USB Drive not detected

I've had a USB flash drive for just over 1 year now, and when I tried to copy some files off it this morning my PC wouldn't detect it. I tried it in another machine that it has worked in and the same thing happened.

Have I lost all my data, or is there any way to get it working again?

Windows doesn't even try to install drivers for it, it's like it wasn't even inserted.

It is possible that the USB flash drive was corrupted maybe when you took it out of a PC one time, if it's not being detected on any machine, you may have lost your data. I would try other machines, PC and Mac, and see if that works. If not, try contacting Microsoft and/or your USB flash drive company brand for help.

Worse comes to worse, you might have to format it (if possible). Hope this helps.

http://support.microsoft.com/ <-- Microsoft Help

Yeah it sounds like the drive is bust - it's happened to a couple of the cheap ones I bought

What brand was it, how much space does it have and how much did it cost?

It was a generic drive I got given free when I bought a computer desk from Staples (1GB). I suppose I shouldn't expect much from a freebie!

My Sandisk USB drive still works fine and I've had that for years, but it's only 256MB. Will just have to get a new one I suppose.

Thanks for your help!

No problem, sorry I couldn't help more!

Yeah SanDisk or PNY make good flash drives, and even 2 - 4GB are cheap now-a-days.