Phone contents no longer show up when conencted to my PC

[avgrafyx]

My A3 used to connect to my PC just fine for a few months, and I could view the contents (photos, videos, music etc) on the PC as if the phone was simply a USB storage drive. But then that stopped working for no obvious reason. Now when I connect the phone to the PC, the PC registers its presence and knows what it is, and when I open 'My Computer', what I get on the PC is a graphic of all the drives as usual plus an icon of the phone (labelled with my name and the Samsung A3 name). But when I try to open the phone icon, all I get is a blank window.

If I start Samsung Smart Switch on the PC, it says it can't connect to the phone. i've tried all the suggestions for fixing that issue and nothing happens.

I'm using the same cable that came with the phone and worked before.

Anyone know how to fix this?

I've seen threads for other Samsung phones suggesting temporarily removing and replacing the SIM but I can't even figure out how to open the phone!

Cheers!

 

[Rukbat]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXqhY05MEHA

See the above video for a demonstration. Basically, you use the little tool that came with the phone (or a paperclip) to push into the little hole in the side and the drawer pops out.

That might not be the problem, though. It could be anything from the driver (install Kies or Smart Switch and it'll install a driver for the phone) to a problem on the motherboard.

The fact that the phone shows in the PC means that the cable, the charging port on the phone and the USB port on the PC are good.

 

[avgrafyx]

Thanks! I tried the SIM card removal and replacement and yes, it made no difference.

I have installed Smart Switch on the phone and had already installed it on the PC, and have tried reinstalling the USB driver, but still get a blank window on the PC when I open the phone icon.

However, I've now narrowed the issue down to a problem with my PC. I don't know whatv the issue is, but I can see the phone contents if I connect it to another PC. So the problem is solved, in a rather round about way.

Thanks for your help!

I was unaware I could put a microSD card in the phone - I had assumed the built-in storage was all that was available. Thanks for alerting me to that via the video you posted! I really need extra space!!

Thanks again!