USB Memory Stick problem

[Shaggy Hiker]

I have a laptop running Win2k SP4. I can't get a memory stick to work on the system. I'm pretty sure it was working a month ago, because I was able to move a whole bunch of files onto the computer, though at this point I am not certain which memory stick I was using. No stick I have now works on the computer. When I plug one in, it lights up, flickers, and goes out. The hardware manager recognizes that something is there, but asserts that it is not working. If I try to re-install the driver, a better driver than the current one is found, but installation is aborted because no function driver was specified for the device instance.

Does anybody know how to solve this?

[sciguyryan]

No stick I have now works on the computer.

Oh, Oh - sometimes this is not a good sign.

This could mean that that USB port no longer works, have you tried them in a different ports?

Cheers,

RyanJ

[kfcSmitty]

you could also just download the drivers for it. You may have installed something that corrupted the previous drivers

[Shaggy Hiker]

I have tried a mouse in the port, and it works fine. Therefore, I believe the port to be working. I have tried the sticks in a different computer, and they work fine, therefore I believe the sticks to be working. That rules out the hardware.

As for the drivers, I feel that IS the problem, but simply re-installing on Win2k is not so simple. Most sources I have found will happily give you Win98 drivers, but they all say that Win2k drivers are built in (which is true), and there are no updates. Using Win98 drivers (obtained from IBM, the laptop manufacturer) doesn't work, because they are ignored in favor of the NT drivers.

Any suggestions on how to get around this?

[sciguyryan]

I have tried a mouse in the port, and it works fine. Therefore, I believe the port to be working. I have tried the sticks in a different computer, and they work fine, therefore I believe the sticks to be working. That rules out the hardware.

As for the drivers, I feel that IS the problem, but simply re-installing on Win2k is not so simple. Most sources I have found will happily give you Win98 drivers, but they all say that Win2k drivers are built in (which is true), and there are no updates. Using Win98 drivers (obtained from IBM, the laptop manufacturer) doesn't work, because they are ignored in favor of the NT drivers.

Any suggestions on how to get around this?

I agree in this case, it looks like it cannot be a hardware fault.

That is the problem (And one of the reasons that I will never upgrade to anything above Win89), because the drivers are built in the companies normaly only make one for each device and some do not even make updates.

Unless the maker of the device can provide you with one then searching the intenret for a 3rd party one may be the only option left to try....

Cheers,

RyanJ

[szlamany]

I have tried a mouse in the port, and it works fine. Therefore, I believe the port to be working. I have tried the sticks in a different computer, and they work fine, therefore I believe the sticks to be working. That rules out the hardware.

As for the drivers, I feel that IS the problem, but simply re-installing on Win2k is not so simple. Most sources I have found will happily give you Win98 drivers, but they all say that Win2k drivers are built in (which is true), and there are no updates. Using Win98 drivers (obtained from IBM, the laptop manufacturer) doesn't work, because they are ignored in favor of the NT drivers.

Any suggestions on how to get around this?

It doesn't really rule out the hardware...

Is the USB a USB 2.0 port? Usually the memory sticks are USB 2.0...

So testing a USB 1.0 item like a mouse in the port is not enough to rule out the port, if in fact that port is USB 1.0 and the stick is USB 2.0

On a computer that the device is working on, the DEVICE MANAGER should tell you what driver files are associated with the device, and you can compare those exact files/versions with the laptop...

[Shaggy Hiker]

I was thinking along those lines too, however, I am almost certain that I used this memory stick to move a large amount of data onto this computer (there is a slim chance that I used an older one that I threw out, but I don't think so). I believe if it worked in the past, then it shouldn't be a 1.0 vs 2.0 issue. Still, I will have to look into that further, as I am at a loss otherwise.

Ryan, I felt the same way about the upgrades, but I am totally sold on Win2k and XP. There are features that are REALLY nice, especially in XP. The USB support is one of the major improvements, in my opinion.

[Dreamlax]

... And one of the reasons that I will never upgrade to anything above Win89 ...

Windows 98 has some of the worst multi-tasking and memory-management abilities ever. It is unstable and full of holes. I would never rely on Windows 98 unless I want unintentional memory leaks and reboots.

As for the USB problem;
The only reason Windows 98 SE requires a driver is because it does not come with a USB Mass Storage Device driver, which just about all memory sticks use. Windows 2000 and later are shipped with this USBMSD driver, and that is why the sticks themselves don't require a driver. If the stick does not comply with the USBMSD standard then you'll need a driver.

If there's a problem, it could be because your USBMSD driver. Try reinstalling it, or reinstalling Windows even (doing a repair); that is my diagnosis.