Member Avatar for atyll

Hello, my problem is very strange.

Since few weeks couple of my pen drives don't work on any of my USB Ports.
Mouse and Keyboard is working, strange thing is that when I plug my IPhone via USB cable it can be read like normal, but pen drives don't (they do work on other computers).

When I plug it in, there is sound in Windows, like you always plug something in and in Devices & Printers it shows "USB DISK", nothing else.

Can anybody help to fix this problem?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by TheQuestor

Dani AI

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As noted, Windows makes the connect sound and Devices & Printers shows "USB DISK", but Explorer never exposes the stick. That usually means the physical USB bus is fine (your iPhone uses different drivers), while Windows is failing to mount the removable volume or give it a drive letter. The Device Manager cleanup suggested by and is a good first step; if that didn’t fix it, try the items below.

Open Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) with the pen drive inserted. Look for the device showing as offline, RAW, unallocated, or missing a drive letter. If there’s no letter, assign one (right-click -> Change Drive Letter). Do NOT initialize or format the disk if you need to recover files first — if it shows RAW, back it up from another PC (you said the sticks work elsewhere) or use recovery tools on a spare machine before touching partitions.

Check Event Viewer (Windows Logs → System) immediately after inserting the stick for Kernel-PnP, Disk, or USB errors; the event ID and driver name are very useful for diagnosis. Verify that removable storage isn’t blocked by policy or security software (local Group Policy: Removable Storage Access or endpoint AV/endpoint control). Also check the USB mass-storage driver isn’t disabled in the registry at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR (Start should normally be 3). Try a Clean Boot or Safe Mode to rule out third-party interference.

If still unresolved, boot a Linux live USB to see whether the drive mounts there — Linux can expose problems Windows hides. If Linux reads it, copy your data off and then reformat on the problem PC. If nothing helps, post the exact Event Viewer messages plus the output of diskpart (list disk and list volume) so others can give targeted steps.

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Member Avatar for faroukmuhammad

Go to device manager and check if there is anything wrong with your USB drivers.

NB
To go to device manager, click on start menu, right click on COMPUTER then click on manage.

Member Avatar for TheQuestor

1st right-click Computer > Properties > Advanced System Settings > Advanced Tab > Environment Variables at the bottom. Click New and put devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices in the Variable Name and put 1 in the Variable Value and press ok until your out. Then load device manager and click view and then select show hidden devices. Right click and select uninstall on any "Greyed" out devices. Go through each section. This will flush out your stale hardware drivers. Then reboot. [DO NOT put the usb keys in yet]. Open Device manager and make pay special care to "Storage Volumes" and remove anything there that is not currently connected to your system as well as "Universal Serial Bus controllers" AND "Drisk drives" and reboot. Wait for your PC to fully bootup and try adding one of the keys.

ALSO try the keys in a different system to make sure they are in fact "working" before trying any of the above.

Good luck

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