Hello, dear site visitors!

It so happened that I needed to format it. Just this one HDD from a laptop and when I gave the laptop for warranty repair, instead of an SSD drive, I installed the HDD back. Yesterday I took a laptop from repair and installed the hard drive back in my pocket.

I connected it to the computer on which the information was stored in order to upload it to an external HDD, but it is not detected. Rather, it is determined, Windows signals that a device is connected, an icon appears on the notification panel that a USB device is connected, and it is even possible to remove it.

In the device manager, the external HDD is also displayed and works properly. But the whole problem is that the disk is not displayed in Windows Explorer. You go to my computer, but it's not there.

I connected this external hard drive to the laptop, everything is the same. It is defined, but it is not visible in the explorer. Yep, it's the disk itself.

I thought a little, then googled and realized that the disk is simply not distributed and it is necessary to create a partition on it. We will create a standard Windows tool for working with hard drives, which I wrote about.

On this it was already possible to finish the article, but I took a few screenshots, so I will show and tell everything on a real example and how you like ˜- with pictures :).

We need to open the disk management tool. To do this, open Start and press right click on the A computer. Select Control.

Select an item on the left Disk Management. And this is the picture I saw (screenshot below). Disk 0- This is my SSD drive, there are sections created. BUT Disc 1, this is already my external hard drive, which was not displayed in the explorer. On it is written not allocated. Let's share it now :)

Right click on it and select Create a simple volume...

We need to specify a size for the partition we are creating. If you want to create one section, then you can not change anything, just click Further. Box size simple volume already listed maximum size for the section we are creating.

In the next window, you need to assign a drive letter. I advise you to just click next and do not change anything.

Volume formatting. I advise you to leave everything as it is. You can change the volume label (this is its name). Click Further.

After that, everything worked for me. Perhaps you have noticed (in the screenshot above), there already appeared a folder of the explorer on the tasks sang. This suggestion open content hard drive in the conductor.

And here is the HDD itself in My computer.

That's all. All the best!

Apr 11 2013

The computer does not see the flash drive - there is a solution

Hello. Your the computer does not see the flash drive, memory card or hard drive and you are wondering what to do? Surely every computer user has a similar situation, or even more than one.

Today I will help you with solving issues if your computers do not see flash drives and other similar devices. I'll tell you what are the problems with displaying usb devices and how to solve them.

Display issues

By the way, the last article was about data recovery from a flash drive. If you are interested, then replenish the baggage of your knowledge.

Your computer does not see or recognize the flash drive, hard drive and memory card. let's consider possible reasons the situation. At the end of the article, do not forget to watch a visual video tutorial on how to make a flash drive or hard drive work.

A small outline of the article

• Device definition
• Power indicator
• Front usb ports
• Lack of nutrition
• usb disabled in bios
• usb device not recognized
• Outdated drivers
• Viruses
• Different file systems
• Conclusion

We define the device

The first step is to determine exactly how the computer does not see your usb drive. From this answer it will be clear whether it is possible or not.

To do this, you need to go to the Windows Device Manager.

In order to enter it, you need to right-click on the shortcut of my computer on the desktop or in the start menu, go to properties, click on device manager.

Then select disk devices.

We got into the device manager and the disk devices tab. If your flash drive or memory card is displayed in this list, then with a high probability you can recover data on them. If the flash drive is not there, then most likely the memory card controller has burned out. I recommend trying to connect your usb device to other computers.

If nothing changes and the flash drive is also not visible, then the problem is probably a faulty controller. From such a usb device, you can hardly pull out data, you can, of course, contact special institutions that deal with this (they are not available in all cities), but they will charge you a tidy sum for work. So think about whether you need it or not.

Your flash drive is visible as a device, but it does not appear in my computer or explorer, or it asks to be formatted. To do this, you need to go to disk management. To access it, you need to follow these steps. Here are screenshots for clarity:

Right click on my computer, go to manage.

Go to disk management.

The device is displayed, writes its volume and file system - it is ready for use and functions normally.

The device is displayed, shows its volume, but does not display the file system and writes "not defined". In order to use it, you need to right-click in the undefined box and select format.

You can check the quick format box and click OK. After the device is formatted, it should work in normal operating mode.

Displayed as a removable device, writes no media and does not show the file system. All these parameters mean that this device not working properly, there are internal or external damage to the controller. You can hardly read information from such a flash drive without special expensive equipment.

Power indicator

When the flash drive is connected to the computer, a small indicator on the usb device should light up. If it caught fire and started blinking, then everything is fine with the flash drive, but not with the operating system, you need to look for the reason in it. If the flash drive indicator does not light up, then the problem may be in the device itself or the connected port on the computer.

Front USB ports

There have been cases when a flash drive is connected to a computer through the front usb ports, but the flash drive does not work. Perhaps these front usb are turned off or they forgot to connect them to the motherboard.

Not enough food

Nutritional deficiencies mainly occur when connecting hard drives through the front usb ports of the computer, hubs and hubs. It is best to connect such devices directly to usb connectors on the motherboard, that is, behind the computer. If you are using a usb hub or hub, then disconnect unnecessary devices, maybe this will help. Also, the reason may be in the low-powered power supply of the computer.

usb disabled in bios

This problem rarely happens. Mostly in computer clubs and similar entertainment venues. What is it for? In order for a person not to bring viruses and download different programs and not necessary information on computer. It's more of a protection measure. If this home computer, then you need to go to the settings and check the box to enable the launch of usb devices in the motherboard.

usb device not recognized

The usb device is not recognized and when the USB flash drive is connected, the operating system gives it an already used letter (the volume label used). This does not always happen, there are other cases. In order to fix this, you need to go to the computer control panel.

I showed how to enter it above, or you can call the Run window - the keyboard shortcut Win + R (the checkbox between Ctrl and Alt plus the letter R) and type the command diskmgmt.msc. Go to disk management, find desired device- USB flash drive, right-click on it and select Change drive letter or drive path. In the window that appears, you can add or change this letter.

Outdated drivers

It is possible that you have outdated drivers - update them. To do this, you need to find out which company the manufacturer and model of your motherboard. Usually written on the box with the packaging, if you saved them of course. If not, then use the Everest or Aida program.

With the help of them you can find out the model of your motherboard and much more. useful information about your computer. After everyone has found out, you need to go to the official website of the manufacturer, find the right system board and download drivers for the chipset and usb device, if any.

Viruses

There have been times when the computer does not recognize the USB flash drive due to viruses that have appeared in your computer. operating system. To do this, I recommend using good antivirus programs and do a full virus scan at least once a month. If you don't have it, you can use free antivirus, or purchase a paid product.

Different file systems

This happens, but very rarely. Your computer does not see the flash drive due to a conflict between the file systems of the computer and USB devices. Most flash drives work in two file FAT systems and FAT32, and hard disks in NTFS.

You can try formatting your flash drive in another format such as FAT32 or NTFS. Maybe everything will work fine after that.

Helpful information. On a flash drive in FAT and FAT32 format, you can upload information in one file no more than 4 Gigabytes, and much more on a hard drive. Therefore, if you encounter such a problem, be prepared for this and keep in mind.

And for dessert, watch a short video tutorial on how to make the computer see a USB flash drive and hard drive. For convenient and enjoyable viewing, I recommend watching this video in full screen, that is, in full screen mode.

The computer does not see the flash drive and hard drive

Conclusion

And I also have a little news. Yesterday my mailbox was hacked. Tried to restore it, but to no avail. I filled out the form to the support service, the answer should be sent within 3 working days, I will wait for the news. If everything goes well and I can restore my mail, I will definitely write a separate article about it. After all this problem happens to many Internet users.

Perhaps you have any questions or questions - your computer does not see the USB flash drive. You can ask them below in the comments to this article, as well as use the form with me.

Thank you for reading me

In this article, we will show you how to make USBflash drive or SDthe map was defined in Windows system like a regular local hard drive. You might be asking, why is this necessary? The thing is that Windows defines by default USB flash ki and memory cards as removable drives, which are Windows tools cannot be split into multiple sections. And even if you split the flash drive into two or more partitions using third-party utilities (in the same Linux), then only the first of them will be available in the Windows family OS (by the way, a built-in one appeared in Windows 10 1703). Those. Windows supports normal multi-partitioning only for HDD drives, which are defined in the system as local (i.e. non-removable).

RMB bit and USB media

Windows family operating systems recognize USB flash drives as removable / removable (removable) devices due to the presence of a special bit descriptor on each device RMB(removablemediabit) . If, when polling a connected device via the StorageDeviceProperty function, the system determines that RMB=1, it concludes that the connected device is a removable drive. Thus, in order to convert a USB flash drive to a hard drive from the system's point of view, it is enough to modify this descriptor. This can be done directly (which is quite risky due to differences in hardware implementations specific devices, and not always possible), or indirectly, by changing the answer USB devices using a special driver that allows you to filter information in the device response.

Advice. Some manufacturers produce special utilities to flash the controller of their flash drives. First of all, try to find such a utility and / or firmware on the manufacturer's website. This is the most correct way. If there is no such utility, follow the recommendations from this article.

Connect a USB flash drive to any free port on your computer, then open the Disk Management Manager ( diskmgmt.msc) and make sure that its type is defined in the system as Removable(Removable device) .

Also, the device type can be viewed on the Volumes tab in the disk properties (as we see here Type: Removable).

Or using the diskpart command:

List volume

In this article, we will look at two ways to change the RMB bit on a USB flash drive - using the Hitachi filter driver (changes are made only at the driver level on a specific computer) and changing the bit in the controller firmware using the Lexar BootIt utility (more universal way, but there are a number of limitations and is not applicable to all models of flash drives and SD cards). Although both of these methods are quite old and I originally tested them on Windows 7, they continue to be relevant and work equally well in Windows 7. modern Windows 10.

Lexar BootIt Utility

Recently, I came across a rather interesting utility - LexarBootIt. This is a free portable program that can change the RMB of a removable drive by making a removable USB device fixed (or vice versa). Despite the fact that the Lexar BootIt utility was developed for Lexar devices (Micron, Crucial), it can also work with flash drives from other manufacturers. BootIt supports everything Windows versions from Windows XP to Windows 10.

Important. The utility is guaranteed to work for Lexar drives. Judging by the reviews, the "Flip removable bit" function does not work on fast USB 3.0 flash drives. In addition, when flashing the controller, you lose the warranty on the flash drive and can make it inoperable.

You can download BootIt on the Lexar website (lexar_usb_tool) or from our website ().

• Run BootIt.exe with administrator rights
• Select your flash drive from the list of devices
• Click on the button Flip Removable Bit
• Save changes by clicking OK.

Reconnect the device and use the device manager to verify that its type has changed from Removable to Basic.

In the event that the BootIt utility did not help change the RMB bit to removable storage try the following method based on the Hitachi Microdrive filter driver

Filter driver for Hitachi Microdrive flash drives

To USB flash drive or SD card was recognized in the system as a hard drive, we need a special filter driver that allows us to modify the data transmitted through the system stack of the current device driver. We will use a filter driver to USB flash drives by Hitachi Hitachi microdrive driver), which at the OS driver level allows you to change the type of flash drive device from removable to fixed (USB-ZIP -> USB-HDD). Through the use this driver, you can hide from the system that the connected device is removable. As a result, the system will consider that it is working with a regular hard disk, which can be divided into sections that will be simultaneously available in the system.

Hitachi Microdrive Driver Archives:

• 32 bit systems - (3.0 Kb)
• Hitachi Microdrive version for 64 bit systems - (3.8 Kb)

You need to download the driver version for your system in accordance with its bitness. Both archives have the same structure and consist of two files:

• cfadisk.inf– setup file, with driver settings
• cfadisk.sys- Hitachi driver file

The next step is to identify the device code of our flash drive. To do this, in the properties of the disk on the tab Details in parameter Device Instance Path select and copy ( ctrl+c) device instance ID.

In our example, this would be:

USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_Linux&Prod_File-CD_Gadget&Rev_0000\0123456789ABCDEF&0

Suppose we are planning to install a driver on 64 bit system. Using any test editor, open the file for editing cfadisk.inf. We are interested in the cfadisk_device and cfadisk_device.NTamd64 sections.

%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,IDE\DiskTS64GCF400______________________________20101008

We change the value of DiskTS64GCF400________________________________20101008 to the code of our device.

Important! In the device instance code, it is necessary to discard the part after the second "\" (in our example, we discard 0123456789ABCDEF&0).

We get:

%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,IDE\USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_Linux&Prod_File-CD_Gadget&Rev_0000

We save the file.

If the driver is installed on 32 bit system, you need to download the advising archive, unpack it and open the cfadisk.inf file for editing. Let's find a section :

%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_JetFlash&Prod_TS1GJF110&Rev_0.00

Then we will change the data in the last line, indicating the code of the instance of our flash drive, i.e. in our example we get:

%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_LEXAR&Prod_JD_LIGHTNING_II&Rev_1100 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_JetFlash&Prod_TS1GJF110&Rev_0.00 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_Linux&Prod_File-CD_Gadget&Rev_0000

Advice. If you need to USB flash drive in the device manager was displayed with a specific name, you need to edit the value of the Microdrive_devdesc variable, for example like this:
Microdrive_devdesc = "Transcend 64GB DIY SSD"

Installing the Hitachi Microdrive driver instead of the native USB drive driver

It remains to replace the driver used by the USB flash drive.

Important! If a USB driver Hitachi Microdrive is installed on a 64-bit system, since this driver is not digitally signed, you will either have to .

Open the Drivers tab and click the button Update Drivers.

Specify the folder to the directory where the downloaded archive with the Hitachi driver is unpacked:

Let's choose new driver.

We ignore the warning about the missing digital signature drivers.

Advice. In Windows 10 and Windows 8, when installing the driver, the following error appears:

Windows found drivers for this device, but an error occurred while trying to install these drivers.
Hitachi Microdrive
3rd party inf does not contain signature information

To disable driver digital signature verification, run the following commands:

bcdedit.exe /set nointegritychecks ON
bcdedit.exe /set TESTSIGNING ON

Restart your computer and try installing the driver again.

It remains to restart the computer and, having opened the disk manager, make sure that your flash drive has become detected as a regular hard drive ( Type:Basic), and the Hitachi driver is used as the driver.

By opening the explorer, you can also make sure that the icon of the flash drive has changed, it began to appear as a hard drive as a regular disk.

Now you can work with this flash drive like with a regular HDD: create partitions, specify the active partition, create dynamic disks, install software that does not work from flash drives, etc.

Important. On others Windows computers without this driver, the second partition of the device will not be available.

To uninstall the Hitachi Microdrive driver, open the disk properties and on the driver tab, click the Update Driver button - the system will install the native driver itself.

Advice. If the system stops booting with a BSOD after installing the Hitachi driver, you need to boot the computer from installation disk Windows / Live CD and manually remove the following files:

• cfadisk.sys in %windir%\System32\drivers directory
• Directory "cfadisk.inf_amd64_…" from %windir%\System32\DriverStore\FileRepositoty

Restart your computer

You need to understand that this solution will only work on the system on which the appropriate driver is installed.

Probably a lot of users using as portable storage devices important information flash drives, memory cards and external hard drives USB drives HDD faced a very controversial problem when, when connecting such devices to a computer or laptop and trying to access the data stored on them, the system suddenly reports that there is no connected media. The removable device seems to be working, which may be indicated by a blinking or permanently on indicator, but for unknown reasons the operating system is not recognized. What would you suggest as the best solution to fix the problem? Let's try together to figure out the reasons for what is happening, and what tools are best used to restore the normal operation of any of the above drives.

Why does the error message "No media" appear (the flash drive is detected as a removable device or not recognized at all)?

Before taking any effective measures to eliminate the current situation, let's briefly dwell on the reasons that caused it. It happens that the system reports that there is no media, a flash drive (removable device) in the same “Explorer” is not recognized, although it is clearly visible that the indicator is blinking. But you can also meet the opposite situation, when even the LED does not show any visible signs of life. Thus, you need to look for the root cause both in the drive and in the operating system. Among the most frequently encountered moments, one can separately dwell on such problems:

• USB ports do not work or do not correspond to the connected drive according to the standard;
• ports are disabled altogether;
• ports and drives lack power;
• the device has been assigned a literal reserved for another carrier;
• Control drivers are not installed (or installed incorrectly) for the USB media or controllers;
• the card reader does not work;
• the firmware of the removable device is damaged;
• on the drive file system changed to unreadable RAW format;
• the media or OS has been exposed to viruses.

No media (removable device) error: what to do first?

Now let's start troubleshooting. And first of all, let's focus on flash drives and external hard drives connected precisely through USB interfaces. After all, why does the system report that there is no connected media (a removable device in Windows 10 is simply not in the list of drives)? Yes, only because the latest modifications of these operating systems are very picky in terms of the rigor of connection in accordance with the standards of the interfaces and devices used. For example, a flash drive or removable drive are designed to work only with USB 3.0, and you connect such a device through a 2.0 standard port. It is clear that the drive will not be recognized. But in the case of the opposite situation, everything can be quite normal.

Thus, if a notification is issued that there is no attached media, the removable device should simply be connected to another port, and then check its operation.

Nuances of power supply schemes

But let's assume that all ports are working fine, and the media itself is also fine (at least when connected to another PC or laptop, it is detected without problems). Another reason for the message that there is no connected media (a removable device is not recognized under any pretext) may be the most common lack of power for the correct operation of both the drive itself and the port to which it is connected. In this situation, first look at the exposed power supply scheme.

If it says economy mode, change it to balanced or high performance mode.

It also does not hurt to check the properties of all USB controllers and hubs, and on the power management tab, uncheck the boxes to allow turning off these components to save energy. In the case of using USB hubs to connect, it is strongly recommended to disable all additional peripheral devices.

If, to work with external HDD if you use the DISKPART toolkit with a list of connected devices, the problem may also appear. True, the list will show something like "Disk 1 - no media." A removable device in this case may not be recognized only because the external drive requires an independent power source, and the power supplied through the port is clearly not enough. In this situation, if there is such an opportunity, you just need to power the disk from any other external source, for example, by connecting it directly to the mains through a special transformer adapter.

Checking ports in the BIOS

But the matter can be complicated by the fact that even in the "Device Manager" error information can be displayed, in which it is most often reported that this device is disabled. At the same time, it may not be possible to use it through the RMB menu on the selected element, and the system will remind you with enviable constancy that there is no connected media. A removable device in this case may not be recognized only because the use of USB ports is disabled in the primary system, for example, by the computer administrator, so that the user does not accidentally introduce virus threats into the system.

To fix the problem, go to the BIOS / UEFI settings immediately after turning on the stationary computer terminal or laptop, find something like USB Legacy Support or USB Storage Detect in the advanced settings (Advanced) and set this option to the active state (Enabled), then save change (F10 + Y).

Automatic diagnostics

Now suppose that none of the described actions has yielded any result, and the system again reports that there is no connected media. A removable device may either not be detected at all, or be visible, but with limited access. What can be done?

In order not to delve into the wilds of manual error correction for the time being, you can use a small automated WinUSB utility designed just to identify and fix problems of this kind, which can be downloaded completely free of charge from the official Microsoft resource on the Internet. It is possible that the problems found will be fixed without your participation. As a last resort, if automatic error correction is not possible, several actions will be suggested that you will have to perform yourself.

Change drive letter

Another situation can be called no less common, when the system reports that there is no connected media. Removable Windows device 7 and its analogues may not be visible for the reason that the letter under which the drive should be visible in the system is reserved for another device.

In this case, you need to use the disk management section (diskmgmt.msc), through RMB on the selected device (if it is displayed among the connected drives), go to the letter change item and assign another letter by selecting the appropriate one from the list. It is impossible to reserve letters below “F” in any case!

Simple and low-level formatting

Now let's see what can be done when the system responds to the connected drive, but displays a message stating that the device cannot be used because it is not formatted. Very often, you should not use formatting (quick or full) directly from Explorer. It is better to execute it from the disk management section. Paradoxically, it also happens that the same flash drive is not visible in Explorer, but it is in the media management section. If a standard remedy the removable disk will not be detected, try to perform similar steps in more advanced programs. As one of the most powerful tools, we can recommend the AOMEI package Partition Assistant.

But what to do if the connected drive is not available for formatting at all? We assume that the system reports that there is no connected media, the removable device cannot be formatted in disk management or similar utilities.

In this situation, it is better to use what is called heavy artillery in the form of programs like HDD LLFT. Firstly, such utilities detect any external and internal media, regardless of the degree of damage, and secondly, low-level formatting allows you to quickly and efficiently bring the device back to life, even in situations where the file structure was changed to an unreadable RAW format on them.

Driver Issues

Naturally, do not forget the drivers. Just in case, it is worth checking the status of the drivers of all USB controllers. If problems are identified, the control software will either need to be reinstalled or updated. An update to simplify the operations performed can be done using special automated applications like iObit Driver Booster. Such utilities will independently find on the Internet on the websites of manufacturers, download and install updated drivers. You will only need to agree to install the updated components.

But in the case of memory cards, you will have to check the drivers of the card reader. Often, everything can be in order with such media, but the system reports that the drive cannot be used only because the memory card reader itself does not work correctly. And very often, when using O2Micro drivers, it will not be enough just to install from the EXE installer.

Additionally, some INF files will need to be manually copied to the destination installation folder.

Factory firmware recovery

In principle, if the main reason is damage to the firmware (controllers), you can use special utilities from the hardware developer to resuscitate the drive.

Today, for almost all brands (with rare exceptions), you can download such tools directly from official resources. However, you can also use some universal programs like D-Soft Flash Doctor.

Viruses

Finally, do not forget that all kinds of viruses like to settle on flash drives and memory cards. You can often find hidden Autorun.inf objects on infected drives. That is why, when connecting the device to a PC, it is recommended to first check the media for viruses with a portable scanner. However, you can also scan the entire system, only for this it is advisable to use bootable media with applications like Kaspersky Rescue Disk.