Hello reggieee,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

It sounds like you've already gone through several important troubleshooting steps for your USB port issues. Since you've already tried uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, restarting your computer, and checking for physical obstructions, here are a few more suggestions you could explore:

1. Check for Windows Updates: Sometimes, issues with USB ports can be resolved through a system update. Make sure your operating system is up to date.
2. Check BIOS/UEFI Settings: Sometimes, USB ports can be disabled in the system BIOS/UEFI. Restart your computer and access the BIOS/UEFI settings (usually by pressing a key like F2, Del, or Esc during startup). Look for settings related to USB and ensure they are enabled.
3. Try Safe Mode: Boot your computer in Safe Mode to see if the USB ports work there. If they do, it might indicate a software or driver conflict in your normal operating system environment.
4. Power Management Settings: Sometimes, power management settings in Windows can turn off USB ports to save energy. You can adjust these settings by going into Device Manager, expanding the 'Universal Serial Bus controllers' section, right-clicking on USB Root Hub (USB 3.0), and going to Properties. Under the Power Management tab, uncheck the option that allows the computer to turn off the device to save power.
5. Check Device Manager for Errors: Go to Device Manager and see if there are any yellow exclamation marks next to any of the USB controllers. This could indicate a problem with the drivers or hardware.
6. Use a Powered USB Hub: As a workaround, you might consider using a powered USB hub. This can sometimes help if the issue is related to power supply from the USB ports.
7. Check for Hardware Issues: Since you've mentioned that the issue might not be software-related, it's possible there could be a hardware problem with the USB ports. This might involve checking the internal connections if you're comfortable opening up your PC, or taking it to a professional for repair.
8. Reset CMOS: Sometimes, resetting the CMOS (which clears BIOS/UEFI settings to default) can solve hardware-related issues. You'd typically do this by removing the CMOS battery from your motherboard for a few minutes, then reinserting it.

Thank you for your patience and understanding! If you have any questions, feel free to leave us a message.

Sincerely

Manson | Microsoft Support Specialist

Hello I have found this Super User question, but the few replies/solutions ended up being not the ones that made sense

Since I solved my issue, and it required some researches,

I'd like to share with you what I had learnt. P.S. SSDs are again FLASH memory devices, but the recovery process is different.

Unfortunately when a pendrive is not CORRECTLY detected, like:

it changed its name into

• PRAM 2261
• PRAM 2267
• PRAM 2268
• PRAM 2303
• PRAM 2307
• others PRAM xxxx

or when it is plugged to your Windows PC it throws the message USB Device Not Recognized

or it is detected but with WRONG CAPACITY like some 0MB or 8MB instead of some GBs

or it asks to insert a disk into removable disk

the problem is UNFORTUNATELY not software or driver matter

instead

the MCU controller of that FLASH memory is slightly damaged, heavily damaged or either just dead. In the worst case, it is/they are the FLASH chip/s that are damaged/dead , but this looks a rare occurrence, less than 5% of cases.

Also note: FLASH memories, since some years now, use dynamic XOR coding when writing into chips , so neither swapping the contoller (given that we find the same one with same release version) will help

At that point, if you need the data, the unique solution is to find a company that is equipped with FLASH memory data recovery devices like (in alphabetical order):

• Acelab PC-3000 FLASH
• FLASH EXTRACTOR
• RUSOLUT Visual Nand Reconstructor

(hey! They are all Russian manufacturers, looks like they are the experts in this field)

There the FLASH chip/s will be unsoldered and read with one of the above specific FLASH data recovery devices

Unsoldering and dumping the FLASH NAND chip content won't be enough. Next the dead MCU logic must be rebuilt with the dedicated software bundled with the device, since the FLASH chip content is not contiguous

This data recovery process has a name: it is called CHIP OFF DATA RECOVERY

I'm in Italy and I've sent my dead pendrive to this Pendrive data recovery company. I have personally been there and they kindly showed me the PC-3000 FLASH device an their micro-electronic lab for the unsoldering operations

They kindly explained other interesting things like: in the majority of the cases, 95-97%, luckily the issue is a damaged/dead controller while the FLASH chips are healthy.

This mean that in 95-97% of the cases, when there is a FLASH memory with physical FLASH NAND chips, the recovery will succeed. Another story are the monolithic FLASH memories, like microSD and some gadget pendrives or most of PNY flash memories. NOTE: SanDisk is often a bad issue they explained, because SanDisk transparently encrypts the FLASH chip content and not all the cases can be decrypt

So I have been lucky, I was NOT in the 3-5%, my thumb drive was NOT SanDisk and so I got my data back.

About chip off , together with the data, they returned to me my BGA FLASH memory chip, which was obviously unsoldered from the pendrive's PCB...

So if your pendrive or FLASH memory device is dead or shows one of the symptoms described above, and you need the data or pictures in it,

the solution will be to search for a similar company in your country submit the memory and cross fingers :-)

About the cost? Usually they are described on the respective websites, but always ask for an email with MAXIMUM price confirmation.

I had a SanDisk Cruzer Edge 8GB USB that was recognized but I couldn't use it. The steps that worked for me were to basically:

1. Go to: Control panel → System and Security → Administrative tools
2. Open Computer Management.
3. Go to Disk management on the left, and look at your drives.

Your problem will probably be that it is not allocated on your PC.

1. Right-click the drive
2. Click the text at the top
3. You will assign it and give it a letter (Choose one that isn't already taken, e.g. D)

It will assign it to your PC and you will be able to use it.