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Flash Drive BSOD Mystery

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I recently moved my XP Pro system from one computer to another, doing an in-place upgrade to have XP recognize the new hardware. All went OK except for this problem: Whenever I insert a large flash drive, the unit immediately crashes with a Page_Fault_In_Non_Paged_Area BSOD. The USB drivers are up to date, and other devices (like a printer) work just fine in the same USB port. Ports on the front and back behave the same way.

Even stranger is that an old flash drive (16MB) works OK, but the newer, larger ones (1, 2, 4 and 8 GB) cause the immediate crash. I tried to format in FAT and FAT32 with the same result. I've removed all USB related items and re-loaded USB drivers with the same result. The flash drives work fine in other systems. I loaded a copy of Ubuntu on this computer and the flash drives worked perfectly. I'm at a loss as to what to try next.

If you have any ideas, I would appreciate your thoughts. Thank you.

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Hi vinlione! Based on your BSOD message, there could be something wrong with your memory. Windows uses a bit more memory when caching the contents of a flash drive for faster access, which is probably why the error happens when you plug in them big thumbs.

Try downloading memtest86 and using that to test your memory for any errors. Let us know what happens! :)

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Reply to r_manic

r_manic wrote :

Hi vinlione! Based on your BSOD message, there could be something wrong with your memory. Windows uses a bit more memory when caching the contents of a flash drive for faster access, which is probably why the error happens when you plug in them big thumbs.

Try downloading memtest86 and using that to test your memory for any errors. Let us know what happens! :)



Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Thank you for the suggestion. I did as you recommended and ran mem86 for 3 passes. No errors at all. To add to the mystery: First, I did an in-place reinstall of XP -- same problem. Next, I have a boot analysis disk (Hiran's disk) which has an abbreviated Win XP desktop. Using this, the USB ports work fine with all my drives. Finally, I loaded Ubuntu on this unit and again, the USB worked fine. Now what?? Thanks again for the input.

Reply to vinlione

Here's a work-around. I just discovered that if I put in a USB hub, I can insert the larger flash drives and they work just fine!! Why inserting the drive directly causes a BSOD and using a $5 hub solves the problem, is beyond me. If you're reading this because you have a similar problem, go to WalMart and buy a cheapo hub, use it and get on with life. Go figure.


Message edited by vinlione on 06-25-2009 at 03:41:34 AM
Reply to vinlione
Tom's Hardware > Forum > Storage > Flash Media > Flash Drive BSOD Mystery
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