Whenever i put a flash drive in any of the usb ports the computer reboots itself.

Try it on another computer and on other usb ports. If you are lucky it may just be a recognition problem of what is called a legacy device. That just means something that was plugged in as it rebooted. Some times the port doesn't like to recognize these or the port or its controller has a problem. Unplug and reboot a few times then try it in all the ports and see if it picks it up.

If it isn;t recognized on your or other computers then the problem will be the usb interface in the device. Basically these are a normal hard drive with a usb interface. The usb part goes out or the power supply does. The drive itself rarely has a problem and 99 out of 100 times it s the usb part. You can by a new usb enclosure for about $20. This doesn;t have the ha rd drive but is just the case and the usb interface. What you do is transfer the drive from the old to the new drive and you will be back up and running. Any competent computer shop can do this and you can do it yourself if you are familiar with hard drive connector and how to use a screw driver ;-] The hardest part is actually getting the old case open. Then undoing 4 screws that hold the drive in place after that just unplug and pull it out and put in the new case. It's about a 10 minute job.

Anyway Do the reboot and port check and if not look for a replacement enclosure. Even if you have to pay to swap the drive it will cost less than a new external and you won't loose any data.

first thing to try is just use a differant usb port. Then you can try rebooting the computer and try it. don't leave it plugged in when rebooting so it forces it to detect it. If it doesn'tsee it then you want to try the stick in a differant computer.

The first just forces it to be detected on a new port. the second is just incase the first port has a problem and the last is to make sure it is the computer or the stick that is the problem. Usually its just a matter of trying it in a new port and away it goes. Unfortunetly these also die all the time so the stick itself can be the problem. They are fairly cheap to replace. If there is real important data on it then you can pay to have it recovered but that will cost a few hundred dollars to get done.

Don;t leave these plugged in all the time and be carefull if you are getting static electric shocks etc. those are the two big killers of these. And sometimes they just stop for no apparent reason.

Definitely you can try with different enclosure, and it will work in any enclosure... But before buying a new enclosure it would be better if you try to connect the hard drive in a different computer to isolate where the issue is...

Right click my computer and click on manage. In disk management try to reformat as another solution for your usb storage drive. Try another usb port on your computer as well when you reinsert it and restart the computer. Usually when a usb device turns off and doesn't show up like yours did the device could be faulty or the usb port you have it connected to or for laptops sometimes the usb ports turn off if only using battery instead of ac adapter. There are power save modes for usb ports so have to check that in device manager as well. Good luck!

Try another USB slot in your computer.

Try the flash-drive in another computer, to see if the flash-drive itself is OK.

Do *OTHER* USB devices work in the USB slot(s) in your computer? If not, then your computer has a problem with its USB port(s).

if this is only happening on 1 usb port, there is a short in that port that is causing you PC to shut down. Your motherboard BIOS is probably set to reboot on power loss which means it will boot right back up if it shorts out.

If it happens on every USB port then your pen drive is faulty and I would refrain from inserting it anymore before you damage your hardware.

If the pen drive works on someone elses computer, then it sounds like the SOUTHBRIDGE chip (chip on motherboard that controls USB, PCI slots, firewire ports, etc) is going bad or is faulty.

More then likely you have a defective thumbdrive,buy a new one and see if you still have the problem, you can all ways take it back if you still have the problem, Remember new ones can also be defective.

An option that you could do is to plug the flash drive in the back of the computer. The reason is because flash drives derive power from the USB port itself unlike other usb devices that you are using may have their own power or because the USB port in front does not give as much power as the one from the back.

i) try to put the usb drive in some other ports(such as usb port present on the backside of yur computer tower) and check whether your computer is detecting the drive.....

ii) if not there is sureluy some problem with ur usb drive, replace it  or repair it..., you can even try putting another usb drive(if you have an spare one...)

Thanking you

M. Sridhar

Try going into the BIOS and see if the USB Ports are enabled. I don't know what type of system you have. When you turn on the pc it will prompt 'F1 to enter setup' or it might be F10. Do you have a USB mouse or keyboard? Try those in different ports.