Flash Drive Not Recognized

Ok, i have a problem, and it sucks because i just got this flash drive for a really good deal, Its a 1gb pny flash drive. I've had the flash drive for about a week now, and i also have another flash drive which is also pny, same thing except its 512mb. I've got the 1gb from my job in a new package and i've used it the whole week with no problems. I discovered today that once i plugged it into my computer it says "USB Device not recognized". So i thought it was just something i mistakenly taken out my computer like the driver or something. So i went into add hardware as well as tried to manually detect the driver through device manager. No luck. I also tried out my 512mb in my computer as well, and it worked. So i tried out the 1gb in another computer at my job and it says the same thing usb device not recognized. So its obviously the flash drive. I don't know what i did, i didn't hit it against anything or got water on it or in it. The only thing i can think of is that i might have statically shocked it and the components aren't working correctly now. If not anyone know about any manufacturer defect with this product or know exactly what i can do to fix it or a program that will clean it out or something. Good thing i backed up the things from this drive beforehand, i knew there was a catch to it. I love my 512mb and its by the same company and i haven't had a problem with it since and i've had the 512 for about a month now. Thanks in advance for those who answer my request for help. I appreciate it.

 

I would try to manually load the drivers for it then plug it in. If that doesnt work try formatting the USB key from another computer and then try it again.

What OS are you running?

 

Thats just the thing i've tried it in other computers as well, and it says the same thing. About loading the drivers in manually i've tried that as well, although they only have the drivers for the win98se edition on the pny.com site for the drivers since win98 isn't plug and play compatible, i have windows xp home edition btw. Just to recap on my previous trial, I've tried to load the windows 98 se driver from the website, just to see if it is the actual driver that will also work with windows xp. I put it in the c:/windows/system32/drivers folder and tried to have it manually find it, but with no luck it didn't find it, and i also tried to go into device manager and right clicked the yellow exclamation'ed usb device, and it says there are no drivers installed for this device but with this flash drive it is supported to install the drivers automatically, thus plug and play. This happens on every single computer, i've tried it on about 7 different computers at my job, i work at best buy in the computer department. I usually figure out these kinds of problems but im guessing its a hardware defect that the manufacturer is secretly trying to sell off or something. Please let me know what i can do. Thanks in advance.

 

When you insert the key, does windows xp detect it and load drivers or just say "unrecognized usb device"??

If it says unrecognized usb device just download the driver for win98 and point it to that directory to load the drivers. Sometimes WinXP will load the wrong drivers for things, I've seen is many times with modems and such.

 

Thanks, I appreciate your help so far btw. Once i plug it in it will say "new device found", then it will say" unknown device", then it will say, "Usb device unrecognized". I tried that suggestion out as well, i went to pny.com today and downloaded the win98se drivers for the 1gb and i went through the hardware detection wizard for the driver and pointed to the path for the driver, but it says "cannot find a better match than the software you currently have installed" but it doesn't load any software for the flash drive, it shows up in device manager as unknown device with no exclamation point now, and it shows up in the driver status as, "no drivers are installed for this device". I'm guessing because they only have the drivers for the win 98 se it won't detect in this version of windows, I know its supposed to automatically install the drivers from the drive but what if the device fails like in my case, its weird they don't have a fail-safe windows xp driver. I appreciate all the help though. Thanks in advance.

 

Try accessing it manually, like you would a floppy drive, or other removeable media. A friend of mine had the same problem, and ended up taking his drive back and getting a replacement. His was a Lexar though.

 

The fact that 7 comps at your work will not recognize the drive either, points to a bad drive. I would be contacting PNY. Their site, as you know, only has drivers for 98se. Their is a statement that no drivers are needed for ME,2000,XP.