Nexus 4 not showing up in Windows Explorer

[dosei]

My advice is to install the Wugs root kit and follow its driver diagnostics/installation to the letter - don't skip any step even if you think it is unnecessary. No need to actually root unless you really want to

My (bad) experiences with Windows and Android drivers led me to these conclusions:

• If the driver stops working a simple reinstall usually does nothing.
• If debugging is enabled when the MTP driver is installed then MTP will not work.

If you don't want to use Wugs to guide you then ensure you purge all Android drivers from the Windows system and ensure debugging is off on the Android device before attempting to reinstall the MTP driver, otherwise it will almost certainly not work.

Once the MTP driver is working you can enable debug and let Windows install the ADB driver - which should not effect the function of the MTP driver at this stage. Doing things in any other order usually results in no MTP connectivity.

I have no idea why it sometimes stops working ("it's Windows - it does that") but following the Wugs installation guide fixes it every time for me on Windows 7 - I have yet to use it on Windows 8 but I have no reason to think it won't work.

HTH

JB:
Thanks for your suggestion. After running the Root Tookit and following the instructions word by word I am again able to view my N4 in my fle explorer. Hopefully I will not have any relapses.

 

[John Bean]

Thanks for the feedback confirming your success with Wugs, it should help and encourage others in the same position to try the it first rather than as a last resort ;-)

As you know from your own experience you can end up going round in circles trying to get Windows drivers to behave themselves; the Wugs guided method is frustration-free and has a very high success rate.

 

[kalaster]

I wish I had known about that before I sold off my nexus 4 last year -_- could have done that to fix my battery issue as well. Now stuck with Verizon cuz I couldn't afford another nexus