Windows 7: Windows explorer won't open w/USB

When I insert a flash drive into my USB, windows explorer won't open automatically. I activated auto play for it and it still won't open on insert. Is there something else I'm missing? Thanks.

Windows Explorer generally won't when first going to plug in any external device. The Action center prompt for options of run or browse files will usually be seen along with any popup your av program or other system protection inplace to scan the drive.

If you even go into the Disk Management and assign a specific drive letter to it and then use the Safely Remove option when going to plug the drive back in later and you open WE the same letter will be seen for the drive. The automatic system protections will still prompt to scan while WE won't open up automatically.

Typically the option for browsing files is seen when inserting a data disk or software disk in the optical drive with the auto run option disabled for various types of software and other installers in the Action Center. The option to run something or view files will then open up a window for browsing files on a disk.

Yes but I was just wondering it will open for my PC but it won't open for my friends PC. Just wanted to know what settings to look at in mine, compared to his. Thanks.

What version or OS is on your friend's system? Did you reformat the flash drive from the factory Fat volume to NTFS or simply leave the original file system on?

For XP and Vista with flash drives as well as external hard drives there is usually a small program for bringing up an installer or simply for mounting the volume to make it available being assigned a drive letter. You may only see a small image for the brand appear in the upper right hand corner of the screen rather then any explorer window for so many seconds.

Once first plugged in the new hardware detected notification should appear and looking at a new explorer window should reveal right off if another drive has appeared in MyComputer or Computer depending on which version of Windows is installed. With a drive having been reformatted that's the norm in fact.

With flash drives here already reformatted to NTFS the only thing that appears when going to plug one in will be a security popup by the av prorgram to run a scan on the drive being part of the automatic protection process/active guard. A new disk placed in the optical drive without an autorun.inf however and not a blank disk but already with files will see an autoplay prompt for viewing content if not for running any exe file detected.

"What version or OS is on your friend's system?" Windows 7. I did a clean install with a upgrade disk from Dell. "Did you reformat the flash drive from the factory Fat volume to NTFS or simply leave the original file system on?" Flash drive has not been touched. If a cammera, cell phone, etc. is inserted into the USB port WE does not open. Not just a flash drive. Thanks.

Open control panel and go to Autoplay. I have mine set to view large icons, if you are in category view you may have to hunt around to find it. Once you have it open have a look at the top for "Choose what happens when you insert each type of media" there should be a check box right under it next to "Use Autoplay for all media and devices". I bet yours is not checked, which I believe is the default. It's up to you but I personally wouldn't enable it. Infected USB drives rely on the autorun function to spread the malware.

That's another valid concern. By default that is generally seen checked off and why you see the prompts for adjusting the Auto Play settings when first setting up a 7 install. You have to go over all the AP settings and decide which option is best for which item depending on the types of media you use.

The AutoPlay check box option once checked then covers new addon devices like printers and flash drives and why that is checked off by default while every other item is not set. Simply click on the restore default to see how that looks. The image here shows how things(according to user preference) would be seen with the box unchecked.