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General discussion

unable to use usb flash drive

Feb 20, 2011 9:51PM PST

please help i am using a dell desktop with windows 7 professional i put the flash drive in and my computer says its unable to detect what it is it is a 8gb sandisk flashdrive i went to the website to download the new driver and did what it said to reformat the flash drive but when i go into computer to look for the ? it doesnt say flash drive it says unkown device when i try to download the new driver it wont work i know the usb on my computer works because i just bought a different flash drive and it works perfectly so could someone please help me thanks

Discussion is locked

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Re: flash drive
Feb 20, 2011 9:56PM PST

Looks like it's time to buy another flash drive if you need one.

- What happens if you try it on another PC?
- And what driver does it need? Any PC with Windows XP, Vista, 7 doesn't need one for a USB-stick.
- And what doesn't work if you try to download that driver?

Kees

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samething
Feb 20, 2011 10:14PM PST

the samething happens on every computer i have tried it on that is why i bought me a new one and it works fine and it wasnt a sandisk will never buy another one of those again.
it keeps saying it needs a driver i downloaded the driver from sandisk and tried that and it didnt do ne thing. nothing works when i download the driver it does the same thing

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So it's broken.Can happen.
Feb 20, 2011 10:18PM PST

Luckily, they aren't so very expensive. But you might still have warranty to get a free replacement?

Kees

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oh yes
Feb 20, 2011 10:22PM PST

i called about that it would cost more time and trouble to go through there warranty crap then what i paid for the thing that is why i was hoping to get it working

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Try...
Feb 20, 2011 11:05PM PST

Google for the USB HP Formatter pgm.. This pgm. has provided a quick fix on many a USB device to include flash drives. Be sure, you're dealing only with that flash drive when you proceed. Also, you shouldn't need a driver for XP and above OS's, but then each device is different.

A quick note, don't just plug and unplug any flash drive w/o "dismounting" it. Even, if you got away with this the result can corrupt or ruin a flash device at the worst time. That also includes ESD introduced damages.

tada -----Willy Happy

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thanks
Feb 21, 2011 1:48AM PST

But what am i looking for when i google usb hp formatter pgm. even though i have a dell computer dont know what i am looking for in google

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im lost
Feb 21, 2011 2:33AM PST

i googled that but i dont know what i am looking for to download could you please let me know what i am suppose to be looking for thank you

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you're looking for this
Feb 21, 2011 2:38AM PST
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ok
Feb 21, 2011 3:51AM PST

i did download this earlier but i dont know what to do with it when i opened it i plugged my flash drive up and on the drop down menu it was just my printer and 3 other things that said generic and 0 mb

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erroe msg
Feb 21, 2011 4:03AM PST

the error message i get is windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems code (43)

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Last chance
Feb 22, 2011 12:31AM PST

Remove all USB devices you don't need. Just leave any kybd. or mouse USB plugged-in and mount the problem USB drive at a rear port. Using the HP formatter pgm. what does it say about that drive. If it still sees nothing but at least it mounts, as seen, then try another pgm., call PCI_file recovery. Use this if you want to try to recover any data. If not, then use the HP formatter to reformat to re-use that old flash drive. If the problem persists, you have a bad flash drive, its a goner. You can try all this in yet another PC and check results. Also, you may want to run an AV scan on that drive alone, select it from your AV pgm. for quick scan just to be sure no malware is at work here.

tada -----Willy Happy

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Error 43
Feb 22, 2011 12:33AM PST
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It is past time to ...
Feb 22, 2011 12:51AM PST
STOP BEATING A DEAD HORSE!

The flash drive is not recognized on any computer you tried it on (you said this, and that would be performing CPR).

The HP Flash Drive formatter doesn't recognize any flash drive (you stated this too and this would be performing extreme lifesaving measures).

Both failed to revive the patitne who flatlined so it is time to recognize his and contact the mortician - The flash drive is DEAD and only needs to be buried - no miracle of resurrection is going to happen.

No need to "sweat" your data files ( I hope) because being a computer user whose data is valuable you have multiple backups of the data on that dead flash drive (I hope) and if not I'll bet you start backing up data you can't afford to loose and you now know flash memory devices like hard drives can fail at inopportune moments and we only lose what we don't back up.
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One last beating.
Feb 22, 2011 1:00AM PST
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Ours Do Not Work Either
Apr 25, 2011 12:09AM PDT

Both my wife and I have flash drive we initially used on XP system computers. Neither one is recognized on our new Windows 7 Professional Dell computer, though the ports work for other applications. We get the same error you get (Error 43) but the USB ports work fine for any other application (such as mouse, file transfer cables, etc.) I don't think it is a problem physically with the flash drive, but nobody seems to have any good solutions despite this well documented problem on Win 7 and Vista systems

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Review fix
Apr 25, 2011 4:00AM PDT

Try following the thread above your post to see if anything may work. If you can get data from this flash drive from another as some flash drives just won't work after some time, due for whatever reason. I also suggest, again to use a rear USB port and disconnect any USB devices not needed for the time being. if you try any driver updates make sure they're win 7 related to the OS used, 32-bit or 64-bit if applicable.

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To ensure this issue is not a problem, you should use
Apr 25, 2011 4:07AM PDT

"To ensure this issue is not a problem, you should use a registry
cleaner to fix any potential registry errors your computer may have."

Registry cleaners continue to cause so many problems. (with a notable exception of course.)
Bob