USB 2.0 Stick Not Being Recognized ?

[Robert11]

Hi Folks,

This is not very important; more of academic interest.
But, I would really like to understand what may be happening.

I have a new USB Memory Stick. ScanDisk. 16 GB. SDCZ36-016G.
It's a USB 2.0

I can create a WORD doc. on my iMAC and put it on this stick.
The Mac will read it just fine.

If I place this WORD document, again, on the stick, I can read it just
fine on a W10 pc.

But if I place the stick in my old W7 pc, it is not recognized. Doesn't show up anywhere.

**Other sticks, the W7 pc has no trouble recognizing and reading.

At first, i thought it was a defective stick, but it works fine on the Mac and W10 pc.

Then I thought a Driver was missing or became corrupted. Still a possibility, I guess, but
other sticks can be read just fine on this W7 pc.

Any idea what might be different with this stick that prevents the W7 pc from reading it ?
Again, it's a USB 2.0. Thoughts ?

Sure is "funny".

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Snick]

Hi Robert11,
How did you format USB? With Mac or Win?
Windows and Mac OS X use different file systems. Windows uses the NTFS file system for its internal drives, while Macs use HFS+. External hard disks and USB drives are generally formatted with the Windows FAT32 file system for maximum compatibility — most devices, including Macs, can read and write from FAT32 devices.

 

[Robert11]

Hi

Thanks for help.

Tried both Fat32 and also ExFat.
Formatted on Mac.

But, it seems to show up in the W7 pc
in Device Manager, under the Hidden
Tab. Nowhere else, apparently.

How would I Un-Hide it ?

Regards,
Bob

 

[Snick]

First, I'd try copying your files, folders to your Windows PC Desktop, then reformat the drive with Windows, reinstall files, folders, etc. exFAT preferred over FAT32 which has (4gb limit)
Take a look see: How to Fix USB Device Not Recognized in Windows
Select the relevant portions to your issue
I'd create a full system image/backup before trying to fix. If your fix breaks something, it's easy to unfix the fix, by re-imaging the drive.