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I have SanDisk flash drive which is not recognized at all in any port on my laptop but it works on other devices. I've tried to format it as exfat, fat32 and ntfs but nothing works. When the thumb drive is inserted, I see no reaction, no sound, no indication in device manager of any detection, no partition/device whatsoever in "This PC" or in Disk Management.

I tested a different SanDisk USB 3.0 flash drive in the laptop and it works fine on all ports.

Laptop in question is Dell Inspiron 7577
Flash drive in question is Sandisk USB 3.0
OS is Windows 10 Business Edition Latest Update

Test Laptop is Lenovo & Test PCs have usb 2.0 & 3.0 ports. OS is Windows 10 Pro.

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  • Try the SD Formatter Tool. This helped me with a different SanDisk issue and may help with yours.
    – Worthwelle
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 22:55
  • Didn't get detected in the app as well
    – Anddo
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 23:21

1 Answer 1

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Since the drive is working and I assume the ports on the laptop work as well it's tricky It's hard to say for sure without testing, but my gut feeling is a power issue. Either the flash drive is drawing to much power and the laptop is shutting down the port, or the laptop isn't supplying enough power.

Try using a USB power meter like this, which will tell you what is going on at the power level. My gut feeling is a power issue.

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  • OK, I got no resource to get such a tool at the moment so I thought of another solution. I have an extender cable but it supports only USB 2.0. I connected that extender (It's simply a USB cable acts as mediator between the USB port and any usb drive) and connected the flash drive. And voila, it works as USB 2.0 connections. Also another info, the usb flash drive is hot if it's connected to the laptop. Anyway, assuming it drains the power, what would be the solution to this issue ? Any special settings in bios or something ?
    – Anddo
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 23:20
  • This is definitely a power issue. If the flash drive is getting hot then it sounds like it is defective. It should get a little warm under heavy use, but under no means should it be hot. I would return it to the store you bought it from. If that's not possible, try to RMA it to SanDisk. I would not continue to use if, as it might fail and lose your data.
    – Keltari
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 23:26
  • Perfect, thank you kindly for the help @Keltari
    – Anddo
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 23:28
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    Also, I doubt its the laptop. While it is possible the laptop is pushing to much power, thats not how they are designed. The device pulls the power needed, not the other way around. However, it cant hurt to try other drives in it the laptop to test what happens, but I highly doubt there will be an issue. In the extremely small chance its the laptop, there is nothing you could do, other than replace the motherboard. Well, thats not entirely true, you could take it to a repair center that could replace a faulty electrical component... but thats not cheap.
    – Keltari
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 23:30
  • If a flash drive operates hot, it means that it has non-functional (forced disabled) link power management. It means it has an outdated junk and unstable silicon controller IC, and should be discarded.
    – Ale..chenski
    Commented Aug 21, 2018 at 23:57

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