Roy wrote:

>
> BTW,
> Just another thing. to think about..how come larger external HDD USB
> connected drives is not affected by that PC and how come only the
> flash drives .....?
> Just keep me wondering
>
> Roy

If you want another lesson to learn from this experience, it would be
that when visiting a friend, plug your USB flash stick, into a
rear port on the computer. The rear ports should always be wired
correctly, as they are soldered to the motherboard. I don't think
I've ever read an account of a rear port being wired incorrectly.

It could be, that your friend's computer has a wiring problem with
the front USB port. Perhaps the D+ and D- pins are wired OK, but
something is wrong with the +5V and GND signals. (There are four
signals in all, on the USB interface, plus a ground for the metal
shield.) What I do when I build a computer, is I verify the signal
names on the wiring harness, by using a multimeter. I touch a pin
on the front (using a pinout diagram from the Internet), and use the
other lead on the meter, to touch the named wire inside the case.
That is called "buzzing" out the wiring. I check the wiring, because
I have a couple computer cases here, where the wires are not labeled
correctly. So the fault may not actually be caused by your friend,
but by the computer case manufacturer - and because of my experiences,
I recommend verifying the wiring is correct, if someone is going to
wire up their own front ports. It seems computer case makers aren't
that concerned about wiring issues, and are better at bashing and
cutting metal.

Paul