usb recognizing external drives, not showing up in "my computer"

[heather]

I am facing issue while using external storage devices in Vista. When I connect my digital camera it remains undetected. The same issue also lies with a usb device. I need some help here to fix this. This problem only lies with the Vista laptop while the same device work well in Windows XP. I am sure there is no hardware fault in the system. I had checked all the settings everything looks to be working fine.

[Mr Frances]

Go to Device Manager and see that anything is disabled from there. There is a option in Device Manager from where you can disable a hardware and it will no longer be in usage. You have to just right click on the same and enable it. It is not at all complicated to find appropriate settings for that. Another thing you can do is try to run a new hardware found wizard to manually detect the drives or hardware that you are trying to connect.

[Lynette]

This type of issue appear when UPnP is disabled. This is a service that allows your system to enable plug and play device. If this remains unactive then Windows will not detect any newly attached hardware. To enable that in the Start Menu search bar type msconfig and hit enter. In that click on Services tab and check for UPnP. Enable this. To find whether it is working or not you can go in Service inside Control Panel > Administrative tool and activate the same.

[Theodore Long]

I got the issue when plug and play was disabled. The steps that is mentioned above. Go in Control Panel > Administrative tools > Services. Right click on Universal Plug and Play and choose start. Set the mode to always on. If it is working then the problem lies with the usb port. Change that. It can be damaged. I hope you are trying to install the new hardware in admin account only. The driver installation fails if you try to add them in a user account with limited privileges.

[Cic!cone]

It can be or cannot be a hardware fault. Go in bios and see that all the usb ports are enabled. My printer was not working due to that problem. I was event not able to enter bios because the usb was disabled. I have to arrange a ps2 keyboard and then I modified the settings and things went back to find. There is no issue at all. There is a section as integrated peripherals in bios which cause the problem. Enable all of them and then check again.

[KOVID]

The best thing is to update the chipset drivers. It can be onboard hardware problem and it is time to carry your motherboard to service center. There are additional port on the backside also. You must try to connect them on the backside and check again. It will be working. And if not then there is some settings or hardware error which is causing the problem. It is in very rare case that the usb stops working just like that.

[Lindberg]

When you connect the usb drive or digital camera to your motherboard can you see any led indication. In digital camcorder after attaching it through usb there is a menu on the screen that allows you to enable removable media and it is detected. If the led indication or message does not appear then the fault lies with the device that you are using. You must once check the devices properly and then try to reconnect the same.

[Pine Le]

I was too having a issue usb connectivity. I flashed the bios through internal utility and it started working well. I am sure after flashing the bios with the most recent version you would be able get all the settings working. This type of issue basically appears on those which lacks proper updates.