Unable to Play Videos Transferred to Flash Drive [2 Ways]

You saved your favorite videos on a flash drive, but they stopped working. Now, you have no clue where to start. This guide will teach you how to know if the problem is with the video files or the flash drive and what to do to repair both.

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Updated by Dany on Dec 18, 2023
Written by Brithny

So, you are unable to play videos transferred to a flash drive. In this case, the video file was from a camera on a flash drive. If it is an important file, you will want to recover it first and investigate why it cannot be played before formatting your drive.

Why Is the Video Isn't Working After Transfering to the USB

You need to discover the source of your problem - the copied video can't play because your video may have been broken due to corruption on the flash drive or the video file itself.

Flash drivers are a type of driver that allows the user to interact with various devices, like printers or cameras. They are small pieces of code that allow for communication between the device and the computer. 

When something goes wrong with these pieces of code, the USB drive is not working properly. The symptoms of a flash drive with errors can be difficult to detect.

  • One is when you receive an error message from your device saying it cannot find a driver or component for it.
  • The other sign is when your device does not work correctly and you receive error messages from Windows on your computer screen.

However, the problem can be with the video file. There are several symptoms of corrupted files. For example, when the media player you use says the video is unplayable. The video often plays with many issues, such as audio and video being out of sync, the screen turning grey, or pixelated.

What to Do When Videos Are Corrupted

EaseUS Fixo Video Repair is a practical video repair tool for repairing broken videos. You can use it to bring back videos that stopped playing, whether you have stored them on your flash drive or downloaded them from the internet.

The process is fast and simple. Visit the open video repair software, upload your videos, and try the tool. You'll receive the final results immediately.

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If you are curious about how powerful EaseUS Fixo is for solving various cases of errors with videos, just check the features:

  • EaseUS Fixo Video Repair works on any supported devices. For example, you can use it when you cannot play video from the external hard drive.
  • This MP4 video repair tool can recover damaged videos that have been edited, converted, transferred, or broken during recovery attempts. Furthermore, you can fix videos that malware, lost batteries, etc have corrupted.
  • It can handle all the most popular video formats, including 3GP, M4V, FLV, AVI, MOV, MP4, MKV, WMV, SWF, FLV, MP3, NPEG, 3G2, RM/RMVB, etc.
  • Restoring broken videos from a variety of devices, including LG, Sony, HTC, Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, and ZTE. Also, bring back damaged videos from pocket cameras, dashboard cameras, USB flash drives, CTTVs, corrupted hard drives, and many other sources.

Step 1. Open Fixo on your local PC. Click "Video Repair" and add the corrupted MP4/MOV/AVI/MKV/3GP/FLV/MKV/WMV video files by clicking "Add Videos".

add videos to repair videos with Fixo

Step 2. Move the pointer to a video and click the "Repair" button to start the single video repairing process. If you want to repair all the videos, click "Repair All".

select videos to repair

Step 3. Wait a few minutes, and the corrupted videos will be repaired. Click the play icon to preview the videos. You can save a single video by clicking the "Save" button next to the play icon. If you want to save all the repaired videos, choose "Save All".

save repaired videos in Fixo

Step 4. If the quick repair fails, you should utilize the advanced repair mode. Click "Advanced Repair" and add a sample video. Choose "Confirm" to ensure.

add sample videos to perform advanced repair

Step 5. A list of detailed information on corrupted and sample videos will show up. Click "Repair Now" to start the advanced video repair process. When the repair is complete, you can view the videos and click the "Save" button to save the repaired video files to an appropriate destination.

click repair now to start advanced repair

Many Windows 10/11 users have proved the efficacy of the tool. If you are interested in resolving the file repair, share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms!

 

Method 1. Quick Format Your Flash Drive to Fix the Error

If you are experiencing issues with your flash drive, it is likely that you have a hardware failure. Fortunately, there are ways to fix this. One of the most successful solutions is backing up all the data from the flash drive and then formatting it. Doing a quick format is enough to solve issues like a flash drive that doesn't open or malware infection.

This guide requires a Windows 10, 8, or 7 computer to reformat a flash drive. You will also need to connect your flash drive device to your computer. 

If you have to format the drive, make sure that all of the data has been backed up first. Formatting will remove all of the data on your device and create new empty space for other files to be saved. After that, do the steps below.

Step 1. To format the flash drive, go to Computer and right-click on the drive you are trying to format. Hit "Format".

Step 2. Choose "Quick Format" (full formatting will take longer). Then, just click "Start".

format USB

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Method 2. Run CHKDSK to Check and Repair Errors

Windows has CHKDSK, a hard disk utility to scan and repair disk errors. It can also be used to scan and repair errors on USB drives, flash drives, SD cards, CD-ROMs, etc.

Chkdsk is a built-in command that checks the disk for errors and even fixes them. The tool is available as an executable file in Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10. 

Before following the steps below, back up all the data from your flash drives.

Step 1. First, open an elevated command prompt window. You can do this by searching for Command Prompt in the Start menu and then right-clicking to "Run as Administrator". 

Step 2. Run CHKDSK will scan the flash drive for errors and repair any that it finds. In the elevated command prompt window, enter chkdsk without quotes followed by a space, then type your flash drive letter (/f /r /x, etc.). After that, just press Enter and wait for the scanning.

run chkdsk

Method 3. Using VLC Media Player

Using a media player is another way to play a video from a flash drive. Media players are typically pre-installed on computers. VLC Media Player is the most popular media player for Windows that can be used to play video files.

A popular free and open-source multimedia player called VLC is renowned for its many features and flexible usage. VLC's broad support for a variety of file formats allows it to play almost any multimedia file. Additionally, it provides possibilities for manual editing and file conversion. You can even add bookmarks to playlists so you can watch videos while they download.

By doing the following, you can play your video through a VLC media player:

Step 1. The first step is to locate and start the VLC media player on your computer. Locate the "Media" tab at the top of the program's interface and click on it.

Step 2. Select "Open File" from the dropdown menu located under the "Media" tab. The "Ctrl + O" keyboard shortcut can also be used for this.

play your video through a VLC media player

Step 3. You can choose the location of your video from the dialogue box that appears. Search for your USB flash drive in this situation, then click on it to see its contents.

Step 4. Select the video you want to watch from the USB drive and press "Open." The chosen video file will be played for you by VLC. On the other hand, if you choose numerous video files, the VLC media player will play them in the sequence you've chosen.

LEARN MORE

Still curious? Click here to learn about VLC Not Playing YouTube Videos? Here Are the Fixes。

Unable to Play Videos Transferred to Flash Drive FAQs

If you still have some questions about the copied video file not play, check the quick answers below to help yourself out:

1. Why is my hard drive not playing videos?

The following are a few causes of your computer's inability to play movies or sound: The codec you require is not present in the program you are currently using. You are attempting to open a tainted file. On your hard disk, there are corrupted sectors.

2. Why can't I copy a large video file to a USB drive?

The default FAT32 file system on flash storage devices may be the cause of your inability to copy huge files to USB classic devices. By formatting your flash drive, you can change the default file system to exFAT, which can accommodate data larger than 4GB.

3. How do you play a video that Cannot be played online?

  • Reopen your browser and refresh the website. 
  • Employ a virtual private network (VPN) 
  • Hardware Acceleration Settings should be disabled.
  • Remove the Cache. 
  • Modify the video's resolution. 
  • If you want your web browser to run faster, disable add-ons. 
  • Reset the default settings on your web browser.

Conclusion

If you stored video files on a flash drive, and they stopped working, you need to know the issue. For example, when the problem is with the flash drive, commonly windows will report a problem with the device and refuse to load the driver.

You can solve it by running a quick format. Chkdsk also scans and repairs errors on the drive if there are still problems after quick formatting.

When formatting a flash drive, you should also ensure that you back up your data in case something happens to it and install antivirus software for added protection. Also, install the latest drivers for your flash drive.

However, sometimes the issue is with the video file. You will need to repair it with a professional tool. But do not worry. EaseUS Fixo can make the video work again for free, and no installation will be required.

 

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About the Author

author Brithny

Brithny

Brithny is a technology enthusiast, aiming to make readers' tech lives easy and enjoyable. She loves exploring new technologies and writing technical how-to tips. In her spare time, she loves sharing things about her game experience on Facebook or Twitter.

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