USB Flash Drive showing up as LOCAL DISK

Well that’s the thing isn’t it? Even if it’s a ‘reputable source’, how are they supposed to know which USB drive is which? They could just innocently *shrug* and trade what I sent back for just another one in their stock without any better clue than anybody else on whether it’s defective or not. This clearly is time (and emotional investment) that I cannot waste. So I have had to go to one of SanDisk’s competitors. Hope the thing lasts long enough for me to get some good use out of it (SanDisk is particularly noted for its longevity and reliability). And hopefully when the time comes for me to buy a 256GB, all of the defective SanDisk stock will have been plied out to owners who don’t need the particular traits of a Removable USB disk. I’ll be reading a lot of reviews to find out as much as I can beforehand. Sad that SanDisk won’t simply come forward and straighten all of this out. I guess it would be just too embarrasing for them to acknowledge that they hedged their bets with yet another flopped Microsoft product, especially in light of the fact that no other manufacturer appears to have made the same goofball decision.

I think you will find that; 1. “Removable” USB drives will fade away, like floppy disks.  And 2. Apps that want to continue being used with USB drives will be fixed to handle the new format.

Manufacturers supporting the Windows 8 to Go standard include Kingston, Imation, Western Digital and others.

@ed_p wrote:

Manufacturers supporting the Windows 8 to Go standard include Kingston, Imation, Western Digital and others.

Yeah I thought something similar to this as well. Not wanting to be burned again, I started looking around to research all of the USB stick manufacturers who also got on board with this. Since the complaints for the Sandisk are right at the top of any internet search for this problem, I expected the same for any and all major competitors. I couldn’t find even a single example of anybody else producing a USB stick that comes up as a Fixed Disk instead of the expected Removable Disk. Not one (thankfully). Not Kingston, not Toshiba (Imation and others…), not Corsair, or Adata. It was only when I probed much deeper that I finally found one other stick likewise produced with the defect; by someone called Centon, a company I’ve never heard of, I suspect for good reason.

@ed_p wrote:

I think you will find that; 1. “Removable” USB drives will fade away, like floppy disks.  And 2. Apps that want to continue being used with USB drives will be fixed to handle the new format.

An interesting remark to make considering that Sandisk has already abandoned the defect. Sorry Microsoft: But I will one day need something larger than a 40MB sized harddrive; I will want to actually play games on my PC; And no, 640k RAM is not “enough”. I won’t try to match that kind of arrogance about what people will want and/or need to use in the future with my own predictions. RIGHT NOW, a lot of people need and expect a USB memory stick to be a Removable Disk. That will not change because Microsoft dictates it based on God-only-knows what delusions are swirling around in their own heads. That will change because the market dictates it and only then.

The market wants USB drives that are able to be partitioned.  A single partition is fine for 4 GB, 8 Gb even 16GB drives but 128 GB it too big and the number keeps getting larger.  If you want to be sure the USB drive you buy is removable, buy small size. 

The market wants USB drives that support flipping the “removable” bit with a utility.

@ed_p wrote:

The market wants USB drives that are able to be partitioned.  A single partition is fine for 4 GB, 8 Gb even 16GB drives but 128 GB it too big and the number keeps getting larger.  If you want to be sure the USB drive you buy is removable, buy small size. 

In five to ten years, if history is any kind of a guide, 128GB or 256GB sized single partition USB memory sticks might be laughably trivial in comparison with the needs of the ‘market’. I myself am having to upgrade to double size once every two years on average (a bit less actually). That is just to keep up with my normal professional tasks. Note that those tasks haven’t themselves changed over the years. Just the requirements on the base storage space on a Removable Disk when performing those tasks.

It is an extreme act of hubris to try and anticipate just exactly what the entire market will be like in that time frame, and I will try and avoid doing so myself, except by perhaps suggesting again that we look at history as a guide. But I recommend that Sandisk dances to its own tune and not subscribe to Microsoft’s shortsighted vision of the world. I would also recommend that the next time they go for such a fundamental change to a key part of their product base, that they atleast provide the tools such that the key customers in that primary market can use the technology as they need to for their particular demands. If they can’t provide that flexiblity, then they should get out of the business altogether.

And I guess there’s no reason to play any cards close to the vest at this point is there? There are several existing programs out there on the market that will partition a USB Removable Disk, no problem. And there are OS’s that will recognize all of the partitions on that Removable Disk, no problem. The problem is that none of them are owned by Microsoft, and neither is the patent for such technology. So the only way of being able to partition a USB Removable Disk with Microsoft’s default disk management software, and/or to recognize any multiple partitions, outside of Microsoft spending some big money (or using true open source licensed software), is to have the USB memory stick be seen as a Fixed Disk. Gosh, what a surprise. :cat:

I just hope that if Sandisk decides to merrily go along with some Windows-9-to-Go requirement that all USB Removable drives become Fixed Disks, then they atleast provide some facilities for those of us who live in the real world outside of Microsoft’s veiled perception of how they thought things would be (as opposed to how they actually are).

The market wants USB drives that support flipping the “removable” bit with a utility.

Then always buy USB drives 16 GB and smaller and you’ll have no problem flipping the bit.

In five to ten years, if history is any kind of a guide, 128GB or 256GB sized single partition USB memory sticks might be laughably trivial in comparison with the needs of the ‘market’.

Oh I don’t think it will be that long before USB devices are phased out.  SanDisk already has wireless drives out.  USB drives are going the way of floppy and CD and DVD drives.

And I guess there’s no reason to play any cards close to the vest at this point is there? There are several existing programs out there on the market that will partition a USB Removable Disk, no problem. And there are OS’s that will recognize all of the partitions on that Removable Disk, no problem.

Yes, Linux and gparted and etc have been around for a long time.  10 yrs ago there was big talk about Linux growing and dominating the world.  You’ve seen how that has gone.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used Linux and even have a Linux system on this netbook that I boot frequently but Linux is still a small portion of the pc world.  But there are others that are growing, some of which didn’t even exist 10 yrs ago; OS X, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, etc.

The bottom line, the world is changing, the market is changing, change is inevitable, change is life.  No more CRT monitors, no more 20 lb desktop machines, soon no more removable drives.  :-) 

I have the same problem as discussed here.

I had a 64Gb Cruzer Extreme, worked perfectly.

Unfortunately I lost it.

Bought another one and now have a problem.

On my Win8 laptop the drive is not working, I only get “USB device not recognised”…jada jada malfunctioned.

On other computers it works but only as local drive.

As I understand it there are different model numbers for the units.

My current not working unit has SDCZ80-064G-G46.

On this page http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDCZ80-064G-X46-Extreme-Flash-Drive/dp/B007YXA5SI

it says that the one there ending in X46 is a newer model of this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDCZ80-064G-G46-Extreme-Flash-Drive/dp/B00DZPUOUI/

I dont have access to the box of old unit right now, but that one came in box. The new one came in a Bubble pack.

Its not mentioned anywere on Amazon or the packing that this is Windows 8 certified, or that it will appear as a Local Drive, or my case not working at all in my Win8 laptop.

Im gonna return this item, but how are one supposed to know which model is the removable one?

Very very bad of SanDisk indeed.

You say SanDisk stopped making the drives with firmware that causes the drives to be recognized as a hard disk.  Do you have any information on model numbers, etc.?  We just purchased a 16GB Extreme and a 16GB Cruzer Glide and they still have the issue.  Not sure if there’s a lot of old stock out there?

:smiley:   Hi Maxdrake,

Dear member of SanDisk Community, welcome.

Please, you can also send the question to the Support Team: http://kb.sandisk.com/app/ask/

Luck, and then you tell us, what happened, please.

Regards, Alfred.                                                            (Google translated)

Thank yuu Bro !! you make my day!! It’s work 100% !!! 

+1. Nice work right there Cacho!

The “defect” was with the original implementation.  The RMB bit indicates whether the device supports REMOVABLE MEDIA. Flash drives do NOT have removable media, any more than a USB Hard Disk does.  A USB CD/DVD drive - yes - you can REMOVE THE MEDIA.  Many of us complained about as you say, the DEFECT - that Flash Drives were incorrectly reporting that they had removable media - no they did not.  Removable device - yes.  Flash drives are the same as USB Hard Disks - they do not contain removable media.  SAN did the proper thing and I congratulate MS for pushing manufacturers to have their devices PROPERLY report what they are.  You are right about DEFECT, but you got it backwards.  And there are ways to safely remove any USB device.  USB SAFELY REMOVE for one.  It can safely remove any USB or SATA drive (many SATA drivers don’t allow Hot Unplug contrary to SATA specifications).

USB Flash Drives have NEVER contained removable media, any more than USB Hard Disks contain removable media - try removing the media.  The BUG was with the original flash drives incorrectly reporting that they contained removable media.  I was tempted to remove the MEDIA from a USB Flash Drive, and then return it as defective.  USB CD/DVD drives DO contain removable media - you can remove the media w/o removing the drive.

Then always buy USB drives 16 GB and smaller and you’ll have no problem flipping the bit.

I wonder how long will they produce such drives? And why 16, why not 32, then? (FAT32 drive size limit)

Oh I don’t think it will be that long before USB devices are phased out. SanDisk already has wireless drives out. USB drives are going the way of floppy and CD and DVD drives.

If USB flash drives are being phased out, what external boot options will we have? Wireless?

The SanDisk Connect Wireless Media Drive is what do you have in mind? That is clearly not the present yet as it is overpriced for capacity and maxes out at 64 GB.

How about USB type-C for the future?

 HI my Flash Drive SDCZ50-032G BM 14 Untitled.jpg02248418   showing up as LOCAL DISK  and i can’t burn windows 7 to usb 

Hi folks,

Read the forum,- pity the bit can’t be flipped but there you go. Spent an hour clearing the “Local Disk” for the Win 10 Media Creation Tool. Just for anyone out there,- don’t bother- it won’t be picked up  Hmm, upside is you can format the disk as NFTS. :slight_smile:

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And lo and behold, in the year 2017, when trying to make a Lenovo USB Recovery drive because the Acronis we have doesn’t see NVMe SSDs, I pull out a 64GB Sandisk Cruzer SDCZ36-064G that we bought a while back and am graced with this nonsense.

Thanks for the thread and the laughs, no thanks for somehow being the only manufacturer still seeing the majority of these issues . This was an industry-wide decision right? Like an entire industry listened to MS’s silly Windows 8 lead here? Why’s the ratio seem so skewed toward one company?

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Evening _ usit _:

   The following did the trick…try it.       On “Windows” open file explorer and tik “this PC”. You should see your pendrive shown…right click on it…then 'properties > hardware…again tik you pendrive > properties > change settings (at bottom) > policies tik “better perfomance”.   Restart comp for changes to take effect!  This worked for my Sandisk pendrives!!!  Hope it does for you too.  Ahm…do you have any idea how I could post this for ALL to see?

_ Rick _

Rick’s (Rixter above) solution did NOT work for me on an old SanDisk Cruzer Glide 8GB.  This USB Drive still shows up as a Local Disk in Windows 10 and does not show up in UNetBootin to create a USB bootable version of PartedMagic.  This occurs even after setting the Boot Flag property with GParted.

A different SanDisk Cruzer 16GB shows up as a USB Drive and works fine with UNetBootin.