USB Flash Drives.

[Gray]

Bit of a mystery that I would appreciate advice with. I have a couple of USB Flash Drives which I use(d) to bring home files from my PC at work to my Mac at home. At first no problem. A batch file loads up the flash drive and home I go and read them. Then, for no obvious reason the PC decides to recognise the Flash Drive only if the USB printer is turned off. I think it got confused because the printer can read those little SD cards from a camera. Now it wont recognise the Flash Drives at all, printer on, off, removed, in the next room. The "Device Manager" tells me that the Drive is present and working properly but "My Computer" shows no Flash Drives at all, so no drive letter means no path, means batch file don't work. Have tried with friends Flash Drive which have only been used with PCs but they don't work either. The PC is running XP home. My Mac also runs XP home in Virtual PC and that works fine. The PC is a king sized Pain in the Arse but I need it to work. Any ideas would be much appreciated. I have considered modifying the PC but our office is quite small and I can't get enough swing on the axe.

[S.T.Chapman]

I think your right.
no comfort no answers, but your probabley right with all the card readers.

are you using a USB hub? it might be at fault if you are, other than that I cant help except a small lump hammer might be of use in a tight spot

[Tones]

Try 'adding new hardware' that sometimes works, if not reboot with the drive in place, it'll recognise it then.

well it should

[Mike Benis]

If that doesn't work, go back into Device Manager and uninstall the driver. Then plug in the USB stick and - this bit's VERY IMPORTANT - cross your fingers. Windows should then reinstall the right driver.

Cheers

Mike

[Gray]

Originally Posted by Tones

Try 'adding new hardware' that sometimes works, if not reboot with the drive in place, it'll recognise it then.

well it should

Ta Mate, tried that but it says I havn't got any new hardware. Bloody wish I had.

Originally Posted by Mike Benis

If that doesn't work, go back into Device Manager and uninstall the driver. Then plug in the USB stick and - this bit's VERY IMPORTANT - cross your fingers. Windows should then reinstall the right driver.

Cheers Mike, that's next. Then Swampy's lump hammer. Not using a Hub just the front panel USB socket on this Dell.

[Mike Benis]

Have you tried the USB ports on the back panel?

Whatever you do, don't forget to cross your fingers. Laying a little wax effigy of a PC box and some needles by the monitor or webcam has also been known to help......

[Hawkeye]

Try rolling back the registry to an earlier date

[Gray]

Thanks fellers. I'll be back in my office tomorrow and I'll give those ideas a go.

[Steppenwulf]

Useless suggestion number 1: Make it a mac only environment.

Useless suggestion number 2: Revert either to the pen and paper solution or the carrier pigeon.

Useless suggestion number 3: Get another flash drive.




Flaky usb drives are one of the many irritants of the digital age, can't you re-install the drivers to get the flash drive recognised? Either that or back to 'Useless suggestion number 1'

'BOB' to ya.