Strange USB Flash Dive problem: drive does not work in all slots

[jddomine]

This problem doesn't really fit the categories listed, so I posted it here.

Like many of you, I own several USB Flash drives. My latest additions were two 8GB SanDisk Micro Cruzers with U3 bought at two different times over the last 3 months. They have been working flawlessly up until 6 days ago. When I inserted a drive into a USB port, the amber light came on for 1-2 seconds and then went dark; it did not show up in Windows Explorer or Hardware Manager. The same thing happened with the second Cruzer drive. I then tried some of my older USB Flash drives including two PNY 1GB drives and a 2 GB SanDisk Micro Cruzer Skin drive; they all worked as did my PNY Media Card Reader for Secure Digital cards. ALL of them worked when connected to the computer (Dell Dimension 4550, Intel P4, 2.53 GHz, 1GB RAM running WinXP HomeSP3). I tried the two 8GB Cruzers on the rear USB ports: they still didn't work. I tried them on my laptop (Lenovo duocore Intel Centrino, 1 GB RAM running WinXP Home) and they BOTH WORKED fFINE!! They also worked on a new Gateway AMD QuadCore 2.2GHz with 3GB RAM running Vista.

I cannot use any jump drive utilities because the drives do not connect to the computer. It's as though when it is powered up, it senses that there is something wrong and immediately shuts down. I also understand that I cannot add a new driver to the computer without having the jump drive up and running; is this true?? Why would I need a driver any way?? I am considering getting another 8 GB (or less) SanDisk Micro Cruzer with U3 and connecting that; that might install a new driver that all of them can use, or it might put the new jump drive into the same condition of not working on this computer.

Should I consider "disabling" or "uninstalling" (which??) all the USB Ports one at a time (all at one time??) to see if that resets / reinstalls a non-corrupted driver?? BTW, I have rebooted several times including with one of the non-working jump drives inserted in a slot, but there was no change in the outcome.

I don't think it is a failure in the jump drives themselves in that (1) they are both really new, (2) it happened to both of them the same night (they were, however, plugged in separately) and (3) they both work in my other computers!!

Have you heard of this before?? Got any suggestions??

Regards, jddomine 20080623

[kpac]

Did you check in Device Manager for the Flash Drives? Try updating the drivers for the computer.

[jddomine]

Thanks for you note.  Yes I did look in "Device Manager", but in my note I erroneously called it "Hardware Manager" instead of "Device Manager".  They do NOT show up there.

I recently installed SP3 (June 6, more than a week before this problem with these jump drives started.  I found an SP3.cab file in the Driver Cache\i386 folder, so I assume new Microsoft drivers would have been installed then.  I started to track down the exact drivers in use so I can try to locate and download a copy.  The only devices for which I ever downloaded new drivers were peripherals like printers and scanners; I presume the process is similar for a driver for the USB ports.  What I don't understand is why these "non-working" USB jum drives work on other computers and why my other jump drives still work on my desktop.

Regards,  JDDomine  20080623

[BC_Programmer]

The only reason you would need a driver is if it required one... unless you downloaded and installed one on the laptop that it works on... Do these happen to be your only U3 smart devices?


One program you could try is USBDeView,
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html


when you say it doesn't appear in device manager, does that include as an "unknown device"?

[jddomine]

Thanks for the tip about USBDView.  My Cruzer does not show up in the list there or in Device Manager and there is no "Unknown Device" currently displayed on any of the ports.

These are my only U3 devices.  I deleted U3 from the Cruzers and that did not help.  I have also reformatted one of the Cruzers on my laptop and it still does not connect to my desktop. 

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.  I will leave this open for now.

JDD  20080628

[squall_01]

Did it work before you installed sp3?

[jddomine]

Yes, they both worked before I installed SP# and for more than a week AFTER I had installed SP3.  I guess if I get a chance, I could uninstall SP3 and see if functionality returns.  What's you guess on that since they did work for about 10 days after installing SP3??

Regards,  JDDomine  20080628

[squall_01]

It seems that way, you shouldnt have any trouble uninstalling it.  People see updates an there like oh important but there have been problems with this.  So it seems your one of the lucky few who has trouble. 

[BC_Programmer]

What's you guess on that since they did work for about 10 days after installing SP3??

You can try uninstalling SP3 but chances are the problem was caused by a windows update that happened 10 days after you installed SP3. If it was caused by SP3 it would have stopped working right when you installed it.

[squall_01]

Well it seems that it was logical but what do you think?

[jddomine]

BC_Programmer:

Here's a list of automatic update that were installed between installing SP3 (Friday, June 6th) and having the problem with the Cruzer Drives.  I know I used the Cruzers on Tuesday night the 10th or early morning the 11th.  I might not have tried to use them again until the evening of Tuesday, the 17th or early morning of Wednesday the 18th, which is when I experienced the problem.  Are there any specific updates that you think I should uninstall??  JDD  20080628

Windows XP Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP (KB950759)  Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Automatic Updates 

Windows XP Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - June 2008 (KB890830)  Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Automatic Updates 

Office 2003 Update for Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB951476)  Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Automatic Updates 

Windows XP Security Update for Windows XP (KB951698)  Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Automatic Updates 

Windows XP Security Update for Windows XP (KB950762)  Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Automatic Updates 

Windows XP Cumulative Security Update for ActiveX Killbits for Windows XP (KB950760)  Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Automatic Updates 

Windows XP Security Update for Windows XP (KB951376)  Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Automatic Updates 

[BC_Programmer]

try removing them in reverse order of installation, each time trying the flash drives after a reboot (I know, total pain i the rear). Then if at some point it works, you know the exact update that caused the problem. uninstalling SP3 would likely fix it too, but that would probably just be due to the removal of all the updates as well (including whatever one is likely causing the problem).

[patio]

U3 may be the culprit here...
I automatically remove it from any new drives...

[squall_01]

Dont think that there all sandisk

[BC_Programmer]

Dont think that there all sandisk

what did he mean by this then?

Like many of you, I own several USB Flash drives. My latest additions were two 8GB SanDisk Micro Cruzers with U3

the two SanDisk Cruzers are having problems. All the others are presumably working fine.

[squall_01]

Sorry I had to reread the post.

[BC_Programmer]

I didn't know the U3 stuff could even be removed. I'd love to be able to get rid of the ones on my flash drives. I don't think I've ever hated software more then I hate U3. (I wouldn't mind if I could DISABLE it somewhere, but no-)

[squall_01]

Its possible but I never done it cause I found it useful, does take up a small percent of the drive.  But when Patio comes back on he'll tell you if you ask him.  He mentioned how to do this once but not sure where it is.

[Kip]

Can I remove U3 technology from my USB drive? Yes. To remove the U3 technology from the drive, simply go to the U3 Launchpad and, under Settings, select U3 Launchpad settings and click Uninstall. This will completely remove the U3 Launchpad from the drive.

You can also download an uninstaller from here.

I used the first method.

(You can reinstall U3 again from here if you want to.)

[squall_01]

Patio said that was impossible, gusses not.

[BC_Programmer]

Patio said that was impossible, gusses not.

and again....

U3 may be the culprit here...
I automatically remove it from any new drives...

 

[jddomine]

Thanks for all the posts on this topic.  I have not resolved it yet, but then I have not been able to uninstall all six of the Microsoft Updates that were installed between the last successful use of these two Cruzers and the time they failed.  I was able to retrieve the list of updates though Dell's "Help & Support" utility, but that is only a listing.  Add/Remove does NOT have all 6 of the updates listed; it especially does not list the 4 WinXP updates.  I uninstalled the other two, but the Cruzer still does not connect.  If I get a chance this week, I am going to uninstall SP3 and see if that "fixes" the problem (these Cruzers worked after SP3 was installed).  I will them do a manual update and add back those 4 updates one at a time to see which one is killing the Cruzer.

Just for clarification, I have an older, non-U3, 2 GB Sandisk Cruser that works fine.  I also have two 1 GB PNY drives that work fine.

Thanks again everyone.  I will report back what happens.  I've fallen behind because Comcast IS "provider??" was down here for a few days!!!

JDDomine  20080630