Binary Expressions

Background Knowledge

For some unknown reason my Windows Vista™ Ultimate with service pack 1 quit mounting USB flash drives. I’ve tried multiple flash drives and none would mount as a removable drive. At first I started to use a different USB port but eventually it didn’t matter what USB port I used the USB flash drives would no longer mount. I know for a fact my USB flash drives are fine as they mounted without any problems ever on Windows 2000 with service pack 4, Windows XP with service pack 2 and Edubuntu.

Solution

Uninstall the USB device dirver(s) that you are experiencing problems with. This can be done via your Windows Vista™ device manager or what I recommend to use is “USBDeview” (freeware) software application produce by NirSoft.

WARNING: Uninstall device drivers at your own risk.

NOTE: Be cautious uninstalling USB device drivers as you may render your keyboard, mouse or other devices unusable. Rebooting the computer system or plugging the USB device back into the system should cause the device drivers to reinstall. A manual installation of the device driver maybe required.

Uninstall USB Device(s) via Windows Vista™ Device Manager

1. Go to Control Panel -> System or just press Windows Key + Pause (press and hold the Windows key then press the Pause key).
2. On the left hand side left mouse click on “Device Manager”.
3. Double left mouse click on “Universal Serial Bus controllers”.
4. Right mouse click on the USB device driver you wish to uninstall and then left mouse click on “Uninstall”. Repeat this step for each device you wish to uninstall.
5. A “Comfirm Device Uninstall” dialog will appear, left mouse click on “OK”.
6. Close “Device Manager” window.
7. Reboot (restart) computer system.

Uninstall USB Device(s) via USBDeview

1. Load the “USBDeview” software application.
2. Select the device(s) you wish to uninstall. Right mouse click on one of the device(s) and then left mouse click on “Uninstall Selected Devices”.
3. You will be prompted with a confirmation dialog, left mouse click on “Yes” to uninstall device driver(s).
4. Close “USBDeview” software application.
5. Reboot (restart) computer system.

Source: Download NirSoft’s USBDeview for Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista.