USB ports work with only some pen drives

[Mirlyn]

Here's the problem: Pen drives work fine on most machines in the office, but only certain ones dont work with certain machines. Brand X may not work in machine A, but Brand Y will, and both X and Y and anyone elses brand will work in machine B. Several (but not all) machines are showing these symptoms. All machines are the same brand/model/config/order; Dell GX280s. I updated the BIOS on all the machines and deleted/reinstalled the USB drivers in XP. Still no effect.

Of course, it works fine on my pen drive used for testing.

Any ideas?

 

[Luis G]

It is possible that some pen drives are dirty and the USB port of some computers is also dirty. Dirty+dirty=doesn't work.

 

[chcr]

Dirty+dirty=doesn't work.

Well, except for sex.

 

[Mirlyn]

It is possible that some pen drives are dirty and the USB port of some computers is also dirty. Dirty+dirty=doesn't work.

Possible, but blowing out the pen drive was suggested and the ports are clean as well as shielded (the GX200-series traditionally has a hinged flap covering the already downward-pointing ports).

I've read that some pen drives do not run on USB hubs due to low power. I've suggested not using the monitor ports as well. Going to sit on this one to see if it comes back.

 

[PT]

I'm using a generic pen drive on my Gx series at work. Never had a problem with it, nor have I heard of a problem with any others. Guess that's not much help, but I don't think you're going to find a traditional fix. Are all these boxes running xp pro? Perhaps some are set up as admin while others are limited accounts?

 

[Professur]

How much other power are you pulling from your usb ports? I know that if I'm using a usb keyboard and mouse, I don't have enough juice left to run anything else, without using a powered hub.

 

[Mirlyn]

I'm using a generic pen drive on my Gx series at work. Never had a problem with it, nor have I heard of a problem with any others. Guess that's not much help, but I don't think you're going to find a traditional fix. Are all these boxes running xp pro? Perhaps some are set up as admin while others are limited accounts?

All are XP pro and aside from one or two users (for PDA syncing), none are local admins. Though, even when logged in as the local admin the drives will not work.

How much other power are you pulling from your usb ports? I know that if I'm using a usb keyboard and mouse, I don't have enough juice left to run anything else, without using a powered hub.

Aside from the USB optical mouse, none. The monitor has a USB connection to activate the ports on the side, but I'm wondering if its considered a powered hub.....

They are detected and installed, yet don't show up as an attached drive. Still narrowing things down...the offending drives only show up in this office once a month.