MAC not detecting my USB key

[Valem]

Hello all,

Every time I plug in my USB key, my MAC doesn't detect it, like it doesn't pop up on my desktop, I even check in my Macintosh HD Drive and it isn't there. It use to work but now it has stopped.

Another thing, for some reason I can't install updates for my MAC. I also can't even right click on my dock, but I can left click on my dock to start applications. Another thing, my MAC takes an awful long time to boot up and every time I go and play WoW, it randomly crashes and I would have to restart my MAC, which I hate doing because it takes too long. Every time I try and update it, it says there's a problem with my Installer app. I was thinking of reinstalling MAC OS X but I have stuff to back up, hence the problem with my USB key. (I have OS X Tiger)

Any help with what I mentioned above will be appreciated. Thanks.

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by Valem

...

Every time I plug in my USB key, my MAC doesn't detect it, ...

First off, it is Mac, not MAC. The Mac is a line of computers from Apple. MAC is an acronym for Media Access Control, which identifies every device on an Ethernet network. Read more about it here.

But, I digress. You gave absolutely no information about your USB key. I presume that it is a USB thumb drive or Flash drive. It would really be helpful if you would say something about this USB key.

[nixgeek]

Some more information about your Mac (which is short for "Macintosh" ) would help as well, such as the model (eg: "Power Macintosh G4", "600 MHz slot-loading iMac G3 Snow", etc.) and any other information you can give (RAM, OS X version, hard drive size, etc.).

There are some Macs that have USB ports that don't have enough power to mount the USB flash drive. I just had this happen to me on an old iMac G3 when I connected a particular USB flash drive to the USB port on the keyboard. Once I plugged it to the USB port on the Mac itself, it worked. Try a different USB port (specifically one on the computer itself) and see if it works.