[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hackdisk:
Not sure how many would read such a long post for a question, but here goes...

Any help is appreciated!!

1. Problem

In short, I plugged in my Nexus 5 to my laptop in MTP mode, it does not show up in "My Computer".

I just wanted to transfer files to my phone via USB, not even using ADB yet.

I have yet to solve the problem after googling around for a bit.

Relevant XDA threads that I remember reading are this, this, this, this and this.

I have tried numerous combinations of (un)plugging my phone / (un)installing drivers / rebooting my laptop and phone / switching usb ports / turning USB debugging on and off / connect in PTP mode / ...

As a workaround, I am now transferring files using the AirDroid app, which is really convenient with acceptable speed.

Still, it would be nice to know why the problem occurred and see if others have similar problem.

Below I will describe the devices I have on hand and more details on the failures I have encountered will follow.

2. My Devices

A. an old Galaxy Note

B. the new Nexus 5 with the stock micro USB cord

C. new laptop

- 64-bit Windows 8 Pro (not upgraded to 8.1 yet)

- only USB 3.0 ports

D. old laptop

- 32-bit Windows XP Home

- only USB 2.0 ports

3. Details

Scenario A. Nexus 5 not showing up in "My Computer"

Naturally, the first thing I tried is to simply plug my Nexus 5 in to my new laptop. I was used to Android devices working just like that!

However, my Nexus 5 does not show up in "My Computer" after a loooong wait.

On a closer look, my Nexus 5 (only) appears in the "Device Manager" under "Portable Devices" as "MTP USB Device".

It shows my device to be "working properly". However, I cannot uninstall/disable it when my phone is plugged in (normal?)

Frustrated, I decided to unplug my phone. I have the option to "Unplug Nexus 5" under "Safely Remove Hardware", but the operation always times out, so I simply unplugged it.

Then I tried with my Note using the same cable. It works flawlessly either in MTP mode or Mass Storage mode.

Scenario B. Nexus 5 shows up, but is really sloooooooooooooow

At some point, I turned on USB debugging.

With USB debugging on, my phone appears under "Portable Devices" as "Nexus 5" (and in some other places according to what drivers I have installed).

I was quite pleased for a few seconds as my Nexus 5 now shows up in "My Computer"!

However, it took a few minutes to list the folders I have under my phone's internal storage.

Attempting to copy a 12MB file to it gives an estimated time of over 2 hours.

Scenario C. Success?

After tinkering with it for some time to no avail, I was beginning to worry if I have gotten a defective hardware.

Then I remembered I had an old laptop stashed somewhere, so I tried connecting my Nexus 5 to that.

And... voila! It works without a hitch (MTP mode, USB debugging off).

A maybe useful note is that I have used both the old and new laptops to transfer files to my Note before.

4. Possible causes

While many seems to have solved the issue by simply unplugging and letting Windows reinstall the drivers, I have no such luck.

I sincerely hope that it is not due to any hardware defects since

a) my Note can talk to my new laptop through the same micro USB with no problems, and

b) my Nexus 5 can talk to my old laptop.

I feel that this is a driver-related issue but I am not sure.

Is it possible that there are compatibility issues with using USB 3.0 port (which should be backward compatible...) or a 64-bit Win 8 Pro?

Any help is appreciated!