If the drive remains unrecognized, force Windows to reinstall the driver for that controller ID.

If you’ve ever encountered a USB drive that suddenly becomes "Write Protected," shows "No Media" in Disk Management, or simply refuses to format, you may be dealing with a controller-level firmware issue. For many older or budget-friendly flash drives, the chipset is the heart of the device.

: As of recent reports, Alcor Micro has ceased further development of new USB mass storage controllers. Are you trying to