Windows 8.1 on my desktop has stopped "recognizing" many of my USB devices. I use quotes because the devices receive power (light up when plugged in), the Windows jingle plays implying the device is detected, and sometimes the "device setup" window pops up and the green bar fills up.
These devices do not work: 4GB USB flash drive, 8GB USB flash drive, Western Digital 1TB external My Passport drive, and a Kindle Paperwhite (which I no longer possess as it was a gift).
These USB devices work fine: Keyboard, mouse, Canon Powershot digital camera (which is a mass storage device like the above devices), webcam.
All devices work fine on my Windows 7 laptop, so the issue really seems to be with my current installation of Windows 8.1 and not the devices themselves.
The following image shows Device Manager, Windows Explored (opened to "This PC"), Devices and Printers, and Disk Management windows all opened while the two flash drives and the external HHD are all connected to USB ports on my Windows 8 machine. One flash drive does not even show up in the Device Manager and the HHD shows up as an "unspecified device" in devices and printers (the other two devices fail to show up here at all). Windows Explorer and Disk Management see none of them.
http://i.imgur.com/colDspG.png
In Device Manager, I have tried uninstalling the devices and I have tried updating the drivers. However, Windows always reports that there is no driver and this is the reason for the yellow exclamation marks. This is weird as I have in the past used ALL THREE of these devices on this same Windows 8 machine (and as mentioned they work fine on my laptop).
It seems to me that at some point, something happened which has somehow corrupted the way Windows is interacting with my USB storage devices (besides the camera). Any help would be greatly appreciated.
These devices do not work: 4GB USB flash drive, 8GB USB flash drive, Western Digital 1TB external My Passport drive, and a Kindle Paperwhite (which I no longer possess as it was a gift).
These USB devices work fine: Keyboard, mouse, Canon Powershot digital camera (which is a mass storage device like the above devices), webcam.
All devices work fine on my Windows 7 laptop, so the issue really seems to be with my current installation of Windows 8.1 and not the devices themselves.
The following image shows Device Manager, Windows Explored (opened to "This PC"), Devices and Printers, and Disk Management windows all opened while the two flash drives and the external HHD are all connected to USB ports on my Windows 8 machine. One flash drive does not even show up in the Device Manager and the HHD shows up as an "unspecified device" in devices and printers (the other two devices fail to show up here at all). Windows Explorer and Disk Management see none of them.
http://i.imgur.com/colDspG.png
In Device Manager, I have tried uninstalling the devices and I have tried updating the drivers. However, Windows always reports that there is no driver and this is the reason for the yellow exclamation marks. This is weird as I have in the past used ALL THREE of these devices on this same Windows 8 machine (and as mentioned they work fine on my laptop).
It seems to me that at some point, something happened which has somehow corrupted the way Windows is interacting with my USB storage devices (besides the camera). Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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