Home-Word-USB storage device cannot be installed. What to do if the USB device is not recognized? Reinstalling Windows XP drivers for USB devices

USB storage device cannot be installed. What to do if the USB device is not recognized? Reinstalling Windows XP drivers for USB devices

Today, USB is one of the most common data transfer protocols between a computer and a connected device. Therefore, it is very unpleasant when the system does not see devices connected to the corresponding connector. Especially many problems arise if interaction with a keyboard or mouse occurs on a PC via USB. Let's figure out what factors cause this problem and determine methods to eliminate it.

In this article we will not discuss problems with the visibility of the device associated with its inoperability, because in this case this equipment should be replaced or repaired. The article will concern cases where the problem is caused by malfunctions or incorrect settings of the system or PC hardware. In fact, there can be many reasons for such a malfunction, and each of them has its own solution algorithm. We'll talk about specific ways to fix this problem below.

Method 1: Microsoft Utility

In many cases, the problem with the visibility of USB devices can be solved by a utility specially created for this purpose from Microsoft.


Method 2: "Device Manager"

Sometimes an issue with USB hardware visibility can be resolved simply by updating the configuration in "Device Manager".

  1. Click "Start". Click "Control Panel".

  2. Come in "System and Security".

  3. Now open "Device Manager" by clicking on the corresponding inscription in the block "System".

  4. The interface will launch "Device Manager". The problematic device in the list can either be displayed in a block "Other devices", or absent altogether. In the first case, click on the block name.

  5. A list of devices will open. The problematic equipment may be indicated there either under its real name or listed as "USB Mass Storage Device". Click on its name with the right mouse button ( RMB) and select "Update configuration...".

  6. Device search will be activated.

  7. After it is completed and the configuration is updated, it is quite possible that the system will begin to interact normally with the problematic device.

If the required equipment is not displayed at all in "Device Manager", click on the menu item "Action" and then select "Update configuration...". After this, a procedure similar to that described just above will occur.

Method 3: Update or reinstall drivers

If the computer does not see only a certain USB device, then there is a possibility that the problem is due to incorrect installation of drivers. In this case, they need to be reinstalled or updated.


If this option does not help, then there is another method.

  1. Click in "Device Manager" by device name RMB. Select "Properties".

  2. Go to the tab "Driver".

  3. Click on the button "Roll back". If it is not active, click "Delete".

  4. Next, you should indicate your intentions by pressing the button "OK" in the dialog box that appears.

  5. The procedure for removing the selected driver will be performed. Next, click on the position in the horizontal menu of the window "Action". Select from the list "Update configuration...".

  6. Now the device name should appear in the window again "Device Manager". You can check its functionality.

If the system was unable to find the appropriate drivers or the problem was not solved after installing them, then you can use the services of specialized programs for searching and installing drivers. They are good because they will find matches on the Internet for all devices connected to the PC and perform automatic installation.

Method 4: Setting up USB controllers

Another option that can help solve the problem under study is setting up USB controllers. It is still performed in the same place, that is, in "Device Manager".


If this does not help, then you can reinstall the drivers for the group elements listed above "USB Controllers", using the same methods that were described in the presentation Method 3.

Method 5: Troubleshooting the port

It is possible that your computer does not see USB devices simply because its corresponding port is faulty. In order to find out if this is so, if your desktop PC or laptop has several USB ports, try connecting the equipment through a different connector. If this time the connection is successful, it means that the problem is in the port.

To resolve this problem, you need to open the system unit and see if this port is connected to the motherboard. If it is not connected, then connect. If there is mechanical damage or other damage to the connector, then in this case it is necessary to replace it with a working version.

Method 6: Relieving Static Stress

In addition, you can try to remove static voltage from the motherboard and other PC components, which can also cause the problem we are describing.


There is also a possibility that the computer does not see the equipment due to the fact that many USB devices are already connected to it. The system simply cannot cope with such a load. In this case, we recommend that you disconnect all other devices and connect the problematic equipment to the back of the system unit if there is an appropriate connector there. Perhaps this recommendation will help solve the problem.

Method 7: Disk Management

The problem with the visibility of a connected USB device, in this case exclusively a flash drive or external hard drive, can be solved using the system’s built-in tool "Disk Management".

  1. Click Win+R. Enter in the field of the shell that appears:

    Apply by pressing "OK".

  2. The tool interface starts "Disk Management". You need to monitor whether the name of the flash drive appears and disappears in the window when it is connected to the computer and disconnected. If nothing new happens visually at all, then this method will not suit you and you need to solve the problem using other methods. If changes occur in the list of connected drives when attaching new media, then you can try to solve the problem with visibility using this tool. If next to the name of the disk device there is an inscription "Not distributed", then click on it RMB. Next, select "Create a simple volume...".

  3. Will start "Simple Volume Creation Wizard...". Click "Next".

  4. Then a window will open where you need to specify the volume size. Since in our case we need the volume size to be equal to the size of the entire disk, then click here too "Next" without making changes.

  5. The next window requires you to assign a drive letter. In the corresponding field, select a character that differs from those letters that are already assigned to other drives in the system. Click "Next".

  6. The following settings window opens. Here in the field "Volume Label" You can enter a name that will be assigned to the current volume. Although, this is not necessary, since you can leave the default name. Click "Next".

  7. The next window will provide a summary of all the data entered in the previous steps. To complete the procedure, just click on the button "Ready".

  8. After this, the volume name and status will appear opposite the media name "Fixed". Next click on it RMB and select “Make partition active”.

  9. The computer should now see the flash drive or external hard drive. If this does not happen, then restart your PC.

There are situations when when opening a tool "Disk Management", the volume that belongs to the flash drive already has the status "Good". In this case, there is no need to create a new volume, but only those manipulations that are described starting from point 8 need to be performed.

If, when opening the tool "Disk Management" you see that the disk is not initialized and has a single volume that is not allocated, this means that, most likely, this drive is physically damaged.

Method 8: Setting up the power supply

You can solve the problem with the visibility of USB devices by making some manipulations in the power settings. This method especially often helps when using laptops that interact with connected equipment via the USB 3.0 protocol.

  1. Go to "Control Panel" and then to the section "System and Security". We discussed how to do this during analysis. Method 2. Go here by position "Power supply".

  2. In the window that opens, find the current power plan. There should be an active radio button next to its name. Click on the position "Setting up a power plan" near the named position.

  3. In the shell that appears, click “Change advanced settings...”.

  4. In the window that appears, click "USB Settings".

  5. Click on the inscription "Temporary shutdown option...".

  6. The specified option will open. If the value is specified there "Allowed", then you should change it. To do this, click on the indicated inscription.

  7. From the drop-down list, select "Forbidden" and then click "Apply" And "OK".

Now you can check whether USB devices will work on this PC or whether you need to move on to other ways to solve the problem.

Method 9: Eliminating the virus

We should not exclude the possibility that the problem with the visibility of USB devices arose as a result of a virus infection of the computer. The fact is that some viruses specifically block USB ports so that they cannot be detected using an anti-virus utility connected from a flash drive. But what to do in this situation, because if the standard antivirus missed the malicious code, then it is now of little use, and you cannot connect an external scanner for the above reason?

In this case, you can scan the hard drive with an anti-virus utility from another computer or use a LiveCD. There are quite a few programs designed for these purposes, and each of them has its own nuances of operation and management. But there is no point in going into detail about each of them, since most of them have an intuitive interface. The main thing when detecting a virus is to follow the prompts that the utility displays. In addition, our website has a separate article dedicated to such programs.

There are quite a few ways to restore the visibility of USB devices in Windows 7, but this does not mean that all of them will be effective in your particular case. Often you have to try many options before finding the right way to solve the problem.

If, when connecting a flash drive, external hard drive, printer or other device connected via USB in Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 (I think this also applies to Windows 10), you see an error saying that the USB device is not recognized, these instructions should help solve the problem . The error may occur with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 devices.

In this part we will talk about how to fix the error USB device is not recognized in the device manager in Windows 7, 8 or Windows 10. I note that these are several methods at once and, as I wrote above, they may or may not work specifically for your situation.

So, first of all, go to Device Manager. One quick way to do this is to press the Windows key (with logo) + R, enter devmgmt.msc and press Enter.

Your unidentified device will most likely be located in the following sections of the manager:

  • USB controllers
  • Other devices (and called "Unknown device")

In the case where an unknown USB device with an exclamation mark appears in the "USB Controllers" list, try the following two things:

Another method, the functionality of which I happened to see in Windows 8.1 (when the system writes error code 43 in the description of the problem: USB device is not recognized): for all the devices listed in the previous paragraph in order, try the following: right-click - “Update drivers”. Then - search for drivers on this computer - select the driver from the list of already installed drivers. In the list you will see a compatible driver (which is already installed). Select it and click “Next” - after reinstalling the driver for the USB controller to which the unidentified device is connected, it can work.

USB 3.0 devices (flash drive or external hard drive) are not recognized in Windows 8.1

On laptops with the Windows 8.1 operating system, the USB device not recognized error is quite common for external hard drives and flash drives running via USB 3.0.

Changing the parameters of the laptop's power supply circuit helps solve this problem. Go to Windows Control Panel - Power Options, select the power plan you are using and click "Change advanced power settings." Then, in the USB settings, disable temporary disabling of USB ports.

So, we have an unpleasant situation: we have a flash drive with valuable information in our hands, we connect it and... silence. This can happen due to a problem with the flash drive or the computer (or laptop) itself. The problem with a flash drive can be either hardware (failure, device malfunction) or software (drive file system errors, viruses).

In order to find out what problem you are facing and how to proceed, try the following on your computer.

Having connected the drive to the USB port, see if the indicator (LED) on the flash drive lights up. If yes, then power is supplied to the flash drive and the drive itself (at least its basic hardware) is working. If the indicator does not light up, plug in another flash drive or printer or something else into the same USB port and check that the port is working properly. If another USB device starts working in the same port, then unfortunately the problem is in the USB drive itself and it must be taken to service. Before doing this, you need to weigh the pros and cons, because repairs are often comparable in cost to the device itself (the pro argument could be saving the information on the flash drive). If other devices behave the same way, the port may not be connected to the motherboard or is faulty (the wire is damaged). Trying other USB ports.

So, the flash drive is plugged into the computer and the indicator on it lights up. But you don’t see the usual launch of Explorer or the autorun window. We need to make sure whether the computer sees our flash drive as a device or not. To do this, click on Start - right-click on Computer (or My Computer) - Properties - Device Manager (or Hardware - Device Manager) - USB Controllers (or USB Universal Serial Bus Controllers). We are looking for the item USB storage device. If we don’t see it, right-click on USB Controllers (or Universal Serial Bus Controllers) - update the hardware configuration. If after this the “USB storage device” item does not appear, then our flash drive is faulty and needs to be taken to service.


If the USB storage device item in the device manager was or appeared after the update, then our flash drive (as a device) works and the computer sees it. That is, the device is working properly and the only thing that can separate us from our files are errors in the file system of the drive itself (which are usually easy to fix). With the drive connected, click Start - Computer (or My Computer) and see if there is a Removable disk item there. If not, go to the device manager (how to get to it is described above), find the Disk devices item and look for our drive there. Typically, the name of the disk consists of the name of the flash drive manufacturer and the capacity in gigabytes. The name must end with “USB Device”.


If the disk is not there, the flash drive is damaged and the service will help. If there is, right-click - Properties - Volumes - Fill. If the drive letter does not appear in the Volume section, then the drive’s file system is damaged. To restore it, you need to use special utilities such as EasyRecovery (by Ontrack) or similar ones. Or trust the professionals - it’s more reliable, because with inept actions you can completely erase the data (then it will no longer be possible to restore it).


If the drive letter appears, but the Removable disk item does not appear in Start-Computer (or My Computer), then the problem may be either file system errors or viruses (both on the flash drive and on the PC itself). This also includes the option when the Removable disk item is there, but when you go to the flash drive you see an empty folder.

Remember that even in the most “neglected” cases, when when you connect a flash drive the indicator on it does not light up, often both the flash drive and the information on it can be restored. Also, do not forget about safe removal of devices. Don't neglect this procedure. In most cases, problems with the drive occur precisely when you pull out the flash drive without completing the safe removal procedure.

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It happens that when you click on the Removable disk icon, you see an invitation to format the flash drive. This indicates a file system error, and you need to abandon formatting and use recovery utilities or qualified help.

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If a flash drive or external hard drive connected to your computer is silent, but you have important data on it, don’t despair! Not 100%, but in the vast majority of cases, data can be recovered.

Sometimes, when connecting a flash drive, printer or other devices that are connected via USB, an error occurs. that the USB device is not recognized. This problem is relevant both in Windows 7 and Windows 8, and in Windows 10. Also, this error occurs when working with USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. Therefore, today we will write a simple instruction with several methods to solve this problem. Let's go.

What to do if “USB device is not recognized”

So, if a similar error occurs when connecting any device via USB, then first of all you need to connect it to another USB port. The problem may be in the device itself and we need to make sure of this.

Next, if the computer does not see the device through other ports, then you need to test it on another computer or laptop. If the device is still not recognized by the computer, then most likely the problem is in the device itself. In this case, it is necessary to diagnose the device itself. By the way, if everything is as described just above, then the methods described below are unlikely to help you. At best, read on.

There is another way after which there is a high probability that the USB device will work:

  1. First, remove the device itself from the USB input, then turn off the computer and remove the plug from the socket, now press the power button and HOLD for a few seconds. Thus, the remaining charge will disappear from other components.
  2. Turn on the computer and try to connect the USB device. Most likely it will work.

The third method is a little faster than the previous ones. It lies in the fact that if many different devices are connected to the computer in the USB ports, then you should try to disconnect some of them, and connect the non-recognizing device to the rear USB output. If everything works, then congratulations, otherwise we move on to the next stage.

We solve the problem through the device manager

In this method we will use the task manager and I would like to immediately note that this method will help some, but not others. So, to begin with, by pressing the keys Win+R, open the window “ Execute" and enter a phrase there that will open the device manager for us: devmgmt.msc.

Since today we are talking about problems with USB, most likely the problematic device is located in the “ USB controllers" There are also unidentified devices that you should also pay attention to.

If the device is unidentified, that is, with a yellow exclamation mark, then you can try to update it via the Internet by clicking on it RMB. Or, if that doesn’t help, use the online version of Driver Pack Solution, which will help you find the missing driver. We wrote about her.

Here are a couple more methods, in case the unidentified device is located in the USB controllers tab.

  • Click on the device RMB and in " Properties» select the tab « Driver" where you need to click roll back. If there is no such item, then simply click delete, and then update the equipment configuration and see if the unidentified device has disappeared.
  • In this case, we need to go to the item “ Generic USB Hub», « USB Root Controller" And " USB hub" In the properties of these devices in " power management"You must REMOVE the checkbox in the item " Allow this device to turn off to save power».

The next method that works on Windows 8.1 is that for all the devices that we listed above, you need to properties click on the button " Update drivers"and then, in the window that appears, select search on this computer. The most compatible ones should already be on your computer, and you will see them in the window. You need to select it and click next. If everything went well, you can try connecting the USB device that was not working. By the way, before connecting, I would advise you to restart your computer again.

Devices are not recognized in Windows 8.1 – USB 3.0

For example, on laptops this problem can be a fairly common condition. Especially if you are running Windows 8.1, and devices such as flash drives and



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