USB crashes Windows explorer

Question

Last program I ran and saved to USB was C++ file from Visual Studio 2008.

USB was plugged into WIN 7 machine later and may have access a .bin file for BIOS while booting. 

Win 7 does not recognize/see drive except for a split second while it is inserted or removed. 

Win Vista saw it once but crashed, since after it is inserted into Vista machine it freezes pc until removed.

Computer runs as usual once removed. 

I tried to chkdsk no with no luck, unable to access.

I tried Recuva but windows freezes after USB insertion.

I was hoping to freeze whatever process that is hanging up while windows attempts to read the drive

 and then extract valuable files and reformat drive. 

Any suggestions, please help.

  I have considered simply formatting the drive but I cannot get Windows to not hang up and let me locate drive for formatting.

Answer 1

Hello apill9,

·         Have you tried to check if this disk drive works on a different computer?

If you are not able to format this disk drive from a different computer, there is a possibility that the Disk drive could have gone bad.

Try to connect the USB to a different USB port and check it the Explorers Still Crashes.

You can also try to format the drive from the Disk Management.

1. Open Computer Management by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, clicking Administrative Tools, and then double-clicking Computer Management.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
2. In the Navigation pane, under Storage, click Disk Management.
3. Right-click the volume that you want to format, and then click Format.
4. To format the volume with the default settings, in the Format dialog box, click OK, and then click OK again.

Thanks,

Irfan H, Microsoft Answers Support Engineer. Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

Answer 2

Hello apill9,

I am sorry to know that it is a hardware failure. Thank you for letting us know that you were able to figure this out with the help of the tip.

Thanks,

Irfan H, Microsoft Answers Support Engineer. Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

Answer 3

Thanks for the help.  No Luck, filed as hardware failure. 

Would not have thought of disk management on my own.  Thanks again for the tip.