Windows 10: USB Flash Drive not showing up in my computer.

HI. So yesterday I was working from a USB flash drive when it suddenly stopped working. In trying to see what the problem was I tried many different methods that included going through the device manager (Which knows there's a USB plugged in and says works fine but still doesn't show up in "This PC". I tried going to the disk manager and it says there's no media in Drive F:, I tried changing the drive letter: nothing, I tried uninstalling the device and checking for hardware changes: nothing, doing a command prompt showed that there's no media in disk 1 which would be the USB Drive. I'm at my wit's end with this and I desperately need the information stored on the drive and I don't know if I should take it somewhere to see if I can at least get the files from it.


please help

:)

 

USB Flash drive made bootable

Hi Nelson,

Check if there is any slide switch on the side that provides write protection. It show's a closed and open lock on each side. We suggest to follow these steps below:

• Insert the USB flash drive into the USB port.
• Click Start, type devmgmt.msc in the Search textbox and press Enter.
• Find Disk Drives and expand it.
• Find the USB flash drive you want to format, and double-click it. It opens the
  Properties dialog box.
• Click Policies tab.
• By default, the Optimize for quick removal option selected, switch it to Optimize for performance and then press
  OK.
• Now open Computer. Right click on the USB Flash Drive and select Format. The Format dialog box now appears.
• Select NTFS in the File System field.
• Press Start and wait while the process will be completed.

You can also connect the USB drive on a different computer and try formatting.

Let us know how it goes.

 

help. USB drive isn't assigned a drive letter.

Any usb flash drive I plug into my computer isn't assigned a drive letter. The physical drive shows in the "safely remove hardware" but it doesnt show up in disk management. I have tried to populate the volume thru the safely remove hardware properties window and it does pop up in the list but it doesn't stay there. This isn't a format or assign a letter problem. It's more complicated then that. Maybe one of the services needed for usb drive management was disabled? Suggestions needed. btw external usb harddrives work fine.

 

My USB Backup drive does not show in My Computer window.

Hi Meran,

A few possible reason can cause your external drive to not show in File Explorer. To diagnose and fix this issue, we suggest that you check the Disk Management window. To open it, follow the steps below:

• Right-click on the Start button.
• Select Disk Management.
• Alternatively, you can search diskmgmt.msc in Cortana.

Examine the list of drives in the Disk Management window and look for your external drive. Even if it doesn’t show up in File Explorer, it should appear here. If the drive appears, it may not be appearing in File Explorer because it needs to be assigned
a drive letter. To do this, right-click the partition on the drive in Disk Management and select
Change Drive Letter and Paths.

If you don’t see the drive in the Disk Management window at all, we suggest that you try connecting the drive to a different USB port or use a different USB cable. We also recommend that you avoid using USB hubs, and connect the drive directly to your computer.

If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to post a reply.