I'm having a major issue with some USB flash drives not working on my Windows 11 setup, even though they function perfectly on other devices. Whenever I plug them in, I get a "USB devices not recognized" error. It's interesting because they work fine on a Mac and also when I boot the same PC from a USB running Ubuntu.
Windows seems to detect the drives initially since the USB icon shows up in the system tray, but then it disappears and I get the error message. If I attempt to eject while it's still showing, I receive a message saying there's a problem with the ejection. Other USB devices like my wireless mouse and keyboard work seamlessly, and I've tried multiple ports with no luck. I'm wondering if compatibility is an issue since these flash drives are older than five years.
I've tried a bunch of possible solutions, like uninstalling the USB mass storage driver from Device Manager, doing a Windows repair with both updates and an ISO image, reformatting the drives on macOS, and even a complete re-install of Windows 11. Nothing seems to work. Any suggestions?
2 Answers
It's a good idea to back up your data before messing with BIOS settings or disk setups. If you're feeling adventurous, checking whether any BIOS settings related to USB compatibility might help to see if there's anything that could be affecting the detection.
Have you checked if your motherboard has updated drivers for the USB root controllers? Sometimes outdated drivers can cause these kinds of connection issues with older devices. You'll want to go to your motherboard manufacturer's site and grab the latest ones.
Yes, I did download the drivers from the motherboard support page, and even tried reinstalling them thinking a Windows Update might have messed with it, but it didn't help.