USB flash drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter PWY
  • Start date Start date
P

PWY

I have a USB pen drive I bought some time ago and never used but I seem to
remember plugging it in and reformatting to ntfs. Big mistake I know now.
When I plug this drive in now my computer freezes, hard drive light stops
flashing and broadband modem light goes out.
Thinking there must be something wrong with the drive, I bought another pen
drive today. When I plugged it in the exact same thing happened. There is
obviously something wrong in the computer.
Anyone have an idea as to where to look next??
Operating system is Windows XP. Computer is Pentium4 on a Gigabyte 8iexp
motherboard.

Any serious suggestions appreciated.
 
PWY said:
I have a USB pen drive I bought some time ago and never used but I seem
to remember plugging it in and reformatting to ntfs. Big mistake I know
now. When I plug this drive in now my computer freezes, hard drive light
stops flashing and broadband modem light goes out.
Thinking there must be something wrong with the drive, I bought another
pen drive today. When I plugged it in the exact same thing happened.
There is obviously something wrong in the computer.
Anyone have an idea as to where to look next??
Operating system is Windows XP. Computer is Pentium4 on a Gigabyte 8iexp
motherboard.

Any serious suggestions appreciated.
Click to expand...

So, you're saying the broadband modem is USB based, and plugged into
the same USB "stack of two" as the USB flash ? It could be a power
issue with that pair of USB ports. If the broadband modem has its
own power adapter, that is less likely to be a valid explanation.
At least one Alcatel broadband modem, draws more than 500mA from
its USB port.

I've heard of ICH4 Southbridge as being a candidate for USB failures,
but have never run into a verified case of such. Your symptoms don't
match up with this. There have been plenty of dead or damaged ICH5
chips, but I haven't got confirmation from anyone about a ICH4
that went the same way. This is the only public admission that
it happens. And this doesn't match your symptoms - your stuff
still works, as long as the pen drive isn't plugged in.

http://tw2005.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Support/FAQ/FAQ_456.htm

Paul
 
nobody > said:
Possibly a bad USB port. Have you tried another port?
Click to expand...

Yes. I have tried USB 1.1 and USB 2 ports, with the same result. After
Windows freezes I have to do a hard shutdown. In two instances when I
rebooted I received a message that I must reactivate Windows within 3 days,
which I did both times.
I have two printers plugged into USB2 ports and both work flawlessly. I just
can't get the USB sticks to work.
I wondered if the 400 watt Antec might be at fault since the hard drives
shut down causing the freeze.
I'm using a ATI 850 Pro, 3 optical drives, and two hard drives and doubt I'm
using that much power.

PWY
 
Paul said:
So, you're saying the broadband modem is USB based, and plugged into
the same USB "stack of two" as the USB flash ? It could be a power
issue with that pair of USB ports. If the broadband modem has its
own power adapter, that is less likely to be a valid explanation.
At least one Alcatel broadband modem, draws more than 500mA from
its USB port.

I've heard of ICH4 Southbridge as being a candidate for USB failures,
but have never run into a verified case of such. Your symptoms don't
match up with this. There have been plenty of dead or damaged ICH5
chips, but I haven't got confirmation from anyone about a ICH4
that went the same way. This is the only public admission that
it happens. And this doesn't match your symptoms - your stuff
still works, as long as the pen drive isn't plugged in.

http://tw2005.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Support/FAQ/FAQ_456.htm

Paul
Click to expand...

Hi Paul,

I have read your postings for a long time now and appreciate your in depth
answers to problems.
The modem is labeled Arriss from Time Warner and handles both our internet
and telephone
service. It has it's own power. Although I tried the pen drive on the same
USB controller as the modem is using, I also tried it on ports connected to
other controllers, both USB 1.1 and USB 2.

The Gigabyte link reminds me of this situation occurring several years ago,
but fortunately not to me.

I Tried the old pen drive in my brother's Dell Optiplex GX 110 running
Windows NT4 and it didn't even hiccup. I didn't have time to see if it was
recognized by Windows but it convinces me that their is something amiss in
my machine.

From one Paul to another: Thanks for the effort.

PWY

Thanks for the reply,
 
PWY said:
Hi Paul,

I have read your postings for a long time now and appreciate your in
depth answers to problems.
The modem is labeled Arriss from Time Warner and handles both our
internet and telephone
service. It has it's own power. Although I tried the pen drive on the
same USB controller as the modem is using, I also tried it on ports
connected to other controllers, both USB 1.1 and USB 2.

The Gigabyte link reminds me of this situation occurring several years
ago, but fortunately not to me.

I Tried the old pen drive in my brother's Dell Optiplex GX 110 running
Windows NT4 and it didn't even hiccup. I didn't have time to see if it
was recognized by Windows but it convinces me that their is something
amiss in my machine.

From one Paul to another: Thanks for the effort.

PWY

Thanks for the reply,
Click to expand...

If you want something else to try, there is always the Safe Mode
USB cleanup thing. But the thing is, I'm not sure your
symptoms are suggestive this is purely a software problem.

http://www.usbman.com/Guides/Cleanup Device Manager Safe Mode.htm

If you need additional USB ports in the computer, you can get those
with a PCI USB2 card. Those cards are relatively cheap, and if the
ports fail on the card, the cards are easier to replace than losing
the motherboard.

Another thing that just occurred to me, is there are pieces of
malware, that spread from one computer to another, via pen drives.
That kind of malware is particularly troubling, because all the
computers you own can be infected, and reinfection is then
really easy. It could be, that when the pen drive is plugged in,
your AV software is getting into a fight with something autorunning
from the pen drive.

Paul
 
Back
Top