Multi card reader not recognised in Windows 7.

[lttlejoe]

OK...I didn't know where to post this question but here seems logical.

A couple of days ago my failing HDD actually failed during cloning and as a result, aprt from losing all the files I ended up losing the OS and not being able to find the original installation disk, I had to reinstall a different version of Windows 7 borrowed from a friend who has Windows 10 to get things moving ( original version was 64 bit but this one is 32 bit). This Win 7 version is now fully registered and authenticated and I'm receiving Windows updates so my problem is nothing to do with being a pirated copy. Installing this version of Windows is for expediency and will be overwritten as soon as I get my computer upgrade completed and Windows 10 installed.

I have an Akasa internal multi card reader in my computer which I very often use daily and it was never an issue when I had the old OS installed.
I could simply click on 'Computer' on the side panel and it would show a list of hard drives, optical drives and four individual removable drives. Now however, although this OS knows they are present via ( Control Panel>Computer Management > Disk Management), they are not visible when I click 'Computer' on the side panel!

The card reader is connected directly to an onboard mobo USB connection and was never an issue with the old OS.
Any ideas as to what I'm missing?
I've tried unplugging the reader from the board while the computer is switched off and restarting with reader disconnected and switching off again and then connecting it to the board and restarting but it didn't work. I had a similar issue with connecting a USB backup drive, it took several attempts before it worked.
The card reader was replaced some months ago due to a bent pin in the CF slot but other than that, it too worked perfectly. I still have the old one somewhere so could if necessary, swap that one's connection to ensure it's not a hardware fault.
There are no drivers as it's simply plug and play so drivers are not the issue. It's doing my head in at the moment!

 

[Confused Stu]

Do you have a card in the reader at the moment? From memory, by default Windows 7 and up (maybe Vista too?) hides empty drive letters to avoid cluttering up your My Computer window. Try putting a card into one of the slots and I think it'll show up.

Or from Explorer, go into Tools > Folder Options > Advanced and then untick Hide Empty Drives.

 

[lttlejoe]

Do you have a card in the reader at the moment? From memory, by default Windows 7 and up (maybe Vista too?) hides empty drive letters to avoid cluttering up your My Computer window. Try putting a card into one of the slots and I think it'll show up.

Or from Explorer, go into Tools > Folder Options > Advanced and then untick Hide Empty Drives.

SOLVED! Excellent stuff and just what I needed to know! Cheers.
The reader was detecting any memory card put into the slots but the drives wouldn't show in the drive listings although they were detected.
In some ways I suppose it doesn't matter whether they show or not as long as they work but I've always kept it that way as it's a way of knowing that the drives are detected if there's a problem and when I re-installed Windows, obviously it's a default setting which I'd forgotten about!

Now that you've solved that one for me, have you any idea how I can get back the green/red horizontal 'volume' bar in the bottom right corner of the screen?
I use a Microsoft Wireless 1000 keboard and the most used keys on there except for general typing are the volume/mute controls as my computer is my main music station and I have a pretty decent sound setup hooked up and it helps if I know at what volume it's set at before I un-mute it or start playing music, particularly late at night as occasionally it takes a couple of seconds for the control to kick in which doesn't go down too well with the OH if she's asleep or even if I plug my headphones in as it sometimes nearly blows my ears out. I'm no wimp where sound is concerned as I was a pro singer guitarist for 15 years so I like my music with plenty of punch but occasionally at night I have to keep it down.

Prior to re-installing Windows on a fresh SSD drive due to the HDD fail, this bar was always visible when I touched the keyboard volume controls. The small speaker ikon is there but it was more convenient before the re-install so if you have any ideas, that's just about me sorted other than buying a copy of Windows 10, a new GPU and somehow get my old copy of CS2 working again if I can find the original disk which I think was thrown out.