• USB Flash (Thumb) Drives not opening in Explorer

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    #2313151

    OS:  Windows x64 1903-2004

    Question:  On all versions of Windows, why is it that some, but not all, of my USB Thumb Flash drives don’t “auto open” with Explorer….when they used to.  I can’t figure out this behavior.

    Thanks

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    • #2313154

      Check Settings App\Devices\Autoplay

    • #2313224

      Thanks.  That’s the first thing I thought of.  Working fine for some drives but not for others.  Makes no sense…….unless each thumb drive has some sort of ID or name based.  Yet they all Autoplayed at one point.  Can’t think of anything I’ve done, other than look at files and eject them when finished.  No corruption either.

      Autoplay

    • #2313247

      Try reinstalling your USB device drivers.

      I had a problem where my most-used USB 3 thumb drive (on my key ring) wasn’t being recognized by Windows when inserted in any of the USB 3 ports – no beep or other sounds shortly after insertion and not showing up in the list of all drives (‘my computer’, in days gone by).  Interestingly, it worked just fine in the USB 2 ports also on the front of my home-built computer.  I tried a couple of things before finally resorting to the CD that came with my motherboard and reinstalled those ‘old’ drivers.  Everything has worked fine ever since.

      I’m guessing that a Windows update decided to ‘update’ my device driver(s) and made a mess of things.  In my best Gomer Pyle imitation: “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

    • #2313553

      USB….UNIVERSAL SB….is not. Those things are a lot more finicky than people think. Myriad of driver/chipsets, hoards of different quality of USB drives, multiple kinds.
      I have a USB 3 port (Intel chipset) that gets ‘tired’ and slows down after awhile. Unplugging and re-inserting do not help. Rebooting does help, for awhile. With long term use it gets tired again. I am using stock Win10 drivers. Maybe that’s a mistake.

      Anyone know of a USB chipset that is actually reliable?

      • This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by firstmerk.
    • #2313562

      Have you tried this:

      You could try the following (unplug the USB Flash drives first):
      Open an elevated Command Prompt (Start/Search, type “cmd” [no quotes]).
      At the top of the list of results right-click “cmd” (cmd.exe) then left-click “Run as Administrator”.
      At the prompt type “SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1” (no quotes) then press Enter.
      Then type “START DEVMGMT.MSC” then press Enter. (no quotes)
      A “Device Manager” window should open; click on View/Show hidden devices

      Any greyed-out (disconnected) devices listed under “Disk Drives” and “Universal Serial Bus controllers” that you recognize as your USB Flash drives should be removed (right-click/Uninstall).
      Any greyed-out (disconnected) devices listed under “Unknown Devices” should be safe to remove.

      Once you have removed any problem devices you should restart Windows; once Windows has loaded fully plug in one of your Flash drives – Windows should now detect and install it normally.

      Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does 🙂
      All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

      2 users thanked author for this post.
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