How to Enable the Use of USB Storage Devices

A USB storage device is a piece of equipment for your computer that acts like an external hard drive.  You may store pictures, music, text files or anything else you that you would like to keep separate from your main drive to keep your computer clean and organized.  Microsoft Windows has an Autoplay feature, which will immediately read anything you connect to your computer.

Before proceeding, you should check to see if your computer is reading your storage drive.  This can be done by going to "My Computer" and checking to see if there are any other drives besides C:, D: (if you have a CD/DVD drive) or any others you are familiar with.  If not, then take the following steps to ensure your USB storage drive is enabled.

What You Will Need to Do:

1. Go to the "Start" menu and click "Run" for Windows XP.  For Windows 7, go to the "Start" menu and click "Search."


2. Type in "regedit" and click "OK" within the new window that pops up This will open the Registry Editor.


3. Follow the path:  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Services, then click on USBSTOR. On the left-hand side of the window, you will see a list of folders under My Computer. You will see a list of values in the main pane of the window. 


4. Double-click the value labeled "Start." In this window, you will see Value data. 


5. Ensure that you have the value "3" entered into this field (4 is the disable value).  You also want to ensure that the base is set to Hexadecimal.  You may now close out of the Registry Editor.


6. Reconnect your device and give it a few seconds to communicate with your computer.  Your computer should now be able to read the USB storage device.  Go back to Start Menu > My Computer and you should now see your drive among the list.