Flash Drive Shows up as Hard Disk

[Marvinator]

I have a flash drive which when plugged in, shows up in Hard Disk Drives rather than Devices with Removable Storage. (Windows XP)

Is there any way to change this? I need this to be a flash drive so that another program will see it and use it.

 

[blazorthon]

What drive are you using and what type of port are you using to connect it?

 

[switchmenot]

Have you tried it on anther computer?

 

[Marvinator]

switchmenot:
Yes, I have a windows 7 machine and when plugged in, the USB Stick acts the same. Shows up as a Hard Disk.

blazorthon: This is a generic stick, the kind you get from some place as advertising. It is 1 Gig and I am using a 2.0 USB Port on both machines.

Here is a pic of one like it: http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00nBqtTsEREAcm/Key-USB-Flash-Drive.jpg

 

[blazorthon]

If it happens with multiple computers, then it may be an issue specifically with the stick and/or its driver(s). That might not be something that can be changed.

 

[Wayne63]

I'm not sure about xp but this worked for me in Win 7. My flash drive suddenly started appearing as a disc drive, and my data couldn't be seen or accessed as before. Go to Computer, or My Computer, right click affected flash drive, and hit "Properties" at the bottom of the list that shows up, then click the "Hardware" tab. Click on and highlight the affected drive in the list and then click the "Properties" in the bottom of the window. Go to the "Driver" tab in the following window and click on "Uninstall". This should uninstall the driver that is causing the flash drive to read improperly. Now remove the flash drive and re-insert it. After you do this you should see a notice of new drivers being automatically installed for the flash drive. Now, when you go back to view your data it should reappear, unless it or the flash drive has been corrupted in some way. Hope this helps.

 

[LlF]

http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12830

 

[mo neenja31]

I'm not sure about xp but this worked for me in Win 7. My flash drive suddenly started appearing as a disc drive, and my data couldn't be seen or accessed as before. Go to Computer, or My Computer, right click affected flash drive, and hit "Properties" at the bottom of the list that shows up, then click the "Hardware" tab. Click on and highlight the affected drive in the list and then click the "Properties" in the bottom of the window. Go to the "Driver" tab in the following window and click on "Uninstall". This should uninstall the driver that is causing the flash drive to read improperly. Now remove the flash drive and re-insert it. After you do this you should see a notice of new drivers being automatically installed for the flash drive. Now, when you go back to view your data it should reappear, unless it or the flash drive has been corrupted in some way. Hope this helps.

I tried this with my Sandisk Cruzer and it still shows up as an Local Disk