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May 19, 2006
Dear CNET members,
This week, the newsletter is minimal, not because I'm slacking, but because we're doing a little office shuffle and I have to make this quick and snappy. Besides, I want to give you folks plenty of time to start digging at Thor's problem: his USB flash drive, once plugged in, goes MIA. (BTW, Thor, Marc and I loved the "bling-blong" expression in your question.) From all the submissions we got this week, more than 90 percent of our members in one way or another suggested an issue with your system assigning the thumbdrive to a drive letter that is already being used--so you never really see it. Since so many members suggested this as the cause to your frustrations, I'm hoping that is the answer. So to start you off, Thor, or any others who maybe in the same shoes, here's this week's winning answer by Greg, who walks you through step by step on reassigning a drive letter to your flash drive. And if that solution doesn't pan out, check out the other possible suggestions from our members. For all of you who have additional tips and advice beyond what has been presented to Thor, join in this week's discussion. I hope, Thor, that you return to this discussion to tell us what worked for you. Thank you all for your participation and enjoy the weekend!
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Member Question of the Week
When I plug in my USB flash stick, I hear a bling-blong, but no drive appears in My Computer. Does anyone have a solution to this? The same USB flash stick comes up perfectly on another computer. I am using Windows XP Home on this computer. Ironic: On the same computer I have Windows XP Pro, and when I boot up with that, it mounts the drive at once. Same computer, different version of operating system, and it doesn't work in XP Home. I have tried going into Device Manager and deleting the USB drivers, making them reinstall themselves, nothing works.
Here's a freak solution that I found after weeks of frustration, but it means I get truncated filenames. I did find a backdoor solution, but it's not the way it's supposed to be! Open Device Manager. Most often the USB stick is indicated, but no drive name. Right-click the stick area, add a drive name (for example K:). Then right-click the area and select Explore. First it gives an error, but do it AGAIN, and it lets you through. You see the contents of the drive, then it pops over to the My Computer area where the drive does not exist. Click Back in Explorer, and you should see the files on the stick. Does anyone have a solution to this? Thanks!
Submitted by:
Thor I.
Well, there might be quite a simple solution to this problem. When you hook up a USB drive of any sort, the system has to first recognize that something was plugged in (the "bling-blong" you hear), then it needs to verify that it can detect exactly what the specifics of the drive are. It sounds like both of those functions are working for you as you were able to work around the issue and see your files. What I believe is happening is actually a drive lettering issue, and here are the steps to both verify that and how to correct it so that you can always see your USB drive. 1) Plug in your USB drive and wait for the "bling-blong" to verify the system has detected and is ready to work with the drive...
Submitted by:
Greg H. of Hemet, California
For
Greg's
efforts, we're sending him his choice of any
Help.com Learning CD.
Community Buzz
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Best regards and enjoy!
Member sicky nar-nar wants to know more about dual-core processors and asks: "If I get a dual-core processor that says it's 2.0GHz, then do I have two 2.0GHZ processors making a 4.0GHz computer, or do both processors together get me 2.0GHz? If the latter, wouldn't it be faster to get a single-core 3.0GHz processor than a 2.0GHz dual-core processor?" See what our members have chimed in to say, and if you're an expert on dual-core processors, come on down and share your wealth of knowledge.
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What do you do with junk hard drives?
OK, let's have some fun with junk/recyclable hard drives. For example, member Willy likes to take his old hard drives and make nifty craft projects out of them--he uses the disks to make clocks, the magnets to make calendar holders, and so forth. Now it's your turn. What have you done with your old hard drives lately? Come share your imagination and creativity with us, it's all for fun!
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Check out next week's question:
I am running Windows XP Service Pack 2, and every week or so, the display properties I have set for my monitor, including Theme, Desktop, Screensaver, and so on, revert to the default Windows XP settings. What is causing this and how can I prevent it from happening? Thanks!
--Submitted by:
Alan S. of Melbourne, Australia
If you have the answer,
e-mail us at messageboards@cnet.com.
If we choose your response, you'll get a
free Help.com CD.
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User name: robstak
Location: Yorktown, New York
Member since: June 2, 2005
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About me: I'm in my third year of four at med school, but CNET/BOL is my bible/crack. When I'm not studying, I'm...
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