Windows 10: Flash Drive must be plugged in twice for system to recognize it

I have a really odd problem on an HP laptop model Spectre x360 15-BL012DX.

The laptop has 1 USB 3 Type A connector and 2 USB-C ports, one of which is a thunderbolt 3 port.

On either of the USB-C ports, if I plug in a thumb drive with a USB-C to USB-A adapter dongle, the thumb drive will never be recognized the first time I plug it in. However, if I unplug the dongle and thumb drive, then plug it in again, the drive is recognized. If I unplug only the thumb drive and plug it back in, that won't work. I have to unplug both the dongle and thumb drive.

Once seen, I can remove the thumb drive and plug in other thumb drives with no problem. It's just the first time after boot that this happens. It is also 100% consistent and works this way every single time I boot the system.

One more odd detail: If I already have the dongle and thumb drive connected when I power on the laptop, the system will see the thumb drive when I log on.

There are no BIOS settings that affect this behavior and it happens even with a 100% clean installation of Windows. I'm currently running Win 10 Pro, 1903 x64 but this has been happening on previous releases of Win 10 as well.

I have tried dongles from a minimum of 5 different manufacturers and at least 20 different models / makes of thumb drive.

NOTE: What I am referring to as a dongle is basically just a 6 inch long USB-C male to USB-A female cable to allow me to plug in a thumb drive with a USB-A connector into a USB-C port.

Anyone ever see anything like this?

System specs:

Intel i7-7500U Processor
16GB RAM
512GB NVMe SSD
Intel HD Graphics 620 and Nvidia GeForce 940MX
3840 x 2160 (4k) 15-inch display
One USB 3 Type A
2 USB-C both with power delivery, and HP Sleep and Charge. One of these is also a Thunderbolt 3 port.
Integrated SLB 9665 TPM 2.0 module
Intel Wireless AC 8265 WiFi / Bluetooth module

All BIOS and firmware levels are at the latest available versions
Likewise, all drivers are the latest but issue happens even with a clean install of Windows

:)

 

USB flash not being recognized


Even rebooting won't make my Windows 10 Home program recognize a USB flash drive plugged into any port of the computer. I've tried three different flash drives, including two that are new and one that plays in the car. I don't get that musical note that tells me the computer recognizes something that has just been plugged in.

I'd appreciate any suggestions as to what's going on and how to solve it. Thanks, Larry

 

OS doesn't recognize USB flash drives (KB4056892)


Just completed Win10 update KB4056892 on my Sony laptop, now running v.1709, build 16299.125. Almost everything is fine except the system no longer recognizes USB flash drives. When a flash drive (USB2 or 3) is inserted in a port the Device Manager recognizes it as "Other Devices", lists what it is (for example "TOSHIBA TransMemory USB Device") but says under Properties: "The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28) There are no compatible drivers for this device." When I try to update the driver, the Update Drivers feature says "Windows could not find drivers for your device." Device Manager shows no problems under Universal Serial Bus Controllers.

I know the drivers for flash drives are somewhere in the system because I have used these ports and flash drives many times prior to KB4056892, but I don't know where they are or how to tell the OS where they are. Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Windows Doesn't see a flash drive?

Hi Reece,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

I would appreciate if you could answer few questions to narrow down the issue.

• 
  What happens when you connect the flash drive?
  
• 
  Did you receive any error message?
  
• 
  Did you try plug in another flash drive?
  
• 
  Did the flash drive get recognized by the computer?
  

I suggest you to try plug in a different flash drive and check if you are able to format the drive.

I also suggest you to run the Hardware and Devices
troubleshooter.

• Type troubleshooting in the search bar.
• Select Troubleshooting.
• Select View all on the top left corner.
• Click on Hardware and Devices.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to run the troubleshooter.
• Check if issue persists.

Hope the information helps. Let us know if you need further assistance. We will be happy to help.

Thank you.