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This question is similar to USB flash drive cannot be read only on a specific computer, but I did not do anything (that I know of) to trigger the change.

My Cruzer 4GB USB flash drive worked for a few years, then a couple days ago my desktop running Windows 7 would not recognize it. The flash drive does not work on any USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 ports. The flash drive works fine on two other laptops, and my 8GB Cruzer flash drive (and another different drive) works fine on the desktop. I also installed a fresh Windows 7 OS on a new formatted drive (in the same desktop machine) and had the same problem with the 4GB flash drive. I took out the CMOS battery on the motherboard (reset the BIOS), with no change. I ran USBOblivion and cleared out some old USB information, but the drive still is not recognized.

Bottom line: something seems to be causing a problem with a specific USB flash drive and this machine, but the USB drive and machines seem to work fine otherwise.

Any ideas for what could be causing this or how to fix it?

Edit: I checked a few more machines. It failed on a similar desktop. It worked on a laptop running Windows XP. It failed on a laptop running Windows 7. It seemed to kind of work, but very slowly on another laptop running Windows 7. It failed on a laptop running Windows 8.1. It seems to work better on older machines, so maybe the flash drive is failing, but older machines are falling back to USB 1 while newer ones just give up.

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    It might be a poor connection between the port and the drive (the terminals on the drive may have oxidized which prevent proper contact). For oxidized contacts, use the eraser on a pencil to rub off the oxidized material on the contacts.
    – LDC3
    Apr 17, 2015 at 2:31
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    The contacts are enclosed by metal, so it's hard to get in and clean them. I have been using this drive regularly and inserting and removing often. Would that help to clean it? Also, note that it works fine on other machines and other drives work fine in the same port.
    – juhraffe
    Apr 17, 2015 at 2:43

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