Issues with USB Flash Drives on Windows 11
Asked by
TechieExplorer42
I've been struggling with some USB flash drives that won't work on my Windows 11 PC; they function just fine on macOS and when I boot from a USB on Ubuntu. Windows recognizes the drives initially— I see the USB icon in the system tray—but then it disappears, and I get the 'USB devices not recognized' error. Even trying to eject them results in an error.
I have no problems with other USB devices like my wireless mouse and keyboard, and other flash drives work perfectly too. These particular drives are older than five years, so I'm wondering if there might be some compatibility issue. I've tried a bunch of troubleshooting steps, including uninstalling devices in Device Manager and even doing a clean reinstall of Windows 11 but nothing seems to work. Any help would be appreciated!
Answers
Have you checked if you've updated the USB root controller drivers from your motherboard manufacturer? Those updates can sometimes make a big difference! Just make sure the drivers are the ones directly from the support page, since Windows Update can sometimes install poorly functioning drivers.
Reply to this answer
Add your answer
Answers are reviewed before publication.
TechieExplorer42: Yes, I've downloaded the drivers from the motherboard support page. I even reinstalled them before going for the clean install, but it didn't help.