1 Flash Drive Doesn't Work On 1 Computer

Hi! I have a 32GB flash drive to hold all the software I want to install on a Win98 computer. However, I maxed it out. So, I looked into a selection of as-of-yet unused flash drives, took out a 32GB one, reformatted it as FAT32 then started stuffing it. It's already >2GB full! Well, it works on my laptop at home but not the one at my day program. The first time I inserted it, it took too long for the computer to install the hardware, then the computer said the install failed and didn't give a reason. The second and third times, nothing happened. I then looked in the Control Panel for an Add New Hardware wizard as Win98 has one but didn't find it. How do I get the computer to try to install the hardware again? BTW, the computer in question is a Win7/64 laptop.

 

The same thing happened with another flash drive. It is also 32GB. However, a 256GB flash drive I was using as a second hard drive did work. The other flash drive is to hold Windows games for multiple systems. Any ideas on how to get these flash drives to work?

 

Win98 does not have very good USB driver support. Try one or both of these generic drivers and see if it will detect.
https://retrosystemsrevival.blogspot.com/2020/04/usb-driver-for-windows-98se.html
https://retrosystemsrevival.blogspot.com/2018/05/usb-drivers-for-windows-98.html

You can install both.
Hope it helps.

 

Uhh...the computer with the problem is a Win7/64 laptop. Other flash drives work, though.

 

Yes, but the receiving machine is Win98. Natively, Win98 doesn't support what you're trying to do. You need a generic MSD (mass storage device) driver for the USB hub to "see" the flash drive. Got lost in your post, so I'm covering both as you stated using the Win98 Add New Harware Wizard.

https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/7995/how-to-use-usb-flash-drives-with-windows-98-se#:~:text=Windows 98, especially in it's,some additional drivers for it.

It's odd a W7 machine wouldn't see the drive if an older machine does.

 

Sorry Harry, I must have missed that last part of your comment. The only thing I can think to do is reformat it to ntfs with the machine that does see it, then see if it shows up on the machine that does not see it. If it does then reformat it to fat from it. Is the drive new?

 

I believe I reformatted one for NTFS before using it on the computer, as I wanted to be able to compress its contents when necessary--it's the one to hold Windows games. The other one already has a lot of information on it, so I can't easily format it. The latter is formatted as ExFAT, but I think other ExFAT drives worked properly.

the mechanic: The receiving computer here is not my Win98SE computer but a Win7/64 laptop. The computer on which these work is a Win11/64 laptop. BTW, one of the flash drives works on the Win98SE computer, but I formatted it as FAT32.

 

Stick with FAT32. Also, I will wager you tried multiple ports, and practiced "safe eject" procedure when pulling the drives. If not, sometimes pulling a drive without stopping it can cause wonky things...

See: write caching

 

Most of the flash drives that work are not FAT32, and I have at least most of my Windows computers set up to not require unmounting flash drives before removal. I'm going to the day program that has the computer today and can see whether a different port works. Unfortunately, sometimes, all its ports are being used.

 

I tried a different port. It didn't work. BTW, the first time I plugged in these flash drives, the computer gave me an error message that the install failed. Is there a way to force Win7/64 to retry the install?

 

W98 and NTFS natively don't play well together. Stick with FAT32.

 

You can try looking in Device Manager for the drive as an Unknown. Also, try Disk Management.

 

Again, the computer with the issue is a Win7/64 laptop.

 

Uhh...is there a way to get Win7/64 to retry the installation of the driver? Maybe there was a problem with the connection.

 

Try looking in Disk Management to confirm the drive is recognized.

 

Thank you. It's in the Control Panel, right?

 

Use your Search in the Task Bar or Start Menu. Type in "Disk Management". You may see "Create and Format Disk Partitions". That would be the selection. For whatever reason, Microsoft tries to cover up it's existence.

 

Okay.

 

I looked for "disk management" in both the Start Menu and the Control Panel" but didn't find it. Is there a way to get it to retry an install of a specific hardware?

 

"Unmounting" a drive when it is being written to is a dangerous, and possibly a fatal practice. Most versions of Windows have a "safe to remove USB device," for a reason, so that all data (or other activities) are finished before removal.

If I need to get to "Disk Management," I choose all programs from the START page, and select "Administrative Tools." Then "Computer Management; a choice under that is "Disk Management," which will show you the disks in the computer, graphically.

 

Don't worry: I only remove the drives when they're not being writtten to. I'll try that today.

 

The problem is you don't always KNOW when a drive is being written to, " or otherwise doing "maintenance." Not all drives even have an "activity" (LED) display and even THOSE can be misleading.

 

Oh. Thank you.

 

You can go into "Device Manager," select the USB driver for the faulty thumb drive, and "uninstall" the driver, then immediately re-boot. Windows SHOULD try to load the driver again. (That is, IF Device Manager even "sees" the drive to begin with.) Otherwise, under "Administrative tools" choose "Computer Management, and then select "Disk Management" to see if the drive is recognized at all.

 

Okay. Thank you.