USB Problems, this forum is my last hope

Ever since December when I received an external hard drive and external dvd burner, I've been having problems with USB devices. Both my burner and external drive work fine, but my flash drives which used to work before, don't and my brand new digital camera doesn't work as well. I know for a fact it's not the devices themselves. When I plug in one of these devices, Windows detects it, installs the drivers, and the balloon pops up saying my new hardware is ready to be used, but when I click on the digital camera or flash drive (displayed as a hard drive) it says the disk in drive g is not formatted, I don't understand why it would do that. The camera and flash drives work in every other computer I try them on, any and all help would be appreciated, thanks

 

I'm not sure I can help you get to the bottom of your USB problems, but I suggest you give us more info.

Which version of Windows is installed on the computer you're having these problems with? If it's Win XP, which specific version of XP is it (Home or Pro) and which service packs does it have (none, SP1, SP2)? Or are you using a version of Windows earlier than XP? If so, which one?

What brand and model of external hard drive and external DVD drive are you using? What size, brand and model of flash drives and what brand and model of camera? What kind of memory card does your camera use?

Are you sure these problems began immediately after you installed the external hard and DCD drives? Have you tried uninstalling those devices to see if that will restore your access to the data on your camera card and on your flash drives? Or have you tried rolling your system back to a Windows restore point or used the Windows Hardware device tools to examine your flash drive/camera/USB port the flash drive and camera are plugged into?

When you plug the flash drive or camera into another computer are you able to view all the data/pictures without any problems or error messages?

 

Windows XP Prof, SP2

They are memorex travel drives I 2GB one 4GB the external hard drive is a simpletech 500 GB external, the burner is a samsung writemaster DVD-burner with lightscribe. The digital camera is a casio, but I've tried a gateway digital camera, and all the devices DO work on other computers. I have uninstalled USB drivers, the external HD and burner drivers, but still I get that message

 

how exactly did you uninstall usb drivers?

i'd backup the data on your thumbdrive 1st to one of the comps that it works on.

this worked for me (although, i didn't have your problem).

plug in your thumbdrive (one that doesn't work), go to device manger --> disk drives --> select your usb device (screenshot below), and select uninstall (is this where you removed the drivers from?). it prompted me to reboot (of course disconnect your thumbdrive - and close all windows). after it booted up, when i installed my thumbdrive it reinstalled the drivers for that particular thumbdrive. - g/l, sos

edit - well, now that i've re-read your 1st post, you said that the drivers were reinstalled. so i guess this might not work? - sos

 

I uninstalled my drivers by doing exactly that. I went to Universal Serial Bus in device manager and removed all of them and the root hubs. I've done that to my externals and my thumbdrive and new camera and it stil says "The drive is not formatted"

 

Its possible that you are stressing your usb system to the maximum. Do your external drives have their own power supplies or do they draw power from the usb bus. I have read about similar problems being solved by purchasing a Usb Hub with its own power supply. This seems to take the strain off the usb system having too many things drawing from it at one time. You could easily test it by removing your external drives and see if the flash drive then works without them hooked up.

 

All the devices work, just not on my computer, I don't know if the drivers from my external drives are interfereing and even if they were they wouldn't after I had uninstalled them

 

Do back up your data on another computer before doing any tinkering with the flash drives or camera memory cards. Then try reformatting the flash drives. And the same with the camera memory cards -- back up your pictures on another computer and then see if you can reformat the card. If that works and your external drives are still installed and recognized, you're all set. If you have to reinstall your external hard drive and DVD drive, go ahead and do that and then, if necessary try reformatting your flash drives again and your camera mem card also -- assuming you've first backed them up on another computer.

Why did I ask for all that additional detailed info about your hardware and then come up with this generic solution? Fair enough question -- I was hoping someone else might know more about your specific hardware than I did and might have an explanation of and solution for your problems.

Or, as computer geeks like to say, "Sometimes U get the serial bus and sometimes the serial bus gets U!"