Question USB ports not recognizing thumb drives on new PC build

[Shanilator]

Hi! My 13 yr old son just built his first PC with the following specs....

• Case. NZXT - H510i Compact ATX Mid-Tower Case with RGB Lighting
• Motherboard.MSI B550 GAMING PLUS (Socket AM4) USB-C Gen 2 AMD ATX GAMING Motherboard PCIE Gen 4
• CPU [Processor] AMD RYZEN 7 1700 8-Core 3.0 GHz (3.7 GHz Turbo) Socket AM4 65W YD1700BBAEBOX Desktop Processor
• GPU [Graphics Card]XFX - AMD Radeon RX 570 RS Black Edition 8GB GDDR5 PCI Exp
• RAM (memory)CORSAIR - Vengeance RGB PRO 16GB (2PK 8GB) 3.2GHz PC4-25600 DDR4 DIMM Unbuffered Non-ECC Desktop Memory Kit with RGB Lighting
• [Storage]Samsung (MZ-V7E1T0BW) 970 EVO SSD 1TB - M.2 NVMe Interface Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND Technology
• PSU [Power Supply Unit]CORSAIR - RMx Series 850W ATX12V 2.4/EPS12V 2.92 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply
• (Mouse) BENGOO KM-1 Wireless Gaming Mouse, Computer Mouse with Honeycomb Shell, 6 Programmed Buttons, 3 Adjustable DPI, Silent Click, USB Receiver, Ergonomic RGB Optical Gamer Mice Mouse for Laptop PC
• (Headset)Kingston HyperX CloudX Gaming Headset
• (keyboard)GK61 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - 61 Keys Multi Color RGB Illuminated LED Backlit Wired Programmable for PC/Mac Gamer (Gateron Optical Black, Black)
• (OS) Microsoft Windows 10 Home Edition 64-bit
• Thermal paste
• (CPU Cooler)

It boots up perfectly to the BIOS Page. All fans, lights, etc are working. We think the back panel USB ports work because his Keyboard and Mouse are recognized and are working. However, when we plug in a thumb drive to load Window 10 it does not recognize the thumb drive in any of the ports ( top or back panel ports). We also reformatted the new thumb drive with ExFat and have successfully loaded the drive with Windows 10. So the PC should be able to recognize the thumb drive. Does anyone know what could be the issue? Thanks so much!

 

[Colif]

have you tried the USB drive in another PC?

it must be the drive itself if Mouse/KB are working, maybe make installer on another USB drive.

 

[Shanilator]

Hi Colif!

Thanks for the reply and suggestions. We tried your suggestions. All USB ports seem to be functioning. After a bit of research and a call to Microsoft, we think we may have to create a bootable thumb drive to install Windows 10. We just ordered the Key and thumb drive from Microsoft. We're hoping this works.

 

[Colif]

i would download the Windows 10 media creation tool and use it to make a win 10 installer on USB

the installer you get from MS might not be new. I would suggest making a new one. it will mean less updating in the long run. then if he gets same error, he can try both sticks.

did you put stick in at boot
go into bios
look on save & exit screen and see if there is a choice called boot override
if so, click it and see if USB shows in here. if it does, select it
PC should boot off it

 

[Shanilator]

Thanks again for the info. I read several articles about your suggestion before you posted. We did try everything we thought would work but still no luck. We called Microsoft and asked about the bootable drive and was told it can only be done from a PC to a PC. It cannot be done from an IOS. Unfortunately, this is our first PC (all other computers we have are Apple). We were told to order a bootable key directly from Microsoft. It arrived last night and booted up perfectly. My son was over the top with excitement, all is complete and working perfectly. Thanks again for all your help! Take care and Happy New Year!

 

[Colif]

What Mac device is it? What version of Mac OS?
Pretty sure you can make installer on Apple devices, I have seen instructions for some of the versions.

Guess it doesn't matter now. Glad its working for you