Explorer will not list files on MTP USB devices

[TrekFan1701]

I hope I am posting to the correct forum. My apologies if not.
I just recently replaced my WinXP DeskTop with a Win7 DT. Now when I connect any of my MTP devices, Lenovo IdeaTab, Nexus 7 tablet, Samsung Tab 3 tablet, It says its installing the drivers, but then it says it fails. When I go to devices though, it shows as Unspecified and when I check the properties, it says it's working properly. When I go to Windows Explorer, the device shows but when I click on it, it just freezes and won't display the file listings. I have tried several times, uninstalling the drivers and then reconnecting the device, which I saw as a solution on some other forum sites. I can transfer the files via WiFi, but it takes a lot longer. Any ideas? Thank you for reading my post.

 

[dsperber]

My recommendation for appropriate and working USB drivers for Samsung devices (Android) is from PDANet+. Shows up as an MTP device in Explorer, and you can get to the internal/card storage in the phone through Explorer just as you'd expect for any MTP device.

I also installed FoxFi (which is part of PDANet+) on my S4 and Lenovo W530 laptop, to support "tethered USB" mode (without requiring paid monthly feature from Sprint) allowing the W530 to use 4G capability of the phone as the broadband ISP "wired via USB from phone to laptop" connection.

Note that FoxFi can also turn the Android device into a WiFi hotspot (without Sprint) if you want.

 

[TrekFan1701]

Thanks for your reply dsperber. Can you help me understand why my devices show up in Windows Explorer, but can't get to the files on the device? Is it a permissions thing? Is it a bug in Windows 7 and/or its MTP interface code? And why is it that some have been able to fix the problem by uninstalling the drivers and then reconnecting the device so the updated drivers are downloaded but that doesn't work for me? Is it the computer I am using? I just don't understand why I have to go buy some other software to perform work that native Windows applications should provide. Thanks.

 

[dsperber]

What exactly do you mean by "you can't get to the files on the device"? Can you maybe post some screenshots?

For example, what does the phone look like when you see it in Explorer? Do you have an external card in it, so that when you click on the phone it expands into two sub-devices for (1) phone internal storage and (2) card external storage, as if they were two drive letters for MSC connections? But then when you try to go deeper, you see nothing? Or "access denied" or some other message? Or just no folders or files below the root-level??

Note that before I went to PDANet+ (in order to get inherent Android "tethered USB" and WiFi hotspot capability without having to pay Sprint $20/month for the equivalent functionality to be activated by them in my S4 as an optional service feature) I at first installed the free Samsung-provided KIES software. I assumed this was required to get to the phone from Windows.

Yes, it "worked" but I really had to do the custom install to cut out all of the intrusive and bloated extra features that had nothing to do with what I wanted, which was simply the ability to get to the contents of the phone and external card from the PC (e.g. to transfer music files or pictures back and forth, and nothing else).

However I really didn't like the KIES interface. And it didn't provide "free tethered USB" functionality automatically present with Android, which my brother had told me about (he uses it with his S3 and his laptop when he travels), and which I wanted after checking with Sprint and discovering that in order to turn on "WiFi hotspot" functionality in my S4 I'd have to pay them $20/month.

The fast-and-lean functionality from PDANet+ and FoxFi gave me exactly and only what I was looking for. And its support for the phone as an MTP device, showing me both internal and external storage and allowing Windows Explorer to work perfectly for transferring files to/from the phone... well, that was all I needed to see.

The price of $7.95 should be a no-brainer, if you want guaranteed 100% functionality. Just don't worry about inherent Windows support (or non-support) for Android. I (and probably your) have purchased LOTS AND LOTS of 3rd-party vendor software products when the feature set or GUI provided is far superior to what comes with Windows.