USB won't show content.

[Bryan]

My main PC is an Asus Z490, Intel core i7 10700k running Windows 11 23h2 – build 22631.4037.I have 3 other PC’s all running the same PC build.My problem with my main PC not able to see the content of external HDDs or USB files when I plug them in. I do not have this problem with any of the other three.
 
However, the device appears on the taskbar and I get an advice from ESET that a device has been added to the system. I am able to go into the File Manager and access the USB attachment but would like to really be able to use the facility of seeing the content of the USB attachment when I do attach it.
 
I have checked the “Device Manager” and the USB device appears in the Disk Drives. There are no warning flags appearing. I am now considering deleting from Device Manager the “Universal Serial Bus controller” in its entirety, rebooting and letting the system rebuild the USB files – can I do this? Any other marvelous thoughts?

[king1]

yes I have done that before myself and don't recall any issues, after a restart windows just reinstalls all the drivers. Be interesting to see the outcome after that...

The other thing to try if you havent is just a simple restart...
or from the command line
shutdown /r /t 0

An actual shutdown of windows doesn't actually close everything down, it kind of hibernates the windows kernel and some settings, and reloads from that on startup. So irksome problems can still reoccur after a "shutdown". I believe this is related to the "fast startup" settings
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutio...windows-11

[Bryan]

Thanks king1. Tried all the suggestions. removed power cable, pressed start and waited for a minute. Reinstalled power but no change.

[zqwerty]

How do I enable USB autorun in Windows 10?
Solution

Open Windows Settings.
Select Bluetooth & Devices.
Select AutoPlay.
Select Use AutoPlay for all media and devices to turn AutoPlay on or off. Set the default action for AutoPlay when connecting each type of media or device.

[king1]

you could also try a couple of windows repairs just in case from a command prompt with admin rights

sfc /scannow

and

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

then restart again

[Bryan]

Sorry guys, tried them all to no avail. I will live with it using work-arounds for now. Thanks for the interest.

[Wainuitech]

Just a thought, if you are unable to see the drive contents, in search type in Computer Management -- open it, on the left look for Disk Management, when it opens look at the drive you can't see, make sure its got a Drive letter - If it hasn't right click - Change drive letter and Paths - Assign it a Letter.

[Bryan]

Shows a correct drive letter.

[king1]

bit of a weird one this, so no usb drives you plug in to it show any files? yet they do on other pcs you try?

[Wainuitech]

One other thing -- Are you using the front or rear USB ports ? Got a couple of USB drives myself that play up, Some computers dont always like using the front ports but work fine in the back ports.

[Bryan]

Yes, any I attach to the front ports do not show up. They will appear as an icon in the taskbar that I use to disengage the USB before removing the HDD. I just tried the rear ports and same result.

[Wainuitech]

Hmmm Bit of grabbing at straws here.  When  you open the Drives can you see actual windows with all options ??  but Just blank where the data should be ??

If so make sure the files are not hidden.  Go to the View Tab, click Hidden items, see if they appear.

Also check the format of the drive, right click anywhere on the drive - Properties -- See what the file system is.

Should be either NTFS, Fat32, Fat or exFat. Anything else and it may be in a format Windows cant read.  Had that happen mountains of times when attaching a USB that's had Linux on it.

One other thing you can test -- Use a USB drive that you can lose all data thats on it, format that drive, then put any thing onto it. Remove the drive, plug it back in, does that data show ?

[Bryan]

Thanks WT. ESET shows "new device detected - F:/". Checked View - shows it is set to show hidden items.
All Eternal HDDs are NTFS and USBs are FAT32. Tried the USB test - still no show.
All Ext HDDS and USBs behave as they should on the other PCs.
AutoPlay is correctly set to ON. Checking Settings >Bluetooth>Devices, the Ext HDDs and USB are listed.
I'm not running any funny TP programs that I know of that might affect this - got me beat.

[king1]

and yet the fixed disks C:\ etc show as they should?
Completely weird...

[Bryan]

If anyone is able to resolve this, I would bet that the answer is probably very simple, just hiding in plain site!

[king1]

If anyone is able to resolve this, I would bet that the answer is probably very simple, just hiding in plain site!

or the windows installation is absolutely borked - because, showing files in explorer is a fundamental part of what windows is supposed to do...

If you're feeling brave and have the inclination you could try a reset keeping files and apps - see if that fixes it.  I'd definitely be doing a backup of it with Macrium Reflect or similar...

If your unsure whether you want to do that and have a spare HDD, you could try clone the drive first and do the reset on the cloned drive...

It all seems a bit over the top given the nature of the problem, but like I say, displaying the files in a folder is a fundamental part of windows.

I was thinking maybe a bios setting with respect to USB but if USB was disabled somehow the drives shouldn't be showing up anywhere at all...

[king1]

I suppose the other question is how long has it been like this?

If it's only a week or two a system rollback could be a good option

[Bryan]

System backed up with Macrium and I will do a system reset and see what happens.

[king1]

keep in mind windows will remove some (usually non microsoft) applications that will need to be reinstalled...

[king1]

and yet another thought that comes to mind is USB access could be disabled using group policy BUT that is usually only available on windows pro versions and it only allows you to disable read/write/execute. I read that as you should still be able to view the files...

Yet another possibility might be if USB access is blocked by some security software, Eset can for example most others as well. I wouldn't have thought they would actually mount the drives and assign a drive letter if that were the case though...