How to Fixed: USB Flash Drive not Showing Up in Windows 10/8/7

In the first part, we introduced 3 simple ways to fix USB flash drive not showing up issue in Windows 10/8/7, and in the final part, if your computer can read the USB drive but unable to open the drive, just restore data with Ease US data recovery software.

"I tried all methods that I know to connect my USB flash drive with PC. But my computer does
not show up any signals of the drive. I have an important file in the drive, can I get it out?"
USB flash drive or SD card not showing up error in PC is a very common problem for many users under Windows system. And quite a lot reasons such as system error, improper operation or RAW disk may lead computer fail to read or detect the USB flash drive or other storage devices. If you are having such a problem, relax and follow below-offered tips to fix/solve USB flash drive not showing up in Windows 10/8/7 problem and get all valuable data back with ease.



Part 1. Make unreadable or unrecognized USB flash drive detectable



Method 1. Update USB flash driver



Method 2. Use Disk Management and let computer recognize USB flash drive



Extra tip. Reinstall disk driver to make missing USB drive show up in PC again



Part 2. Restore USB flash drive data after making it detectable/recognized by PC


Now you can follow these offered solutions to fix USB flash drive not showing up or USB drive is missing error in PC without losing any data.

Part 1. Make unreadable or unrecognized USB flash drive detectable

When the USB flash drive does not show up in Windows 10/8/7 system, it means that the computer fails to read the USB drive. Therefore, before we start fixing the USB drive fail to show up issue, we must make it readable again. Here below we have two methods for you to force unrecognized USB drive to show up on PC: update USB flash driver or use disk management tool in Windows to detect the USB drive.


Method 1. Update USB flash drive driver



1. Open "Computer" > select "System Properties".



2. Click "device manager" on the left task bar > Next to "USB controller", click "+".Then you'll see a yellow exclamation mark.



3. Right click and choose "update driver software" > Click "automatically search for driver software online"...

Wait patiently and let the driver to be installed and reboot your computer.

After doing so, you can try to reconnect your USB drive to PC and check whether the USB drive can be detected or not.

Method 2. Use Disk Management and let computer recognize USB flash drive

1. Click Start > Tab on Control Panel;

2. Click Administrative Tools > Select Computer Management;

3. When the window opens, click on Disk Management and then find the device in the drive viewer;

4. Right click on the USB flash drive > Select Format to directly format the USB drive to reusable again.

In order to avoid data loss trouble, it's highly recommended for you to perform USB recovery, hard disk recovery or external hard drive recovery to restore data from the USB drive before you formatting it. If you've already done the format process, don't worry. Professional data recovery software can help you restore data before or after formatting the USB flash drive.

Extra Tip: reinstall disk driver for USB flash drive to make it show up in PC again

Sometimes, you may also try to reinstall the disk driver for USB drive when it fails to show up on your PC. This method works in any Windows systems - Windows 10/8/7 etc. Now, let's see how this works now:



1. Right-click This PC/Computer > Properties > Devices Manager;



2. Click on Disk driver > Right-click on General Flash Disk USB Drive and choose Uninstall;



3. Make sure the driver you'll uninstall is named "Flash Disk";



4. Click OK.



Wait patiently to let the process to be finished. If it takes too long, you can remove the USB flash drive from the PC.



5. Reconnect the USB flash drive to the PC and it will now reinstall new device software.

Then PC will read and recognize your USB drive. Then you'll see the USB drive shows up in Windows 10/8/7 and you can even view data inside the drive again.

Part 2. Restore data from USB flash drive

If your computer can read the USB drive but unable to open the drive now or you've already formatted it, don't worry about the data inside the USB drive. EaseUS hard drive recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard may help.

Download for PC

It allows you to restore data from undetectable, raw or formatted USB flash drive, hard disk or SD card etc devices with simple clicks under Windows 10/8/7. You can free download if and follow below simple guidance to restore data from USB flash drive now:

1. 1. Connect USB flash drive with computer and Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard;

2. 2. Run Quick and Deep Scan to find all lost data.

3. 3. Preview and recover found USB drive data.

4. Do remember to use the Deep Scan recovery mode if you need to restore data from formatted USB flash drive.

After getting all data back, you need to reformat the USB drive again so to convert the file system back to NTFS in the USB drive, allowing you to store data again.

How do I fix "not responding" problem in windows 7

When running Windows 7, you may find it not responding due to an unresponsive program like Microsoft Outlook, web browser, antivirus, plug-in etc. or corrupt registry files, lack of minimum system requirements, damage drivers, fragmented files or hardware issue etc. Other these reasons, this problem can occur after you upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows Vista or earlier version. Check the steps given below and fix if your Windows 7 doesn't respond:

Method 1:-


Step 1: Force shut down your Windows 7 computer when it's not responding. Be aware that a force shutdown may cause the unsaved data loss. Restart your computer and de fragment your hard drive. Click the Start button> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk De fragment. Make sure that you are logged on as an administrator to your Windows 7 computer. Otherwise, you won't be able to fragment your hard disk.

Step 2: Run a full virus scan on your computer to make sure that it's not carrying any virus, spyware, bot infections. These can cause Windows 7 to hang. Open your antivirus program, update it first with the latest virus, malware definitions and then run a scan. Make sure that you are connected to the Internet; otherwise the updates won't go through. Wait for the scan to complete and then follow up. (See  Also Virus Removal Support here)

Step 3: If you upgraded to Windows 7 from a previous version, make sure that your system meets minimum system requirements for the same. Lack of which can make your Windows 7 computer hang frequently or crash. If you are upgrading from Windows Vista, you needn't bother about system requirements that much except RAM or graphics card if you run heavy software and applications.

Step 4: If you upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 7, you will need to make sure that your computer meets them. Find out here Windows 7 system requirements. Corrupt drivers can be one of the main reasons for your Windows 7 computer to become unresponsive. Update drivers of your attached devices like router, printer, gaming console etc. either from the Microsoft Windows website or your manufacturer's website.

Step 5: Download Windows updates as well to make sure that your Windows 7 is running the latest, compatible patches, software, and programs. Click the Start button> All Programs> Windows Update. You should be logged on with admin rights to let the updates successfully install and work.

Step 6: You can also fix registry errors to make Windows 7 work again. If nothing works, clean install Windows 7 to fix any installation problems that it had to face during the procedure.

Method 2:-



Check if at all there is an exclamation mark along the driver, it suggests issues with the driver installed. 4. Repeat the step 2 to uninstall all items under "Universal Serial Bus controllers". Then, restart your computer and Windows 7 will reinstall all USB controllers automatically.

And, It could be a common problem, I guess that you have to wait until Microsoft fix it with windows updates.

'Not Responding' FIX - FREE and easy! 5 steps!

Try this for multiple and random 'Not Responding' errors;

1. Go to Control Panel (from the Start menu)

2. Go to Indexing Options

3. Go to Advanced

4. Go to Rebuild

5. Allow it to run, then you will have to reboot.

Don't know why but it fixed my 'Not Responding' errors in Vista.  

Allows you to stop searching online for sites that only want to sell you software!

Fix all Windows update error on windows 10,8 and 7

Fix Windows Update issues

This guided walk-through provides steps to fix problems with Windows Updates, such as taking a long time to scan, or error codes while installing updates.


Common error codes
The steps in this guided walk-through should help with all Windows Update errors and other issues. As an example, here are some commonly seen error codes: 0x80073712, 0x800705B4, 0x80004005, 0x8024402F, 0x80070002, 0x80070643, 0x80070003, 0x8024200B, 0x80070422, 0x80070020. 

However, you do not need to search for the specific error to solve it. The steps provided here should fix any errors that come up during the Windows Update process.

How does it work?

We’ll walk you through a series of troubleshooting steps to get your Windows up to date. Be sure to follow the steps in order.


On which Windows version did you get the error?


Windows 10

Run the Windows Update troubleshooter

Here’s how:

Download the Windows Update Troubleshooter, and then select Open or Save in the pop-up window.


Note 

If you select Save, you need to go to the folder where the troubleshooter is downloaded to after the download is complete, and then double-click the latest wu.diagcab file to run the troubleshooter.

Select Next and follow the steps in the wizard to find and fix problems with Windows Update.

Windows 8

Run the network troubleshooter

Here's how:

1.Press the Windows key, type Network problems, and then select Identify and repair network problems in the list.

2.Follow the steps in the wizard to diagnose and resolve your network problems.

3.Run Windows Update again.


Windows 7

Run the network troubleshooter

Here's how:

1.Right-click the Network win7networkicon1 or win7networkicon2 icon in the notification area, and then select Troubleshoot problems.

2.Follow the steps in the wizard to diagnose and resolve your network problems.

3.Run Windows Update again.

How To Quickly Fix Your Internet Connection Window 7

Setting Up an Internet Connection in Windows 7

Solution 


1.Click Start, then Control Panel, then View network status and tasks.


2.Windows 7: On the left, click Change adapter settings.


Windows Vista: Under Tasks, click Manage network connections.


3.Right-click Local Area Connection, then click Properties.


4.Windows 7: Click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), then click Properties.

Windows Vista: If the pop-up displays asking for permission, click Continue to open the Local Area Connections Properties window. Click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), then click Properties.


5.Under the General tab, ensure the following are selected.

Obtain an IP address automatically

Obtain DNS server address automatically


6.Under the Alternate Configuration tab, ensure that the Automatic private IP address option is checked.


7.Under the General tab, click Advanced.


8.Under the IP Settings tab, ensure the following.

Under IP addresses, DHCP Enabled displays.

Nothing is listed under the Default gateways option.

The Automatic metric option is checked.





9.From the DNS tab, verify the following.

The Append primary and connection specific DNS suffixes option is selected.

The Append parent suffixes of the primary DNS suffix option is checked.


The Register this connection's addresses in DNS option is checked.

The Append these DNS suffixes (in order) option is NOT selected.


10 a) From the WINS tab, verify the following.

The WINS addresses box is empty.

The Enable LMHOSTS lookup option is checked.

The Default: Use NetBIOS setting from the DHCP server option is selected.


b)Close any open windows by clicking OK.

Once all windows are closed, you will be prompted to restart your computer. Once restarted, your changes should take effect. If not, go back to Local Area Connection, right-click and select Enable.