How to unlock a USB drive?

Hey everyone...

I’m not entirely sure if this is the right sub for this, but I have a question regarding a USB drive..

So, I have this USB stick that acts as a "software key." It's what unlocks my software so the full version actually works on my PC.

Here's the thing: I really want to move that "software key" directly onto my computer. I'm tired of having to leave the stick plugged into the port all the time. But there's a catch—whenever I plug the stick in, I hear the Windows startup sound and the program recognizes it immediately, but the drive itself doesn't show up anywhere in my file explorer. Since I can't actually see the drive, I have no idea how to access the files to transfer them.

Is there any way to actually find this stick in my system so I can copy the contents over to my hard drive?

Thanks..

Look, needing to use a USB drive isn't necessarily a bug... there's probably a solid reason behind it.
I’m guessing the software won't even run without it because it's hardcoded to look for a physical "key" plugged into the USB port.

ps: You might actually be able to see what's inside if you go into your File Explorer settings and check the boxes to show "hidden files" and "protected operating system files"—assuming the partition on the drive isn't hidden and the data isn't encrypted.

wearymason4 said:Look, needing to use a USB drive isn't necessarily a bug... there's probably a solid reason behind it.
I’m guessing the software won't even run without it because it's hardcoded to look for a physical "key" plugged into the USB port.

ps: You might actually be able to see what's inside if you go into your File Explorer settings and check the boxes to show "hidden files" and "protected operating system files"—assuming the partition on the drive isn't hidden and the data isn't encrypted.

I honestly think there's a hidden partition involved and the data is encrypted, since I can't find anything at all even though it really should be showing up somewhere..
Is there any way to make it visible?

Check if it’s showing up in Disk Management... if there isn't a drive letter assigned, try manually giving it one. Once that's done, see if it pops up under "This PC."

wearymason4 said:Check if it’s showing up in Disk Management... if there isn't a drive letter assigned, try manually giving it one. Once that's done, see if it pops up under "This PC."

It’s not showing up in Disk Management at all.