Windows 10: USB drive not recognized when I try to make a Recovery drive

Windows 11 Home, 64Gb memory, 1Tb SSD, 2TB SATA, 4TB WD attached drive.I can read & write or format any USB flash drive.When I try to make a "Recovery drive" or "ISO", the system doesn't recognize any USB flash drive.I got it to work "Intermittently" using a "FAT32" formatted USB drive Doesn't always work."NTFS" & "exFAT" formatted USB drives never work.FYI: I found a solution to being unable to "Safely remove" a USB drive:In "File explorer" right click the USB drive you want to remove and select "Eject".Still looking for "Band-Aid fixes" for MS products that should work a lot better

:)

 

Recovery Drive for Windows 10 Doesn't Recognize USB Drive

When I try to create a Recovery Drive in Windows 10, Windows doesn't recognize the flash drive.

I'm following the instructions to create a Recovery Drive listed here:

Create a recovery drive - Microsoft Support

• 
  From the taskbar, search for Create a recovery drive and then select it. You might be asked to enter an admin password or confirm your choice. (I was asked to confirm my choice, and I clicked "Yes".)
  
• 
  When the tool opens, make sure Back up system files to the recovery drive is selected and then select
  Next.
  
• 
  (Secret Step) Wait a minute or so for the "Please Wait" screen to finish thinking
  
• 
  Connect a USB drive to your PC, select it ...
  

The issue is that when I connect a USB drive to the PC, it doesn't appear on the "Connect a USB flash drive" screen as a drive that can be selected, and the "Next" button is grayed out.

However, when I look in File Explorer, I can see the USB drive plugged into the computer. Selecting Properties shows that Windows considers its Type to be "Removable Disk". (Sounds right to me.)

I'm not getting any error messages.

My environment:

A brand new Toshiba Sattelite C55-C5241 laptop with Windows 10 Home. It's never had anything other than Windows 10 on it - unless they upgraded it at the factory.

A brand new ativa 8GB USB flash drive. Note that the packaging for the USB drive does not include Windows 10 in the System Requirements, but seriously?

What I've tried:

• Plugging the flash drive into all three USB ports (USB 2, USB 2, and USB 3)
• Reformatting the flash drive with FAT32
• Restarting the computer with the flash drive plugged in
• Turning off Real-Time Scanning in McAffee

I've seen a few threads with this issue in Windows 8, but none of the potential solutions in those threads have worked for me. So here I am asking the same question, but for Windows 10.

Does anyone have any suggestions for resolving this issue?

Thank you.

 

Recovery Drive for Windows 10 Doesn't Recognize USB Drive

I found that on my Dell XPS8700 under 64-bit W10, the "create recovery drive" application will only recognize a USB drive plugged in to a USB 2 port. I have encountered other W10 issues with USB drives plugged into USB 3 ports (W10 periodically drops
the drive from the drive list on "This PC" and it's not easy to get it back.

 

usb drive not recognized

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



I understand that you get an error, ‘USB device not recognized’ when connecting a USB drive. I’ll certainly assist you with the issue.



However, please let us know:

• May I know the update that was installed? To check go to
  Start >> Settings >> Update & Security >> Windows Update >> View update history.
  
• Does the issue occur with only one USB drive?
  
• Which build version of Windows 10 is installed on the computer? Refer
  Which version of Windows operating system am I running?
  

I would suggest you to try plugging the USB to a different USB port and check if that helps. You can also try connecting the USB to a different computer and check.



Meanwhile, I would suggest you to refer the troubleshooting steps mentioned in the article
Error: “USB Device not recognized" when you try to access
a USB external hard drive except Method 1 & 2 and see if that makes any difference.



Let us know the results, we will be glad to help you further.



Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator