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  1. Member
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    I bought a Patriot usb 2.0 Pulse flash drive over a year ago and have used it without any issues until last week.
    Normally, when I plug it into my Windows XP (sp3) pc the Pulse activity light would flash as the pc reads it. This time, it briefly flashed and then stayed solid. My pc said "found new hardware" and asked me which program I wanted to use to read it???
    I said "wtf?" and have to admit I don't recall exactly what happened next, but eventually the pc said "drive is ready to use" or somesuch. I DEFINITELY did not tell it to format, delete, scan etc or anything like that. I can eject it safely (when I do, the activity light finally goes out and pc says "can now be safely removed from the system")
    Instead of identifying the flash drive as "patriot usb" my pc simply calls it "generic usb device" and clicking on properties tells me there are "0 bytes used" and "0 bytes free" even though I know there is at least 50gb of data on it!
    Is the drive dead, or is the data still there somehow and just not accessible?
    Any help is greatly appreciated.
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  2. Member
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    try the flash drive on a different computer and see if it works.
    put it back in you XP machine then go into to device manager select
    usb then your flash drive and select uninstall then unplug and plug back in.
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  3. Member
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    Originally Posted by october262 View Post
    try the flash drive on a different computer and see if it works.
    put it back in you XP machine then go into to device manager select
    usb then your flash drive and select uninstall then unplug and plug back in.
    thanks for the reply.
    I forgot to mention I plugged it into my laptop (also xp-sp3) with the same result- the activity light briefly flashed then stayed solid etc etc.
    I will try your other suggestion.
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  4. Member
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    I'm a little confused...
    I see "storage volume" and "usb controllers" in device manager...
    if I go into "usb controllers" should I select "uninstall driver?"
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  5. Member
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    Originally Posted by ghola View Post
    I'm a little confused...
    I see "storage volume" and "usb controllers" in device manager...
    if I go into "usb controllers" should I select "uninstall driver?"
    yes, select uninstall driver, restart computer wait until the usb drivers load
    then try re plunging your usb stick back in.
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  6. Member
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    I just ran into a similar situation with a USB3 64GB Sandisk thumbdrive. (I have Win7)

    Does it show up in "Disk Management" ?

    Mine did & somehow it had turned the volume into 'raw".

    I lost all data at that point and had to reformat the the drive.


    It works OK now.
    Losing one's sense of humor....
    is nothing to laugh at.
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  7. Originally Posted by ghola View Post
    ...even though I know there is at least 50gb of data on it!
    Try running some data recovery software on it to see if it finds anything...
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  8. Member
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    OK
    I'm not computer savvy...
    I just want to be extra careful and 100% sure of what I'm doing:
    My pc is not connected to the internet, it's too far away from my router (not wireless) to run a cable so I have a question.
    Before I uninstall the driver, you said to "...restart pc and wait for the drivers to load..."
    are you saying this will happen automatically even if there's no internet connection?
    I just don't want to make using my other usb flash drives require me to install new drivers. (if that even makes sense)
    or can I try this "uninstall driver and reboot" process on my laptop (which is connected to internet) first to see if the laptop will then recognize the drive? I can always use another usb flash to transfer the drivers from laptop to pc I suppose...
    sorry if I'm being dense!
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  9. Member
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    yes, just select uninstall and hit restart and let windows reinstall the drivers.
    no internet is necessary. then plug your flash drive and see if it works.
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  10. Member
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    I went to "usb controllers," "usb mass storage device," properties, driver, uninstall, "you are about to ...device," hit "ok," unplugged flash, restarted pc, replugged flash.

    pc still says "found new hardware," still reads "0 bytes" and still reads other flash drives perfectly.

    do I need internet to "roll back driver" AND will doing so affect my other flash drives?
    I don't want to go from 1 dead, 4 fine to 1 fine, 4 dead!
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  11. Member
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    try right clicking on the Patriot usb 2.0 Pulse flash drive
    and click tools - error checking - check both boxes - automatically fix file system errors and
    scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors then hit start
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  12. Member
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    Originally Posted by october262 View Post
    try right clicking on the Patriot usb 2.0 Pulse flash drive
    and click tools - error checking - check both boxes - automatically fix file system errors and
    scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors then hit start
    When I do that the window just disappears, no progress bar or anything, and I'm right back to the tools window as if nothing happened.
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  13. Member
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    Originally Posted by ghola View Post
    Originally Posted by october262 View Post
    try right clicking on the Patriot usb 2.0 Pulse flash drive
    and click tools - error checking - check both boxes - automatically fix file system errors and
    scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors then hit start
    When I do that the window just disappears, no progress bar or anything, and I'm right back to the tools window as if nothing happened.
    does it do it on other computers also ??
    you can also run check disc from the command prompt - http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/how-to-check-your-hard-drive-for-errors-and-fix-it/
    Last edited by october262; 23rd Jan 2016 at 18:46.
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  14. Member
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    yes, same on my laptop.
    the window just disappears without seeming to do anything.

    what about the roll back driver option?
    would that affect the performance of the other flash drives that are currently working fine?
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  15. DECEASED
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    Probably that problematic "pendrive" is dead.

    To be on the safe side though, go test it on a different computer with a different operating system

    — at a LAN-house or cyber-caffé, for example.
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