USB Mass Storage - Not Recognised in XP

  • Thread starter Thread starter MarkAR
  • Start date Start date
my install of Win xpHome on my Dell Dimension 8200 (the computer i'm
having problems with) was preinstalled by Dell. A few months ago, i
upgraded to SP1, and recently upgraded to SP1a. But right now i'm
thinking the only solution is to reinstall windows xp.

The other computers that usb memory key WILL WORK on also had Dell
preinstalled versions of WinXpHome. And both were upgraded to SP1 (but
not 1a). I have no problem w/ plugging/unplugging the mem. key in
those computers. It's recognized everytime. So i don't know what diff
is in those and the Dell 8200.
 
Umm you didnt have to install BOTH SP1 and
SP1a. You only need one. I wonder if
both confused it? and removed something
that your XP needed?

When you installed SP1/a, did you make it
so you could uninstall either at all?

If you did, I would either remove SP1/a
and reinstall just SP1, or SP1a (without Java)

NOT Both
 
yes i did read that both sp1 and sp1a weren't needed unless there was
a particular problem w/one particular "program" --don't remember what
it was now , but i know it wasn't a program i was having problems
with; BUT since i was desperate, i figured i'd install it to see if it
fixed anything. And u're right, it didn't.
Since i've been unable to fix problem, i am now backing up my 60 gig
hard drive and preparing to uninstall and reinstall win xp . And i
will start over from there . Hopefully this will fix problem, and once
i restore my files, it won't reoccur. I won't be restoring any of the
windows system stuff; only files/documents. Ugh! what a pain this has
been.
thanks.
 
To everyone with this problem--

OK, I have all my USB storage devices working - but you
are not going to be happy with the solution. I gave up
and did a clean install of XP (and SP1a and 32 Window
Updates). Yesterday was a holiday for me so that's how I
got to spend the day!

I believe the problem originated when I first installed
XP (and all the patches) two weeks ago. Since I was
upgrading my disk drives, I started by having an extra
drive (three total) so I could copy over my old data. I
later removed one of the drives getting back to two (four
partitions). I believe the change in drive assignments
confused the USB storage manager. I understand there is a
known bug that involves mapped drives and USB storage.
Although I don't have mapped drives, my bet is that this
is somehow related.

I actually have 6 USB storage devices - 1 from my camera,
4 from the SANDISK reader, and 1 from the flashdisk. I
was very careful the way I installed them this time.
After all the updates and patches were installed, I
plugged in the camera. This works with XP's native
drivers and no Sony drivers were necessary. XP ran
through its new device sequence and the camera worked
fine. I then rebooted and kept the camera connected and
powered on. I then plugged in the Sandisk. XP went
through its new device sequence and then it was working
(and the camera was still working). I then rebooted with
both devices still connected and powered on and plugged
in the flash card. At this point, all three devices were
working and had separate letters.

The assignment of the letters was odd, but I am not
touching those!
Camera I:
Sandisk: J:, K:, L:, O:
Flash Q:

What happened to drives M:, N: and P:?

I was probably paranoid in the way I did all the reboots,
but better safe than wasting another day on this problem.
I had even filed an incident report with MS, but that
didn't help, either.

Stan



-----Original Message-----

My idea didn't help, even when I moved the CDs up to X/Y.

Waiting now for some MVP help!

-----Original Message-----

That gives me one idea to try. When I first set up the
system on Saturday, I had three physical hard drives,
each with two partitions (my original 2 IDE drives and my
new S-ATA drive). They mapped at C-F, D-G, E-H. I also
had two CD drives, I and J. After I copied my data off of
the old E-H to the new C-F, I removed the original 2nd
IDE drive and now I had C-E, D-F. The CD drives stayed at
I,J so I then changed their assignments to G and H. The
camera or Sandisk, whichever I plug in, tries to map to
I:. Maybe that old letter has some left over vestige of
the CD. I will try moving the CD back to I: and seeing
what happens. I don't have alot of hope, but it's
something!

Stan

-----Original Message-----

I figured it out. I had a netword drive mapped as E: I
disconnected the mapped drive, rebooted, and now my USB
device shows up under E: -----Original Message-----

Thanks, let me know what you find.


-----Original Message----- The problem is on my home
system (I am currently at work). When I get home tonight
I am going to try some of the ideas on the website:
http://www.usbman.com/winxpusbguide.htm

Stan -----Original Message-----

Can you let me know when you figure this out, because I,
too am having the same problem. I'm running XP on a Dell
Optiplex 260.

Thanks, Brad (e-mail address removed)

-----Original Message----- I hope you get an answer
because it sounds exactly like the problem I posted
yesterday:

http://communities.microsoft.com/NewsGroups/previewF r am
e ..a sp?
ICP=GSS3&sLCID=US&sgroupURL=microsoft.public.windows x p.
h ar dware&sMessageID=%253C069501c3a20f%252479cccd20%
(e-mail address removed)%253E

-----Original Message-----

Help, I have tried various USB stroage devices
(including Memory Pens and Multi Card Readers) but cannot
get access to them. When they are plugged in, there is
some recognition as they appear in Device Manager under
both USB Serial Controller and Disk Drives. In addition
they appear in the 'Safely Remove Hardware' section under
PnP in the System Icon BUT nowhere in any program. I
cannot see them under Explorer or under the My Computer
section or any other option. Please advise how I can get
these to appear and be accessed under the 'normal' bits
of XP.

Thanks

MarkAR
 
I too have experienced the problem you are having. The only thing I
could do was to force the drive to use a different drive letter by
using the Disk Management feature in Computer Management. The USB
storage device was defaulting to the drive letter G: which was aleady
in use. I changed the drive letter for the USB device to U: and it
worked.


hixsonb -
 
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