There can be many reasons. The built in card readers are in fact USB devices, just like the one that you connected to the external USB, except they plug into the MB.

It is possible that they are not connected for some reason.

If the card reader is attached, several removable drives should show up in Windows Explorer. Mine has 4 slots, so I have:
Local Drive C:
DVD RW Drive D:
Removable Drive F:
Removable Drive G:
Removable Drive H:
Removable Drive I:

Please post back the make and model of your computer.

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Ok, the card reader would show up in Windows Explorer as a drive even if there were no cards inserted. Each slot shows up as a separate drive, mine has four hence drives F through I.

For the next step we need to open the side of the case. Several members have commented that opening a Dell case voids the warranty. I don't know about that, I have never heard that about HP or other brands though.

The card reader block, (I tried to find a drawing of the front of your machine on the support website, but no luck) connects to an internal USB connection, much the same way your other card reader plugs into an external USB port. In fact the front panel ports plug into a header that is a 10 pin 5x2 connector keyed by having one pin missing. If you have a front panel Firewire connection, it connects the same way.

After opening the case, and using a flashlight, locate the wires coming from the front panel. The power button, power light, reset button, speaker, etc are usually a twisted pair of wires connecting to a header that has a number of pins located in two rows. This header is usually in or near the lower corner of the board. Then you will have 2, 3, or 4 heaver wire "cables" with many wires enclosed in a sheath that about 3/16" of an inch. You may have as many as two USB and one Firewire, and the fourth shoult be the card reader.Follow these wires and make sure they are all securely and completely connected to the MB. They header may have a description lettered on the MB near the connection.

You may want to note the labels on the MB for these connections.

Let me know if this solves the problem.

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Yes, you should always use the safely remove hardware process each time. For some reason it is acting like Windows 98 in that when you use the remove hardware, you cannot reinsert without rebooting.

This is different, and at this point, I do not have an answer.

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Hi Smax. You are correct. The three safest ways to remove a drive is:

• Right Click on the drive and Click "Eject"
• Click the "Safely Remove Device" icon near the clock
• Turn off the computer entirely

Only the first option will remove a drive from Windows OR remove a media from a drive. The second option is to remove a drive entirely. If this option is used on a Memory Card Reader, one would think this would "eject" the card. On the contrary, it will "eject" the memory card reader from the computer.

The third option is just a safety net. One of my clients pulled out the USB cord that connected his external drive to his computer. I almost grinched...

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This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself

LOL Okay, if you want to get technical LOL

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This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself

Glad to help out.

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[soapbox] Backup good...no backup bad!! [/soap box]