This is not an uncommon problem. Most flash drives and other USB devices work just fine on the PC's in the labs, but some do not. Windows, in its infinite wisdom, stores all the information for every USB drive used on a computer and this information survives the clean sweep that all lab computers experience upon restart. What does that mean? Well, let's say I go to a PC computer with my SanDisk flash drive and it works fine. I restart and leave and another user comes to the computer with their slightly different SanDisk flash drive, let's call this one "SanDisk B" (maybe their's was manufactured later than mine, or is 256MB and mine is only 128MB). Then they restart and leave and I come back to the computer with my SanDisk. Microsoft may say that it sees the new hardware, my USB drive, but is actually mistaking it for SanDisk B. Now I have to go right click on the My Computer icon, go to properties--device manager and uninstall all USB device drivers. This is time consuming, so I'd probably just move to a Mac.

This is not an uncommon problem. Most flash drives and other USB devices work just fine on the PC's in the labs, but some do not. Windows, in its infinite wisdom, stores all the information for every USB drive used on a computer and this information survives the clean sweep that all lab computers experience upon restart. What does that mean? Well, let's say I go to a PC computer with my SanDisk flash drive and it works fine. I restart and leave and another user comes to the computer with their slightly different SanDisk flash drive, let's call this one "SanDisk B" (maybe their's was manufactured later than mine, or is 256MB and mine is only 128MB). Then they restart and leave and I come back to the computer with my SanDisk. Microsoft may say that it sees the new hardware, my USB drive, but is actually mistaking it for SanDisk B.

How to fix this problem:
So, you've plugged in your USB drive, and even after waiting five minutes it still won't boot up. (The wait is important - some computers, particularly in the LDC, are infuriatingly slow.) In that case...
1. Right click on "My Computer" and select Properties.
2. Go to the "Hardware" tab and open the Device Manager.
3. Go to Universal Serial Bus controllers (at the very bottom of the list).
IF the driver is the problem, there should be something called "USB Mass Storage Device" with a yellow circle and exclamation point over it. Right click on that and select "Uninstall," then pull out the USB drive and plug it back in again. It should boot up normally.
HOWEVER, if there is no "USB Mass Storage Device," then you may have plugged it into the wrong port. (For example, I've never gotten the ones on the monitors to work.) Try pulling it out and plugging it into a different one - I suggest the one under the flap on the front of the Dells.)

Again, this is not a horribly common problem but it happens. When it does, try another PC, or, to fully ensure USB acceptance, a Mac.

Quick Fix for SCICers

1. While on the PC, open Collab, then Departments, then ITS, then Common, then the SCIC folder. Once in the folder, open invisible devmgr.cmd. 2. This program will bring up the device manager. In the device manager click on view, and then show hidden devices. 3. Scroll down to the Universal Serial Bus controllers. 4. In light gray should be some listings for USB mass storage device. Remove these items by right clicking and hitting uninstall or by selecting them and hitting delete. 5. This should fix the problem.

Again, this is not a horribly common problem but it happens. If this fix does not work, try another PC, or, to fully ensure USB acceptance, a Mac.

Welcome to the Student Computing Knowledge Base

Welcome to the Student Computing Knowledge Base