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I purchased a Transcend 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive last month. It does not work on the two USB 3.0 ports on my computer, which has an ASUS Rampage III Extreme motherboard. The device doesn't even light up at all. Yet other flash drives (non-3.0) work fine on those ports. An Anker USB 3.0 hub that I just purchased works fine, too.

Plugging that Transcend flash drive into another USB port (2.0, presumably), it lights up and is recognized immediately.

What gives?

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    did you try any other USB3 device with your USB port? Jul 26, 2015 at 4:31
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    Also, are you saying that plugging the USB 3.0 hub into the same USB 3.0 ports works? Have you tested the Transcend drive on a different USB 3.0 port (like on another computer)? Were you able to verify that the hub operates at USB 3.0 speed?
    – fixer1234
    Jul 26, 2015 at 6:23
  • @Sachith: Yes, I plugged in a USB 3.0 hub and it is recognized and works fine.
    – Sturm
    Jul 26, 2015 at 17:03
  • @fixer1234: Yes, the hub works fine on the exact same USB 3.0 ports on the mobo. Sadly, I do not have any other USB 3.0 ports at my disposal. Well, I might have access to one at work Monday; I'll give it a try then if I can remember to. And I do not know how to test the speed of the hub; any help is appreciated.
    – Sturm
    Jul 26, 2015 at 17:05
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    It could be a counterfeit product. Test it on another computer that has USB3.0, and if it works, check its data transfer speed (e.g. pcworld.com/article/2455205/…). If it's broken or very slow, retrun it to the vendor. Jul 26, 2015 at 20:57

1 Answer 1

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I did some more research and looked in my Device Manager. I did see one "USB Hub" or some such with an exclamation point on it. And some of my research suggested updating drivers. So I went to ASUS' site and downloaded USB 3.0 drivers, figuring it couldn't hurt, even if they were already installed.

It turns out they were not already installed. So my problem really just boils down to the fact that I didn't have USB 3.0 drivers. I just assumed that Windows 7 automatically downloaded and installed them when I changed out motherboards years ago. I guess that's what I get for trusting Windows 7.

So, let this be a notice for anyone else who might be having similar issues: Don't trust Windows 7's automatic driver installation. Download and install the drivers yourself for the USB 3.0 ports on your computer.

Sorry for wasting everyone's time for such a trivial issue.

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    Windows 7 does not ship with USB 3.0 drivers. // Don’t forget to accept your answer.
    – Daniel B
    Oct 14, 2019 at 15:06

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