Troubleshoot: Windows won't recognize USB hard drive / Fix unassigned drive letter

Page 1 of 2 1 2 > Thread Tools

#1 02-13-2009

Search this Thread

LookinAround
TechSpot Chancellor

Location: Chicago-land, IL Member since: Apr 2007, 6,376 posts

Troubleshoot: Windows won't recognize USB hard drive / Fix unassigned drive letter

Troubleshoot: Windows Won't Recognize Your USB Drive / Fix Unassigned Drive Letter Updated 5/2/10 Intro There are many different and varied reasons why Windows might: => Stop recognizing your USB drive => Stop displaying a USB drive and its drive letter in Explorer and/or My Computer => Report the drive media is write protected or tells you to "Insert disk" => Report it can't read the USB drive (e.g. it says the drive is unformatted or has a raw file system or reports an incorrect partition size) If youre not familiar with USB troubleshooting, I suggest you

Start with General Troubleshooting Steps below Then continue with Additional Steps and Related Links as might apply

Otherwise, feel free to start and use the information below however you see fit! To avoid future problems also see How to Avoid Problems with USB Storage Devices Related Links

How to Check Hardware / Connection Issues with your USB Device CD/DVD or Disk Problems? How to Fix Problems Caused by Filters How to Reinstall USB Controllers and Motherboard Chipset Drivers How to Cleanup and Remove old USB Mass Storage Drivers How to use G-Parted-Live-CD for USB storage device problems

Troubleshooting

1. General Troubleshooting Steps - (Applies to: All USB storage device problems)

Run Windows Update => Windows has a long history of USB problems and bug fixes o See USB Device Problems? Check for Windows Updates Uninstall then re-install your USB storage devices (such as USB CD/DVD, flash and hard drives) => Your system may have old USB storage device installation data which may conflict and cause problems with current devices o See How to Cleanup and Remove old USB Mass Storage Drivers Unplug other USB devices => A different USB device might be the real cause of your problem o Unplug your other USB devices to take them out of the equation when youre testing and trying to fix your USB drive o Its OK to leave USB mice and keyboards plugged in. However >> Note some tests in this Guide that specifically require otherwise >> If you have the option to use a non-USB mouse and keyboard while testing, IMHO "you may as well use em" o Undock any docking stations. Disconnect hubs o Plug your USB drive directly to your computer (Dont use external USB hubs while testing except when told otherwise!!) Connect AC adapters => Dont rely on USB ports for power when you don't have to. If your USB device has its own AC adapter, use it! o Connect USB drive AC adapters even if "the adapter is supposed to be optional" or "you never had to connect it before" >> Note: A lit device LED only indicates the device is getting some power but doesn't mean the device is getting enough power! o Plug-in laptops Check hardware connectivity for points of failure o See How to Check Hardware / Connection Issues with your USB Device Check if Windows filter drivers may be the problem => Bad or corrupt filter drivers can cause CD/DVD, flash and hard disk drives to not work correctly o See CD/DVD or Disk Problems? How to Fix Problems Caused by Filters Check the USB Storage device driver => If no USB storage devices can connect the driver might be disabled (may be a sign of malware) o Connect the USB storage device o Run Serviwin. Click View->Drivers o Scroll to USBSTOR. Verify StartupType=Manual and Status=Started o If StartupType= Disabled, rt click to change it to Manual. Reboot Reinstall the USB controllers and motherboard chipset drivers => When it appears that your USB ports just aren't working right o How to Reinstall Your USB Controllers and Motherboard Chipset Drivers Disable USB Legacy Support in BIOS

=> This problem is far less common on newer computers but if your USB ports don't seem to work right check this out o Disable USB Legacy Support in BIOS (Newer PCs may not show the option) o When disabled, USB won't work until Windows is started o But once Windows starts see if the ports now work correctly Check for Viruses / Malware => Malware can interfere with USB drive functionality. See o 8-step Malware Removal Instructions o Virus removal from USB Drives

2. Additional Steps when: USB Drive Doesn't Appear or "Insert a Disk" Message > If the USB drive appears in Device Manager but not in My Computer or Explorer do both steps below > If you're seeing "Insert a Disk" message try Fix Drive Letter Conflicts below

Check Windows policy settings in the registry => Windows may be configured to hide drives from Explorer and My Computer (may be a sign of malware) o Click Start->Run, enter regedit to open the Registry Editor o Navigate to key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVe rsion\Policies\Explor er o Look for a value named NoDrives. If the key or value doesn't exist, there's nothing being hidden o Otherwise, rt click NoDrives then delete it and reboot to unhide all drives Fix Drive Letter Conflicts => Your USB device may be trying to use a drive letter reserved by another device or prior install o See How to Cleanup and Remove old USB Mass Storage Drivers then replug your USB devices

3. Additional Steps when: Write Protected, Raw Filesystem, or for General Read/Write Error Messages

Correct filesystem errors => If the drive is detected and is assigned a drive letter use chkdsk to scan and fix any filesystem errors on the drive o Run chkdsk x: /r (where x: is the USB drive letter) Check if Write Protection enabled => If all your USB storage devices appear to be write protected o Click Start->Run, enter: regedit o Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control o If sub-key StorageDevicePolicies exists, rt click then delete it

=> Also: Closely examine your flash drive. Make sure there's not a write protect switch or tab on it

Data Recovery => Download TestDisk and PhotoRec freeware tools. (The one download gives you both) => If TestDisk can't see the drive under Windows, you can also try under Linux. See this post o TestDisk may help recover lost data on corrupt or deleted partitions (click for instructions) o PhotoRec focuses on recovering lost Photo and Image files (click for instructions) => A couple "Try then Buy" commercial data recovery tools are listed below. I've never used either but > I've seen people often (not always) post good results after using the two commercial tools listed below > The tools will report (for free) the names of the files it can find. You'll need to buy it before it attempts to recover those files > Note: Finding lost file names is a good start but still doesn't guarantee the results
o o

Partition Table Doctor Get Data Back

4. Additional Steps when: All Else Fails

Data Recovery => If the drive is physically damaged it may be impossible for Windows to detect it for s/w tool recovery o Flash drives are notoriously more prone to physical h/w damage then most people seem to think o In such cases, your best recovery option may be to hire a professional data recovery service. They'll open the drive to attempt recovering data directly from the media o Of course, it's your decision if the price of recovery outweighs losing the data Reformat the Drive => Reformatting the drive will erase all the data on the drive but may allow you to reuse the drive (if you still trust it!) => Click for info to reformat your drive