USB Drive not responding

orionstar · 10-22-2009, 03:26 PM

Hi,

I have found that my USB drive does not seem to work - the drive size comes out as unknown, but the computer can recognise the drive and wishes to format it - problem lies in the fact that I cannot run the formatting due to an error that pops up when I try ("Cannot format drive").

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

**Tyree** · 10-22-2009, 04:35 PM

Is this an external Hdd? Prebuilt externals generally use enclosures with low quality circuitry.
Do other USB devices perform properly in your PC? Have you tried your drive in another PC?
You can remove the drive from the enclosure (voids warranty) and slave it into your PC or use a Hdd to USB adapter to test or retrieve data.
If the drive is good, purchase an external enclosure of the appropiate size.

orionstar · 10-23-2009, 12:20 AM

Ah, I see my terminology was wrong - I meant to say Flash drive.

**Tyree** · 10-23-2009, 09:41 AM

What brand? Flash drives are not very reliable and easily damaged. Most likely it has failed.

orionstar · 10-23-2009, 09:52 PM

LG. I see, thanks for the help. I guess I will have to use this as an excuse to buy a new one.

10-22-2009, 03:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
orionstar Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 7 OS: XP	USB Drive not responding Hi, I have found that my USB drive does not seem to work - the drive size comes out as unknown, but the computer can recognise the drive and wishes to format it - problem lies in the fact that I cannot run the formatting due to an error that pops up when I try ("Cannot format drive"). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

10-22-2009, 04:35 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,600 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: USB Drive not responding Is this an external Hdd? Prebuilt externals generally use enclosures with low quality circuitry. Do other USB devices perform properly in your PC? Have you tried your drive in another PC? You can remove the drive from the enclosure (voids warranty) and slave it into your PC or use a Hdd to USB adapter to test or retrieve data. If the drive is good, purchase an external enclosure of the appropiate size. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

10-23-2009, 12:20 AM	#3 (permalink)
orionstar Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 7 OS: XP	Re: USB Drive not responding Ah, I see my terminology was wrong - I meant to say Flash drive.

10-23-2009, 09:41 AM	#4 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,600 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: USB Drive not responding What brand? Flash drives are not very reliable and easily damaged. Most likely it has failed. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

10-23-2009, 09:52 PM	#5 (permalink)
orionstar Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 7 OS: XP	Re: USB Drive not responding LG. I see, thanks for the help. I guess I will have to use this as an excuse to buy a new one.