I tried to install a flash drive on my Dell computer which uses the XP Home Edition operating system. The flash drive is a USB device which is simply not recognized. I need help to make this work.

Does the drive have power? Did you format it?

How do you format a flash drive? I thought you just plug it in as plug and play.

You format like it was any other hard drive. Most have a light on them to tell when they have power.

First find out what the exact model of Your flash drive is. Open Google and type in the exact model, followed by "driver". 90 % of the cases You will find a link to download the correct driver for your operating system. Download it, install it. Unplug and plug in your flash drive again, or even better restart Your windows and then plug in your usb drive again.