USB memory stick problem

[piggybank]

I've hit an odd problem with my 8GB memory stick. I plug it in and get the message 'device not recognised'. I know these fail suddenly even when well treated, and I tried it in all 6 ports. same result.

Not being too confident I would find anything if I opened it up I tried two more memory sticks that had not done the trip to PNG and back and a dozen X ray checks. Same indication, item not recognised.

Then to confuse me number one daughter (a bit like Charlie Chan's number one son, kiddies are numbered here) plugs her USB cable to handphone in and it works perfectly.

So what can I do to check out the problem, any help most welcome.

[Loose rivets]

What Operating System?


And, to test it, can you plug it/them into a machine that's running Windows 7?

[piggybank]

I'm running XP SP3 right now and up to now no problems. I'm told the USB problem has been there a couple of weeks. My mate a few miles away is on Windows 7 so I will try it there. Right at this time no second computer working in the house so can't check with that. Will be back again when I find this out. Thanks for the info so far.

[MacBoero]

This might help...
How to fix USB device not recognized in Windows (http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/usb-device-not-recognized/)

[Mac the Knife]

MacBoero is quite right and I've done this before with machines - sometimes seems to fix a variety of arcane problems.

But I find that complete depowering for a minute isn't long enough - 20 to 30mins is more reliable.

Mac

[green granite]

I wonder if that is the reason I have so few problems with my M/Cs, I always switch it of at the socket each night which kills everything including the router, next morning I just hit the one sw and go and make coffee when I come back I only have to feed the password in.

[piggybank]

Thanks for the info so far, will try things out later. Ref Green Granite, I maybe go a bit farther after having a near lightning strike (40 metres) that blew only half of the houses electronics, but leaving the other half OK. I pull the plug from the wall, unplug the modem at the phone line and its power supply. My mate has one modem and two computers blown in the past few years by lightning so its worth the effort. Sorry for the thread creep

[piggybank]

I checked the USB flash memory out on another computer running XP (same system as me) and it works OK, both for exploring contents and allowed the files to be copied to DVDs. So I will have the computer apart for the obvious faults assuming it could be damge to the connections to the ports.

Already been into BIOS, device manager, and that says everything is running just fine. We have a day of total silence on 16th (and New Year Saka 1932) so it will help the time go by looking at it then.

If that idea doesn't work I may have a few beers instead.

Any hints of what could help fix the problem always most welcome.

[DeRated]

Wondering if....

"......plugs her USB cable to handphone in and it works perfectly."

Perhaps the handphone is self-powered by a battery where-as your USB stick requires power to enable the memory chip.

I've had a computer where the rear usb ports wouldn't drive a wireless USB connection with sufficient power, but the front usb port would.....