Windows Doesn't Assign Drive Letter to USB Storage Device
Occassionally I encounter a tricky problem with removable USB storage devices and Windows, which for some reason fails to properly assign a drive letter after plugging the thumb drive into one of the USB ports.
This could also be due to a hardware issue, except in this case I know it isn't because Windows recognizes the USB device and says "your hardware is ready for use". It's just that a new Drive Folder never pops up in Windows Explorer and the removable storage is thus inaccessible. Sometimes this can be resolved by moving the USB drive to another USB port, but occassionally even that doesn't help.
Luckily, the solution isn't too difficult if this ever happens to you.
Right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage" > in the left-hand column expand "Storage" and click on "Disk Management". In the right-hand pane find the offending removable storage device (typically, the disk without a drive letter assigned) and right click > "Change drive letter and paths...".
Since no drive letter is assigned the window will be blank when it opens up, so we need to click "Add" > then select "Assign the following drive letter" and press "OK". That's it. The removable storage device should now be visible in Windows Explorer with the assigned drive letter and you will have full access to its contents.
This could also be due to a hardware issue, except in this case I know it isn't because Windows recognizes the USB device and says "your hardware is ready for use". It's just that a new Drive Folder never pops up in Windows Explorer and the removable storage is thus inaccessible. Sometimes this can be resolved by moving the USB drive to another USB port, but occassionally even that doesn't help.
Luckily, the solution isn't too difficult if this ever happens to you.
Right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage" > in the left-hand column expand "Storage" and click on "Disk Management". In the right-hand pane find the offending removable storage device (typically, the disk without a drive letter assigned) and right click > "Change drive letter and paths...".
Since no drive letter is assigned the window will be blank when it opens up, so we need to click "Add" > then select "Assign the following drive letter" and press "OK". That's it. The removable storage device should now be visible in Windows Explorer with the assigned drive letter and you will have full access to its contents.
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