SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 64GB not recognized by Win 8 in USB 3.0 port but recognized in USB 2.0 port

USB Flash Drives All other USB Flash Drives
1

SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 64GB Flash Drive with Windows 8 (not 8.1) Pro 64-bit.

Inserted new UFD in USB 3.0 port, and Windows recognized it and assigned drive letter.

Decided to repartition the UFD with 2 partitions, and reformat with NTFS. Used Windows Disk Management to delete the UFD’s single factory partition that had FAT32 format.

However, after the partition was deleted, then decided not to repartition or reformat.

Since Disk Management can’t undelete a deleted partition, needed to use 3rd party software that could. Had old program that could undelete partitions, but doesn’t support USB 3.0.

Removed the UFD from USB 3.0 port on computer #1 running Windows 8, and inserted it into USB 2.0 port on computer #2 that ran the software that could undelete the partition.

The partition was successfully undeleted.

Reinserted the UFD into USB 3.0 port on computer #1, and the UFD’s blue LED turned on.

However, Windows Disk Management, Diskpart, and File Explorer all failed to recognize the UFD in the USB 3.0 port.

Removed the UFD from USB 3.0 port on computer #1, and inserted it in a USB 2.0 port also on computer #1.

Windows Disk Management, Diskpart, and File Explorer all recognized the UFD in the USB 2.0 port, although they didn’t when it was in a USB 3.0 port after the partition deletion and undeletion.

The UFD’s disk and partition information shown by Disk Management while in the USB 2.0 port after the partition deletion and undeletion was the same as that shown when the UFD was in the USB 3.0 port before the partition deletion. For example, partition capacity 58.42 GB and file system FAT32 were shown both before and after the partition deletion and undeletion.

To summarize, after the UFD’s factory partition was deleted while in a USB 3.0 port and then undeleted in a USB 2.0 port by software that doesn’t support USB 3.0, Windows 8 can only recognize it when the UFD is in a USB 2.0 port, and can no longer see it when it’s in a USB 3.0 port.

How can this be fixed so Windows 8 can again see the UFD in a USB 3.0 port?

Thank you.

2

SanDisk has no app that will undo what you did.  Suggest you contact the maker of the “software that could undelete the partition” you deleted and see what they suggest. 

3

Thank you for your reply. My apologies for the very long delay for this update.

There was apparently nothing wrong with the SanDisk USB 3.0 UFD. Deleting and undeleting the factory partition had no ill effect.

The problem was Windows 8.

Windows 8 would detect the USB 3.0 UFD the first time it was inserted in a USB 3.0 port, but not subsequently. This problem affected both USB 3.0 ports on the computer. It also occurred with two identical SanDisk USB 3.0 UFDs, one whose factory partition was deleted and then undeleted (as reported in my original post), and a second new UFD that was inserted into the USB 3.0 ports straight from its bubble pack.

After the initial detection, Windows 8 would only detect the UFD if either (1) it was inserted in a USB 3.0 port before Windows 8 was opened, or (2) inserted first in a USB 2.0 port, removed, then inserted in a USB 3.0 port.

However, although the UFD was in a physical USB 3.0 port, when detected, Windows 8 assigned it to a logical USB 2.0 port. The reported connection was USB 2.1, which I believe means a USB 3.0 device in a USB 2.0 port. The port assignment and connection were found using USB Device Tree Viewer 2.5.8 and USBDeview 2.46, both freeware programs.

Neither Windows 8 built-in “Hardware and Devices” troubleshooter nor the Microsoft Fix it for “Hardware devices are not working or are not detected in Windows” (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/mats/hardware_device_problems)) found any problems.

Used Windows 8 Device Manager to check for updates for the Windows 8 built-in Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller and USB Root Hub (xHCI) drivers, but it reported that the latest drivers were already installed.

Found no solution on Internet, except for a website that reported Windows 8’s built-in USB 3.0 drivers did not work with some USB 3.0 devices, and recommended replacing them with drivers designed for Windows 7. (Intel never released USB 3.0 drivers designed for Windows 8.) This recommendation was for Windows 8 only, and specifically not for 8.1.

Before doing this replacement, Windows 8 suddenly and inexplicably began to correctly recognize the UFD in a physical USB 3.0 port, i.e., the UFD was assigned to a logical USB 3.0 port, and the connection was USB 3.0, not 2.1. Moreover, the UFD could be inserted at any time, so no need to do so before Windows opened, or put it in a USB 2.0 port first.

I don’t know what caused the problem, or how it fixed itself, but it hasn’t reappeared since.

1 Like
4

Thank you for reporting the positive outcome FValley.  Nice to read a thread with a happy ending. :smiley:

BTW Has your system updated to Windows 10?