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There are times after I eject a USB Flash drive, I want to copy some more files over to the USB Flash drive. In this case, do I always need to unplug the drive and plug it back in? Is there a way to "reconnect" or "un-eject" the drive?
To eject, that are two ways:
But there seems to be no way to un-eject or reconnect a drive.
nonopolarity
Posted 2010-03-20T01:32:13.167
Reputation: 7 932
15
You need to remount the drive. Depending on the operating system there are several ways to do this.
Assuming Windows:
Right click My Computer and select Properties (or you can simultaneously press Win+Pause/Break key). In System Properties window, go to the Hardware tab and then click the Device Manager button. In Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can just click the Device Manager link located at the left hand sidebar when you are at the System Properties window.
Click View from the menu bar and select “Devices by Connection“.
Find the parent USB Root Hub of the USB device that has a yellow color exclamation mark. Right click on the USB Root Hub and select Disable. Again right click on the same USB Root Hub that you’ve just disabled and this time select Enable.
From Remount Ejected or Safely Removed Drive.
A little Google-Fo will yield results for OS X and various Linux distro's.
Josh K
Posted 2010-03-20T01:32:13.167
Reputation: 11 754
4note that disabling & re-enabling the Root Hub will reset all devices on that hub -- it will work, but that could be a nasty side effect under some circumstances. if there are other USB drives on that hub, you should eject/unmount them all before performing this procedure. – quack quixote – 2010-03-20T14:18:11.623
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Why is a restart required before this will work? : http://screenshoot.me/JuItNj
– Pacerier – 2011-10-05T07:23:05.5872I too get the same dialog box as @Pacerier. – HNL – 2011-12-22T08:58:26.843
@HNL exactly, that sorta defeats the purpose – Pacerier – 2011-12-23T16:43:13.397
@Pacerier: Maybe you get the restart required message because you're using Win XP and Josh K isn't. – martineau – 2012-09-20T17:40:02.950
-1
A reboot is required with Windows 7, simply logging off and back on isn't sufficient. Given than, what not save time and just reboot without the above procedure?
Richard
Posted 2010-03-20T01:32:13.167
Reputation: 11
This answer may be rediculous, but technically is accurate :) – CoreyJJohnson – 2018-05-14T18:00:12.893
– Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-03-19T20:15:34.290
a reboot? can't I just pull the USB Flash drive out and plug it back in? – nonopolarity – 2014-03-19T23:18:11.387
you're obviously using windows, but this is the same question for OSX: http://superuser.com/questions/110856/how-can-i-remount-an-ejected-not-just-unmounted-usb-drive-on-mac .. related questions on Stack Overflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/916296/how-can-i-cycle-a-usb-device-from-c/919836#919836 http://stackoverflow.com/questions/138394/how-to-programatically-unplug-replug-an-arbitrary-usb-device
– quack quixote – 2010-03-20T14:16:14.6231It's a lot faster to just remove and reinsert the USB plug, rather than clicking twenty times in Windows dialogs. MHO. – Torben Gundtofte-Bruun – 2010-09-06T12:38:54.830
@torbengb: sometimes, it's an internal USB connection that you can't easily replug, so this is faster than rebooting the machine. – erjiang – 2010-12-31T02:21:58.440
@TorbenGundtofte-Bruun - Sometimes the computer with the USB drive is in a server room in a building very far away. – Kenny – 2012-08-03T13:57:42.527
@Kenny: I get it y'all :-) quit bashing me for something I said two years ago. – Torben Gundtofte-Bruun – 2012-08-03T14:11:12.417
Or it’s a flash-drive plugged into the back of the computer under the desk. Physical access isn’t always easy/possible. One could reboot to have it remounted, but that’s much more annoying than clicking twenty times. That should last for another two years.
:-P– Synetech – 2012-10-08T04:36:22.197Related: How do I get Windows Vista or Windows 7 to re-attach a USB device without having to plug it in again?
– Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-03-19T20:15:16.173