God. I hate computers.

How is it possible that no matter how smoothly an installation is going of a computer, at some point the whole thing will spectacularly fuck up and leave you so far behind you can't possibly catch up?

Today. Trying to get 5 new machines sorted and in place. Everything going fine. Installed first one, got it on the network, got the software on, stripped off all the crap-ware that is always on the machine. How many times in the past year have I had to uninstall Norton? Hideous bloated software that screwed my whole system up once. Never again.

Then bang. Instant grind to a halt.
For some reason it just will not recognise a usb flash drive.
Stupidly I didn't just play a hunch and try the next machine. I phoned the customer services.
Why do I always make that mistake? Why do I continually think they know more than I do?
Idiots. And I'm a bigger idiot for following his advice of trying to add every single Microsoft Windows update I possibly could.
Two hours later and it still doesn't work.

So I go back to my original plan.
See if the second machine, starting from scratch recognises it.
Straight away it does. Gives it the label drive I. Which is the next available - they've got E, F, G, & H as card slots.
Now I go to install our network onto it. Our shared drives are I, L, M & N.
On normal machines like the Dells or the HP machines the USB flash drive just takes the next available - usually J & K.
But not this one. Put one usb drive in - nothing. Put a second one in and it shows as K.
Seem that this is a common problem with no real permanent solution.
So why does it work on the Dell and HP machines?
Bloody computers.

Update.
I think I've cracked it - instead of trying to get th eusb drives to code to a different letter, I should try re-assigning the drive letters of the fixed card slots. That should work.
God I hope so.
Bloody Bloody computers.