USB Stick Problem

Last night I tried to copy some work from my laptop onto my USB stick so that I could bring it into Uni today and carry on with it. Instead, I've had to bring my laptop in as it wouldn't work.

Where it usually shows up on 'My Computer' it wouldn't, I tried plugging it in and out several times and still nothing.

I had a look around the internet and there were people talking about downloading a certain driver or something. I have no idea what driver to download though in order to get the stick working. (It's also not just the stick, I tried several).

My laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1545 if that helps.

Dells. Infamous for USB faults.

Did you try different ports at all mate?

Yeah mate, all 3 I tried.

Every one made the bleep sound to say it's been connected, but it wouldn't actually 'connect'.

That is very odd.

You shouldn't need drivers for USB ports/sticks, they're generally plug-and-play, or plug-and-work.

Normally it should appear as a (H:) shouldn't it?

Try this:
Plug the USB in.
Start -> Run
Type in E:, if that fails then F:, G:, H:

Maybe it's just being rather silly and has detected it and decided not to show it in My Computer.

That is very odd.

You shouldn't need drivers for USB ports/sticks, they're generally plug-and-play, or plug-and-work.

Normally it should appear as a (H:) shouldn't it?

Try this:
Plug the USB in.
Start -> Run
Type in E:, if that fails then F:, G:, H:

Maybe it's just being rather silly and has detected it and decided not to show it in My Computer.

Cheers, I'll give that a try now.

May be completely unrelated, I don't know, but just a thought - I installed a printer the other day and I use that through a USB cable...

I can't find 'Run'...

If you're on Vista search for it when you press start.

That is very odd.

You shouldn't need drivers for USB ports/sticks, they're generally plug-and-play, or plug-and-work.

Normally it should appear as a (H:) shouldn't it?

Try this:
Plug the USB in.
Start -> Run
Type in E:, if that fails then F:, G:, H:

Maybe it's just being rather silly and has detected it and decided not to show it in My Computer.

If you're on Vista search for it when you press start.

Nice one.

No, tried that. Didn't work.

Vista has been known for it's incompatibility issues, so maybe its a Vista thing then?

May be completely unrelated, I don't know, but just a thought - I installed a printer the other day and I use that through a USB cable...

It's most likely the USB stick that's faulty then.

Instead of using a USB stick you could send your work as an attachment to yourself in an e-mail through hotmail. Then when you get to Uni you can open your hotmail and carry on?

Give the USB stick a try on someone else's computer and if it works, you know it's your laptop, if it doesn't, you'll need to get a new memo stick.

We can not use USB's in work as its the NHS so they do not allow 3rd part hardware. To get round this, I e-mail myself the work, and then open it once I'm in work. Sorted.

We can not use USB's in work as its the NHS so they do not allow 3rd part hardware. To get round this, I e-mail myself the work, and then open it once I'm in work. Sorted.

Suppose I may just have to do that then, even though it's a little bit of a pain in the arse.

Cheers everyone.

Sometimes USB ports wont show up if your PC or Laptop has been running for a while and different processes have been going on. 

I would first turn off the pc all together. reboot then try again. When you have it in the USB port go to MY COMPUTER and it should show up as a peripheral or "Device w/ removable storage".  At the same time if it doesnt show up it was possible it was removed improperly. If installed the USB icon will show on the system tray at the bottom right. Right Click it and then chose..."Remove USB".   

If your still having issues, the USB drive could be corrupted or bad..

See device manager and try rolling back the driver for the USB ports, or going to the dell website and downloading the original drivers. This can happen due to Windows Update, which can clash on drivers rendering devices useless, happened to the Wireless card in my laptop, I forked out £40 for a PCI express card to find out i could solve it this way.

Good old Windows.

See device manager and try rolling back the driver for the USB ports, or going to the dell website and downloading the original drivers. This can happen due to Windows Update, which can clash on drivers rendering devices useless, happened to the Wireless card in my laptop, I forked out £40 for a PCI express card to find out i could solve it this way.

Nice one.

I have no idea what drivers though?

Ross on device manager right click on universal serial bus controller and click uninstall after uninstalling all the devices reboot the computer, let them re install and see if that fixes the problem.

Will it automatically re-install if I un-installed it and then restarted the laptop?

If you have vista it should reinstall the drivers as soon as you re boot. Just to be sure make a restore point if you are not too comfortable with the process.