Finder can't find / display files in external drive

Just upgraded to Lion on my MacBook, and Finder can't find / display files from my external thumb drive. I got message that the external drive was removed incorrectly, but I did not remove the thumb drive at all. After several attempts on removing and inserting the thumb drive, the files just didn't show up under Finder, and I have no way of working on files from external drive. I went to a Window based notebook and checked, the files are still in my thumb drive so they have not been corrupted, hopefully. How can I make Finder works with external drive in Lion ?

The problem I have was finally resolved by having a "clean" install for Lion, meaning to back up your hard disc, re-install Snow Leopard, then Lion. It's a lot of work but my MacBook is now working.

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