How to Fix a Thumb Drive

Thumb drives are now very inexpensive and have rendered other forms of portable storage almost obsolete for the average user. Thumb drives are very portable and offer a lot of space, but they also occasionally run into problems. Most thumb drive problems are relatively simple to fix in just a few steps. Keep a backup of anything you have on your thumb drive and you'll never have to worry too much about dealing with any technical issues.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Click on the icon in the bottom right window showing removable hardware. Select the thumb drive and select disconnect. Wait for the message that it is safe to disconnect, and then unplug the drive. Make sure you do this whenever you disconnect the drive.

2. Insert the drive into the computer. Wait for the drive to be found. Click on the drive in Windows explorer and try to delete everything on the drive. If there is a problem deleting files, then attempt to do this on another computer.

3. Scan the drive by running any antivirus or malware programs you have and specifically point to the thumb drive.

4. Remove other drives and try installing the thumb drive with the least amount of drives, cameras or other storage devices installed on your computer. Sometimes the problem is related to drive letter recognition. Right-click on "My Computer" and select "Manage." Under the "Storage" menu find and select your drive. Right-click on the drive and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths." Select "change" and try assigning a new letter to the drive.

5. Find the drive in "My Computer" and right-click on the drive and select "Format." Performing all of these steps should get rid of most problems on a thumb drive. If you still have a problem, it may be a physical defect that can not be repaired.

References

• Henry Amon; Information Systems Specialist; Salisbury, Maryland