# Computer Question: Disabled Drive **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-disabled-drive/456145 "2008-07-11T16:02:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-disabled-drive/456145/1 "2008-07-11T16:02:15Z")
A colleague of mine was having trouble with a thumb drive. He wanted to shut down the computer, but it wouldn’t give him permission to remove it. He started clicking randomly, and hit a button that said “disable drive.” You can see where this is going. This morning, he tried to re-access the thumb drive, but his computer tells him that drive is disabled. Any idea how to re-able the drive? It’s Windows XP. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![rainwalker78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rainwalker78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainwalker78)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-disabled-drive/456145/2 "2008-07-11T17:06:31Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] He started clicking randomly [/QUOTE] That gave me a flashback to my Help Desk job. Please tell this person not to do that again. Is the drive disabled, or was autoplay disabled? autoplay is what automatically opens the drive when you plug it in. If autoplay is disabled, but not the drive, then the drive should show up in the list when you open “My Computer”. If it does show up, then you can change autoplay settings by right clicking the thumb drive in the “My Computer” list, and clicking properties. The settings will be in the “Auto Play” tab. From what you said, I am not sure how he could have disabled the drive, but you can try this: Right click on my computer, select properties Select the Hardware tab. Click on Device Manager. Look For the Section titled “Universal Serial Bus Controllers”. Under that section, look for an item that might refer to the thumb drive. Mine is called “USB Mass Storage Device”. If it is truly disabled, it should have a red X over it. To re-enable the device, double click on it and push the button that says “enable device”. Follow on screen instructions. If it is in the Device Manager list and not disabled, double click on the item and click “trouble shoot”. If it is not in the Device Manager list, then try plugging the drive into a different USB port. Also try a different computer. This will help identify if the problem is with the device or with the computer. Let me know if none of that helps, or if any of the instructions need clarified. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-disabled-drive/456145/3 "2008-07-11T19:58:39Z")
Has he tried rebooting? I have a four-slot multicard reader on my computer that, if I make the mistake of asking Windows’ permission to remove a card, causes four drive letters to vanish from my computer (one for each slot). They won’t come back unless I reboot. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-disabled-drive/456145/4 "2008-07-11T22:17:17Z")
[QUOTE=rainwalker78] That gave me a flashback to my Help Desk job. Please tell this person not to do that again. [/QUOTE] Done and done! > [@](#): > > From what you said, I am not sure how he could have disabled the drive, but you can try this: > Right click on my computer, select properties > Select the Hardware tab. > Click on Device Manager. > Look For the Section titled “Universal Serial Bus Controllers”. > Under that section, look for an item that might refer to the thumb drive. Mine is called “USB Mass Storage Device”. > If it is truly disabled, it should have a red X over it. To re-enable the device, double click on it and push the button that says “enable device”. Follow on screen instructions. That did it. Like you, he has no idea how he did it. But, it did have a red X over it. I followed your instructions and the thumb drive is working again. Many thanks! ---
**Author:** ![rainwalker78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rainwalker78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainwalker78)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-disabled-drive/456145/5 "2008-07-11T23:59:49Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] That did it. Like you, he has no idea how he did it. But, it did have a red X over it. I followed your instructions and the thumb drive is working again. Many thanks! [/QUOTE] No problem, happy to help.