just past) on my work computer, and didn't on sunday (yesterday) on my home computer. i tried several different ports on my computer, a couple of ports on a friend's computer, and again this morning on my work computer - no go.

i tested another (ScanDisk 2 Gb) in all the same ports, and it worked as advertised.

i suspect these little beasts either work or they don't and once they don't, that's it.

please tell me it ain't so - they can be resurrected.

per ardua ad astra

 

[vacunita]

So its not getting detected at all?

does the hardware wizard come up, but is unable to install it?

When plugged in, have you checked if it appears in Disk Management even if it doesn't get a drive letter in my computer?









----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[j0ckser]

usually a small LED at the other end lights when the unit is recognised. also a small dialogue box pops up asking what i want to do, and an icon shows in the system tray indicating the option to safely remove.

none of the above occurs, nor is a drive letter assigned. i have tried rebooting with it plugged in, but no joy.

per ardua ad astra

 

[BMurtagh]

Hi,

One thing you could attempt would be to first confirm if the drivers exist anymore for the flash drive. If they do, you could uninstall and then try using the drivers from the Verbatim website that corresponds to your flash drive.

If the drivers aren't present on your system, you could just install the drivers that are posted on their site to see if that makes a difference.

http://www.verbatim.com/support/support.cfm?open=Downloads

Brendan Murtagh - HostMySite.com
Technical Support Representative
bmurtagh@hostmysite.com

http://www.hostmysite.com?utm_source=bb

 

[vacunita]

Flash drives by nature should not require any drivers, other than the ones Windows can provide for them.

Again I ask, with the drive plugged in, check the Drive Management console, assuming this is Windows XP or Vista, see if its there.

To get tot he console, right click on My Computer on XP, or Computer on Vista and Select Manage.

When the window opens, go down to Storage -> Disk Management

If the machine was able to pick it up at all, it should show up there. If it does show up there, post back with any messages it has in the status column.
If you can, try right clicking on it and assigning a drive letter manually.

If doesn't show up there, then it likely suffered some type of physical damage, a short or something like that.

And its likely you'll have to take it to a Professional Recovery service to get your data back.




----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[BadBigBen]

Vacunita, you are correct, but everything before w2k does need a USB driver...

since he tried it on three different PC's, and nary a twitch, it is safe to say: "It is dead, Jim..."

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[vacunita]

True. I guess the fact that the light doesn't turn on when plugged in pretty much seals the deal.




----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[Grenage]

Indeed, it sounds toasted. But hey, you only used it for transporting documents, so you shouldn't lose much... right?

"We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area" - Major Mike Shearer

 

[j0ckser]

thanks people for your help. i was really hoping for a miracle, but was really expecting confirmation. there were only 2 docs on it that were important (as i remember...) and i am able to get their backups from my computer.

btw, i did try drive management, and... nothing. no surprise there.

per ardua ad astra

 

[BobbR]

A few years back I had a similar issue with a USB drive. Last resort was to squeeze down on the drive connector with thumb and finger, plugged it in again and it worked. Guess after untold plugging the connector pins spread enough to not make reliable contact. Worth a try.

 

[kjv1611]

True. I guess the fact that the light doesn't turn on when plugged in pretty much seals the deal. [/quit]

That or the LED could have been dead. And we all know how likely it is for an LED to go bad before a thumb drive, right?

[cricket]
[cricket]
[cricket]

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[kjv1611]

SHOOT! oops

True. I guess the fact that the light doesn't turn on when plugged in pretty much seals the deal. [/quit]

That or the LED could have been dead. And we all know how likely it is for an LED to go bad before a thumb drive, right?

[cricket]
[cricket]
[cricket]

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[626F62]

try freezing it and thawing it out... i know it sounds like crock but it makes the metals contract and expand this can sometimes make things better (or worse) gud chance you will lose everything on it tho. also just leaving it and trying it in a few months (had an iPod, it stoped working, no power no nothing. i tried for weeks to get it working plugs and USB etc... i left it and about 6 months later was gonna throw it out and it just turned on in my hand with battery life and everything?!?!?)

 

[kjv1611]

626F62,

Are you sure it wasn't a transformer you picked up? It coulda just faked being your iPod.



--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[DOIMPRO]

As I discussed in previous posts, a common overlooked feature of you PC is the ability to identify connected USB devices regardless of drivers.

Each USB hub (Located in the device manager) has a power tab that shows how many ports available, total power available and the current power load from each port.

I don’t know of any USB devices that do not use the power from the port and any connected items always show up here. Check here for a quick snapshot of your ports.

Device manager > Universal Serial Bus Controllers > and double click USB root hub…

If your device still doesn’t show up here, clean the device pins with rubbing alcohol and try again


Surprise! Most loopback jacks are located conveniently behind the ear and above the leg

 

[james33]

Dear All,

Came across this problem on a USB Thumb Drive so I took it apart and where the pcb is attached to the plug there are a few connections.
By holding those tight together and then once the drive was recognised copying ALL the files across retrieved the data.

Backing up isn't a bad idea too!

SecondCopy from Centered Systems is brilliant!

http://www.centered.com/

Set it up and then double click and stuff is copied to a separate folder on the computer and you can save consecutive dated copies too.

Regards
Jim


Regards Jim
Check the FAQ area of this Forum for answers (If there are any FAQs!) , it could save you a lot of time and effort! Good Luck!