Top Five USB Troubleshooting Tips

If you’re having trouble using your promotional USB flash drive, don’t fret. There are numerous steps you can take to quickly, easily, and inexpensively isolate and fix the problem. The following are the top five troubleshooting tips for helping to solve problems with a custom USB jump drive.

1. The first step to fixing a problem with a promotional USB flash drive is to isolate the source of the problem. To accomplish this, ask yourself what you were just doing prior to noticing the problem. If, for example, you had just connected to a network, then your issue may not be custom USB jump drive failure, but network failure or some conflict between the network and the promotional USB flash drive. In the case of this example – a possible network conflict – disconnect from the network and try loading the custom USB jump drive again. If it’s a software application you loaded just prior to plugging in your promotional USB flash drive that you think may be the source of the problem, close the program and try again.
   
   
2. If you have another promotional USB flash drive handy, plug that one into the same USB port instead. If it works, then you know your problem is with your custom USB jump drive. If it doesn’t, then the problem is more likely with your PC itself.
   
   
3. If you don’t have a spare promotional USB flash drive, but you do have more than one USB port in your PC, plug the custom USB jump drive you’re having trouble with into one of the other ports. This will also give you a pretty good idea of whether the problem is with your PC or the promotional USB flash drive itself. If you try this method and find that your custom USB jump drive works in another USB port, then you’ve just isolated the source of the problem even further, discovering that it’s probably the (first) USB port that’s out of whack.
   
   
4. Visit the promotional USB flash drive manufacturer's website and check that there aren’t any specific drivers or software updates you may need to make it work properly. To locate the appropriate driver or software to download, all you have to know is the promotional USB flash drive’s name, storage capacity, and either its serial number or model number. Typically, external hard drives display this identification above the bar code on the bottom of the drive, and flash drives include a name and model number in the accompanying packaging or user’s guide.
   
   
5. Search the web for forums, discussion groups, and bulletin boards reporting incompatibilities found to be related to your custom USB jump drive. Typically, when a problem is reported on a web forum, other users are quick to offer possible solutions to the problem. Follow the advice suggested and see if that fixes your custom USB jump drive issue.

If none of these troubleshooting methods are effective in fixing the problem you’re having with your custom USB jump drive, the problem might be caused by a USB port that is incorrectly configured or inadequate FireWire or USB hardware.