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Unless, of course, you know how to fix that too.
There are a few causes for this sort of thing happening.
Normally, if one of those drive letters is already in use, a different one will get assigned.
So let’s say you have a backup drive set at drive letter E:.
Then your jump drive should get assigned F: or G:.
But sometimes, that just doesn’t happen and that can cause USB jump drives to not work.
Here’s how you fix that.
From there, click onManage, because we will manage.
Now theComputer Managementwindow opens.
In the right-hand window, you’ll see all attached drives listed.
TheU3drive is my USB key.
Currently, it’s not conflicting with anything, but it will do for this demonstration.
Right-press the drive that you want to change the drive letter on.
Then click onChange Drive Letter and Paths.
Now you could select theChangebutton.
Then select a new drive letter.
Isn’t that cute?
Windows will ask you to confirm that this is what you want to do.
I’d clickYes, but that’s just me.
Whut up G?!
Now your USB drive should not conflict with any other drive.
That didn’t fix the problem?
Hmm….well, maybe your USB drive is actually corrupted somehow.
Error Checking
Window’s Error Checking utility can be used on USB drives.
To access it, open up Windows Explorer.
Once you are in Window’s Explorer, right-punch the USB disk you’re having problems with.
Then go down and click onProperties.
Once thePropertieswindow opens, tap on theToolstab.
This is where theError-checkingsoftware can be accessed from.
press theCheck Now…button.
Yeah, that was a brilliant explanation.
The scan doesn’t take very long at all.
You guessed it, click theOKbutton.
My USB thumb drive is 8GB in capacity and it was done in a matter of seconds.
If it takes longer than that, perhaps your drive’s problem is somewhat more serious.
Warning:Formatting the USB drive willERASEall the files on your hard drive.
Go into Window’s Explorer again.
First, choose what pop in of File system you want.
This is a matter of personal choice.
you might chooseFATorFAT32, and with some fiddling around elsewhere in your gear, you could chooseNTFS.
That may be an article for another day.
you’re free to also set theVolume label.
Perhaps you want to customize it and call it ‘My Toolbox’ or something like that.
Then you’ve got the option to choose to either do aQuick Formator not.
Meh…click theStartbutton.
“as though you were Robert Thorn inSoylent Greenwhen he figured out what Soylent Green really was.
Admin loses his mind thinking you formatted something important.
Well, that makes the next part a little anticlimactic.
Just clickOK, and put the files you want on to the USB drive.
However, it involves messing around with drivers or data recovery software.
If there’s enough interest, maybe we can do a follow-up to this article.
