Vista - USB Flash drives not recognized

Under Vista Ultimate, when I insert a flash drive, the OS does not recognize
it as a USB Mass storage device, and prompts for drivers.
Here are some details:
1. This system was upgraded from XP
2. A Sandisk Cruzer Mini 1GB flash drive was installed prior to the upgrade
(this device is the only thumbdrive that works)
3. A USB card reader is present (system allocates 4 removable disks) and
working
4. I've verified the Sandisk drive is working on another system
5. I also get the same results with an older 128 MB flash drive

i have the same problem with my Sandisk Cruzer Micro 4GB . i use Vista
Ultimate on both my Laptop and Desktop. on my laptop as soon as i insert the
USB card Vista detects it and assigns it as a Driver. but on my Desktop it
prompts for drivers? Even if i direct the installer to "C:\Windows" every
time i re-insert the USB card , it prompts for driver for an "Unidentified
Device" which again i have to point the installer to "C:\windows" for it to
work!

is there anyway of finding out what's causing the conflict? perhaps a driver
installer? or another USB Device? i have unplugged all my USB devices but
this still happens or perhaps a driver installer?

can anyone show me how i can check for conflicts properly? thanx

ke3pup wrote:
> i have the same problem with my Sandisk Cruzer Micro 4GB . i use Vista
> Ultimate on both my Laptop and Desktop. on my laptop as soon as i insert the
> USB card Vista detects it and assigns it as a Driver. but on my Desktop it
> prompts for drivers?...

Quite a few people are having the same problem with USB sticks, which
appears to be a Vista bug in need of a fix. I'd like to track it down,
but I can't reproduce the problem. If either of you feel geeky enough
to do some debugging, I have some ideas to try -- but a basic knowledge
of the Registry would be helpful, otherwise it might be too confusing
for a beginner.

Does your 4GB Cruzer have the U3 stuff installed on it? Mine came with U3
installed...I went to u3.com and used their utility to remove U3, formatted
the stick to NTFS and it works fine on my vista notebook and desktop (both
ultimate) for readyboost or normal drive...

Greenwing

"ke3pup" <ke3pup@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news101E6EF-B4E5-409C-8C4A-E11CD0FAE9B0@microsoft.com...
> i have the same problem with my Sandisk Cruzer Micro 4GB . i use Vista
> Ultimate on both my Laptop and Desktop. on my laptop as soon as i insert
> the
> USB card Vista detects it and assigns it as a Driver. but on my Desktop it
> prompts for drivers? Even if i direct the installer to "C:\Windows" every
> time i re-insert the USB card , it prompts for driver for an "Unidentified
> Device" which again i have to point the installer to "C:\windows" for it
> to
> work!
>
> is there anyway of finding out what's causing the conflict? perhaps a
> driver
> installer? or another USB Device? i have unplugged all my USB devices but
> this still happens or perhaps a driver installer?
>
> can anyone show me how i can check for conflicts properly? thanx

I have a Kingston 2GB Datatravler U3 stick. The problem was Launchpad for the
U3 would work. The solution was released abut 10 days ago. A Vista compatable
version of Launchpad. Since then I've had no problems.

"AOTech" wrote:

> Under Vista Ultimate, when I insert a flash drive, the OS does not recognize
> it as a USB Mass storage device, and prompts for drivers.
> Here are some details:
> 1. This system was upgraded from XP
> 2. A Sandisk Cruzer Mini 1GB flash drive was installed prior to the upgrade
> (this device is the only thumbdrive that works)
> 3. A USB card reader is present (system allocates 4 removable disks) and
> working
> 4. I've verified the Sandisk drive is working on another system
> 5. I also get the same results with an older 128 MB flash drive

GreenWing wrote:
> Does your 4GB Cruzer have the U3 stuff installed on it? Mine came with
> U3 installed...I went to u3.com and used their utility to remove U3,
> formatted the stick to NTFS and it works fine on my vista notebook and
> desktop (both ultimate) for readyboost or normal drive...

Thanks for the tip. I was wondering how to get rid of U3. More
importantly, did Vista ask you for drivers every time you plugged
it in?

maxinminn wrote:
> I have a Kingston 2GB Datatravler U3 stick. The problem was Launchpad for the
> U3 would work. The solution was released abut 10 days ago. A Vista compatable
> version of Launchpad. Since then I've had no problems.

Before that, did Vista ask you for drivers every time?

"Don" <don195702@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uPCT5zjaHHA.1508@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> GreenWing wrote:
>> Does your 4GB Cruzer have the U3 stuff installed on it? Mine came with
>> U3 installed...I went to u3.com and used their utility to remove U3,
>> formatted the stick to NTFS and it works fine on my vista notebook and
>> desktop (both ultimate) for readyboost or normal drive...
>
> Thanks for the tip. I was wondering how to get rid of U3. More
> importantly, did Vista ask you for drivers every time you plugged
> it in?

No...the u3 stuff installed and was working (except for the removal
function)...I wanted the stick for readyboost, so I deleted off the U3 crap
via u3.com...Ultimate sees the drive fine and has never asked for a
driver...Treats it as a regular USB drive since installation...I have the
stick inside my desktop so I never remove it...

Greenwing

Mine did come with U3 installed but i removed it using the installer as well
and formatted it with NTFS but my Desktop never automatically found the
drivers for it, i had to point the installer to "C:\Windows" for it to be
able to find the drivers! Since installing the Drivers, now every time i
re-insert the USB card in, Vista tells me it needs to look for driver for
"Unidentified Device�, so again i have to direct it to "C:\Windows" in which
case the "Unidentified Device" becomes "SanDisk Cruzer Micro" when it finds
the driver.

i would do anything to find out why this happens. So am i willing to do
debugging, YES, just tell me how.
thanx

Tell me where in the registry you want me to look and I'll post what I find.

"Don" wrote:

> ke3pup wrote:
> > i have the same problem with my Sandisk Cruzer Micro 4GB . i use Vista
> > Ultimate on both my Laptop and Desktop. on my laptop as soon as i insert the
> > USB card Vista detects it and assigns it as a Driver. but on my Desktop it
> > prompts for drivers?...
>
> Quite a few people are having the same problem with USB sticks, which
> appears to be a Vista bug in need of a fix. I'd like to track it down,
> but I can't reproduce the problem. If either of you feel geeky enough
> to do some debugging, I have some ideas to try -- but a basic knowledge
> of the Registry would be helpful, otherwise it might be too confusing
> for a beginner.
>