Got the new Ovation Idea guitar, having USB issues??????

[Hook]

So I picked up the Ovation Idea yesterday (used $250) and jumped right into it. I'm really surprised at how much I like it. The neck feels great and I'm super surprised to find the bowled back to be quite comfortable.
I played it today at work (2 hours maybe ) & it plays well. Yesterday I was able to actually play it in the front seat pretty well, again due to the bowled back.
I recorded 3 tunes with the guitar/mic setting yesterday and was also p leasantly surprised. 2 of them were finger picked and the sound quality wasn't that bad. I did a song strumming (fingers not a pick) and had to do a second take due to some clipping. I think it will help me to lesson my attack a bit which I've always thought I should try to do. Anyway, with earbuds in I was digging the guitar.
When I got home I pulled out the pre amp , hooked up the USB but my laptop wouldn't recognise the Idea. It saw a "Drive D- this folder is empty" but not "Idea" like it was supposed to. When I put in the earbuds the files show up and I can listen to the songs so I know they are there. If I were to guess it's some kind of "driver" issue but what do I know. I can't find much online, I called Ovation and they have no "idea" (oh yea pun intended) and sent me to a fan site ovationfanclub.com so I've joined and asked there but thought I'd toss it out to you, my most trusted advisors.
As always, any help, insight, or random thought or opinion is always appreciated.
Rock on!

[64Guitars]

When I got home I pulled out the pre amp , hooked up the USB but my laptop wouldn't recognise the Idea. It saw a "Drive D- this folder is empty" but not "Idea" like it was supposed to.

I suspect that "Idea" is merely the volume label of the internal flash drive. In Windows, you may or may not see the volume label, depending on where you're looking. For example, in a normal Windows Explorer view, it probably just says "Removable Disk". See this page:

http://www.ideafordummies.com/filemgmt.html

Notice that on the Mac it shows up as a device named "IDEA". But in Windows Explorer, it shows up as "Removable Disk (E:)". The drive letter will vary depending on how your computer is configured and what other drives are installed or attached.

Since this is a used instrument, another possibility is that the previous owner formatted the flash drive and changed the volume label to blank.

As for the "folder is empty" message, I had a quick look on the web and, although I didn't find a clear answer, I got the impression that this is a quirk of Windows and you might be able to fix it by clearing the thumbnail cache.

What happens if you double-click on the Drive D desktop icon? If it opens up in Windows Explorer and you can see your files and folders, then the "folder is empty" message probably isn't worth worrying about.

You could also look in the Windows Disk Management program to see if the drive shows up and if its volume label is reported as "Idea". See this page:

http://support.wdc.com/KnowledgeBase/answer.aspx?ID=1284

[Hook]

Just seeing this now & I have to get ready for work so it will be later when I can experiment, thanks 64. Not sure I know how to clear my cashe?
I got this reply from a friendly dude at ovationfanclub.com

"Okay.
 I had my iDea files installed on a Vista desktop, which is gone.
 I have a rarely used iDea module that I did edit some of the settings...
 I just plugged it into my Windows7 laptop... for first time.
 As soon as I plugged-in the USB a box appeared saying "preparing to install driver"...
 Once the show was over it showed the individual jam tracks that I still have plus a file for "RECORD" and a file for "JamTrax".
 I neglected to look through them.

 So I just plugged-it-in again.
 The box appears with "Play with media player" and "open files".
 I click "play" and it starts playing the iDea introduction.
 When I close my WMP, I have to open "Computer" to find the iDea under "removable storage".
 When I open files I see the individual Tracks that I did not delete.
 Under "Jam Trax" there is one track that I got from "Workshop Live"

 "RECORD" was empty, which is weird cuz I though that I had played a "Wish You Were Here" loop into it the last time that I used it.

 None of this is doing you any good. But it does show that iDea works with Window7.
 Now, if you plugged it into Windows10 first, W10 might have just munched your iDea files.
 I personally think that W10 sux.

 Eventually someone with more computer savvy will be along.
 We have web designers and all kinds of other technical geeks here. "

It seems to confirm my suspicion of the driver issues but if they don't install when I plug it in, what di I do?
As always, thank you very much for your time 64!
Rock On!

[Hook]

Ok, still nothing. I don't really understand the clearing cache but I was able to find Idea listed under properties. It shows that there is stuff on the drive but it won't access it. My computer says the driver is correct and updated, this has to be something I'm doing.
Judging by the test recordings the previous owner had on the drive I don't think he ever figured out the playback much less reformating but again, what do I know? I'm frustrated and at a loss.
 I can return the guitar but I don't want to, I want to access the sldarn file!!!

[Hook]

How much do those brilliant pics help!
Rock on!

[64Guitars]

I'm in a bit of a rush right now so I don't have time to look into this properly at the moment. But I did a quick Google search and got lots of hits for other people's similar problems with Windows 7 saying "folder is empty" when it definitely is not empty.

https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=windows+7+%22folder+is+empty%22

I don't know if you'll find anything in there that will solve the problem, but at least it shows that this is a common problem with Windows 7. So I don't think it's a driver issue. Most USB storage devices don't need drivers nowadays because Windows supports them directly (and has done since Windows XP and earlier). It's more likely a bug in Windows Explorer or Windows 7 itself.

One thought that just occurred to me is to try typing "D:\RECORD" (without the quotes) into the Address input field in Windows Explorer (assuming your Idea is drive D). It could be that Windows Explorer is only rejecting the root directory of the drive. By specifying the RECORD sub-directory, it might just show you the files.

If you don't find a solution, I'll try to take a closer look at this when I have more time.

Good luck!

[Hook]

I'll try that when I can later tonight  & also check out that link. Thanks so much brother, please make sure this is the very last thing you spend any time or energy on. You are a king of men my friend!
Rock on!

[Hook]

Eureka!! Your search approach worked perfectly. I wish it just popes up beause of my tendency towards extreme laziness but it's a great fix. Thank you so very much sir!
I'm at an audition (my kids) but I hope to post a few recordings from this quite interesting guitar.
Rock on!

[64Guitars]

You could try using an alternative file manager and see if that solves the problem. Years ago, when I used to use Windows XP, I found a free file manager that I liked a lot better than Windows Explorer. If I remember right, it was this one:

http://www.xyplorer.com/free.php

Mind you, that was quite a few years ago and there weren't as many choices for alternative file managers as there are now, so there might be some better ones available. Have a look here:

http://alternativeto.net/software/windows-explorer/

Still, you can't go wrong with XYplorer. It was great when I used it, and they've had several years since then to improve on it, so it's probably totally awesome now.