USB Drive not recognized - Driving me crazy!!!

[Slattery@discussions.microsoft.com John Slattery]

I really hope someone out there can give me some substantive help with this.
I have just purchased a Dell 512mb Flash Drive and my system at home will not
recognize the device. I have also had the same problem with a SanDisk 512 mb
flash drive. Both of these drives have worked fine on numerous other
computers. My system is running Windows XP Pro with SP2 loaded. The USB Host
Controller drivers (Intel) have all been updated, uninstalled, reinstalled,
and updated again. I have checked everything I can think of in Device
Manager. I even went into BIOS out of desperation. Nothing I have tried works.
Another symptom I have noticed is that if I try to boot the machine with the
Flash Drive inserted, the machine will not boot and tells me it cannot find
the OS.
Please help, I've been everything from a software engineer to a network
administrator, to a programming teacherfor 17 years and I've never had a
computer problem that frustrated me this much. I've googled this to death and
it seems like i see the problem posted a lot, but no useful solutions.
HELP!!!!!

[paulibus]

You did not mention this, so I will ask. If you have other USB devices
attached, have you tried the flash drives in those ports?

[its_my_dime]

"Firefly" <Fir...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:43BBEE3C-91A3-44B7...@microsoft.com...
>I am having the same problem with my Sandisk 512Mb Cruzer Titanuim flash
> drive. If you get an answer let me know. My system won't reccognize the
> flash drive. When I first plugged it in it kept asking for an
> installation
> CD...there isn't one. Driving me crazy too!!!

Re: the first post. If you check the various rating sites, you will find a
problem with the Sandisk Titanium drives. The issue is more likely with
your flash drive than with your computer.

Go to sandisk.com...support. You may have to call them.

[TomH]

And I thought I was the only one :). My problem is with a PNY 1GB Flash
Drive. Works on my personal laptop and my PC at work but not on my Desktop
at Home. PNY sent me some non-verified by microsoft drivers that partially
corrected the problem, but I still had some bugs (I had to reinstall the
device each time). So I backed out the PNY drivers. I even copied the
drivers from my laptop to my desktop and still had the same problem. BTW, I
have XP_SP2 installed on both PCs.

As for your computer not booting properly at start-up (NO OS) you will need
to go to your BIOS setup and change the order of the devices that the system
can boot from. Typical is floopy (if installed), CD-Rom, Main Drive,
external devices.

Another thing I plan to try (I read somewhere) is to remove all
non-essential USB devices and try again. For my PC this includes an external
USB harddrive, a printer, and a wireless mouse. Only the keyboard and wired
mouse should be connected. If that works I'll let you know.

Tom

[thecreator]

Hi Guys,

Your problem is while Windows XP can install on your system, the
Hardware also needs replacing. I am referring to the USB Physical ports.
They may not be USB 2.0 compliant and may only be 1.1 version.

Your new devices may only work being plugged into an USB 2.0 Port and
not an USB 1.1 Port.

--
thecreator

"TomH" <To...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8274D701-1288-4E1C...@microsoft.com...

[Anna]

"TomH" <To...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8274D701-1288-4E1C...@microsoft.com...

> And I thought I was the only one :). My problem is with a PNY 1GB Flash
> Drive. Works on my personal laptop and my PC at work but not on my
> Desktop
> at Home. PNY sent me some non-verified by microsoft drivers that
> partially
> corrected the problem, but I still had some bugs (I had to reinstall the
> device each time). So I backed out the PNY drivers. I even copied the
> drivers from my laptop to my desktop and still had the same problem. BTW,
> I
> have XP_SP2 installed on both PCs.
>
> As for your computer not booting properly at start-up (NO OS) you will
> need
> to go to your BIOS setup and change the order of the devices that the
> system
> can boot from. Typical is floopy (if installed), CD-Rom, Main Drive,
> external devices.
>
> Another thing I plan to try (I read somewhere) is to remove all
> non-essential USB devices and try again. For my PC this includes an
> external
> USB harddrive, a printer, and a wireless mouse. Only the keyboard and
> wired
> mouse should be connected. If that works I'll let you know.
>
> Tom

John & Tom:
This continuing irritating problem of unexplained non-recognition problems
involving USB devices in an XP environment (especially involving flash
drives and USB external hard drives) has been a source of frustration for
many of us.

I can only sympathize with your problem but I'm afraid I can offer no
concrete suggestions
that would help you although later on I'll list some troubleshooting tips
that we've been broadcasting re this issue.

The experience we've had with a variety of USB 2.0 devices, particularly
jump (flash, pen, thumb, etc.) drives parallels yours. And we know that many
other users' experiences also have run into these puzzling occurrences,
i.e., *apparently* non-defective USB 2.0 devices installed in *apparently*
working USB 2.0 ports in an *apparently* properly-configured system that
simply don't work or work erratically, or work in one machine and not in
another. It's been an aggravating problem for many of us because there
doesn't seem to be a common denominator to explain all these anomalies.

We've just about concluded that either there must be some fundamental
incompatibility inherent in the USB 2.0 specification that is causing these
types of problems as it involves the design and manufacture of these USB
devices, and/or the system protocols and devices that are employed to work
with these devices. Or perhaps it's just a matter of poor quality control in
the manufacture of these devices (even extending to the same make & model)
in that sometimes they work; sometimes they don't. Or perhaps some basic
incompatibility problem existing between the XP OS and the USB 2.0
specification that results in these puzzling occurrences.

For what it's worth here are some USB non-recognition troubleshooting tips
that may be of some help. I fully realize that many, if not most of them,
will not apply to your specific problem or you've already tried this or that
"fix", but I'll list them anyway for any possible benefit you and/or others
may possibly derive from them...

1. Access Disk Management and see if the USB device is listed. If so, and
there's no drive letter assigned, see if you can assign a drive letter to
the device.
2. If the USB device is listed in Disk Management with an assigned drive
letter, right-click on its listing and select Explore from the submenu.
Hopefully, Windows Explorer will open and the device will be listed.
3. Connect the USB device *directly* to a USB port on the computer, not via
a USB hub. Try different USB ports if your computer has more than one.
4. Do not use a USB extension cable.
5. Try alternate powering on/off methods. If the USB device contains its own
power supply, try booting up with its power on, then try powering on only
*after* the system has booted to a Desktop.
6. Try a different USB cable.
7. In the USB controllers section of Device Manager, uninstall all the USB
controllers listed and reboot.
8. If the device in question is HD which you installed in a USB enclosure,
jumper the USB external HD as Master (or Single if the HD is a Western
Digital disk). A number of users have reported that jumper configuration
corrected their non-recognition problem. In my own experience it didn't seem
to matter how a USB external HD was jumpered. But it may be worth a try.
9. If the device in question is a USB external HD, first check out the HD
with the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility. If it checks out OK,
and you can remove the HD from its enclosure (without voiding any
applicable warranty), do so and install the HD as an internal HD to
determine if there are problems with the drive.
10. If the USB device is connected to a USB 2.0 PCI card, try changing the
PCI slot to which it's currently connected to another one.
11. Access the website of the manufacturer of the USB device to determine if
there's any firmware update or info re the problem you're experiencing or
there's any possibility that the USB enclosure itself might be defective.
11. Determine from the manufacturer of your motherboard whether there's a
BIOS upgrade affecting USB device recognition.

I wish you good luck.
Anna

[GTS]

> John & Tom:
> This continuing irritating problem of unexplained non-recognition problems
> involving USB devices in an XP environment (especially involving flash
> drives and USB external hard drives) has been a source of frustration for
> many of us.
>
> I can only sympathize with your problem but I'm afraid I can offer no
> concrete suggestions
> that would help you although later on I'll list some troubleshooting tips
> that we've been broadcasting re this issue.
>
> The experience we've had with a variety of USB 2.0 devices, particularly
> jump (flash, pen, thumb, etc.) drives parallels yours. And we know that
> many

SNIP

> I wish you good luck.
> Anna

--
Excellent Post!

In addition to the 10 suggestions you gave, I have also found with respect
to USB connected hard drives that if you put a different hard drive in the
same USB enclosure, Windows will often recognize it. Then if you stop that
drive and put the problem one back, it works normally.

At this point, I believe that the problem is in Windows, and not in the USB
spec. nor (usually) the hardware. Some of these problems seem to date to
SP2 which included several "fixes" for USB issues, though they do seem to
have gotten worse recently. I'm analyzing the registry changes that take
place as USB devices are enumerated and installed to see if there might be
some possibility of fixing things there (or at least forcing Windows to
re-enumerate unrecognized devices), though the key is probably bugs in the
Windows USB drivers.

Has anyone tried the hot fix in the following kb article?

A USB device that is connected to a USB 2.0 hub is not detected in Windows
XP Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, or Windows Server
2003 x64 versions
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/892050/en-us

[alan]

I have the same problem, any flash drive or ipod plugged into the usb ports
show up in the device manager but the drive does not appear in my computer.
It used to work! Please help me!

Please reply to bins...@umdnj.edu.

Thank you,

Alan

[M Skabialka]

I had the same thing happen; my USB ports stopped working out of the blue,
and this worked:

Start/Administrative tools/Computer management/Device manager. Then right
click on Universal Serial Bus controllers and select 'Scan for hardware
changes'.

"alan" <al...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F8DC997B-29EB-4AF5...@microsoft.com...

[Floyd]

I had the same problem and called my manufacturer. They were not aware there
was such a HUGE problem with these devices.

There is a software problem and mine was caused by Windows Update.

Goto WINDOWS DOWNLOADS
Select .NET Framework Versin 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86 - that was my
system - you select yours)
Download or Install.

This is a 25Meg program that fixes all sorts of other problems too (COM,
SERIAL, KEYBOARD, etc.)

It containes all sorts of driver fixes that are not included in your Windows
XP, 98, etc. Why Microsoft didn't include these in their Win Update is
beyond me.

My FLASH DRIVE was IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED and is still working GREAT.

[vporrazzo]

I am having a very similar problem installing a USB phone for a USB 2.0 port
to my Sony Vaio FS-742/w laptop wherein XP Home SP2 keeps asking for a new
driver to be installed but never finds one it is happy with although the
phone works on other machines running XP Home Sp2 without any additional
driver being installed. All my drivers appear to be up to date per Sony and
Windows Update

I have installed (re-installed actually) .NET Framework v2.0 but still am
having the same problem. Microsoft mentions the need for a hotfix for the
usbehci.sys and updspapi.dll files but isn't very clear as to where to get
these.

A very annoying little problem!

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[Floyd]

vp,

Those *.sys should have come with the .NET program.

You could do a SEARCH or LOOK in your Windows>SYS directory to verifty that
you have these files.

The files should have been included in WindowsXP and others, but probably
not Win98 as there were no USB's back in them olden days of yore.

If you still have your original CD for your operating system you can do a
RESTORE from them.

If the USB's did work at one time, you could do a SYSTEM RESTORE to an
earlier date, say 3 months ago, not last week or month.

Good Luck, I know it's frustrating.

[vporrazzo]

Thanks for the comments Floyd, I have the Microsoft-indicated SYS and DLL
files. These were just installed from .NET framework 2.0 and are the latest
versions except for the Hotfix versions mentioned by the Microsoft
Knowledgebase reference. I note that the exact same files are on my desktop
as on my laptop but the laptop won't accept the USB phone while the desktop
has no problem with it. THE USB ports seem to work ok, just certain items not
accepted. Most frustrating!

I also have occasional problems with other people's flashdisks on both
machines where the system wants to look for a driver then can't find one.
Seems like everyone has had this problem at one time or another. Guess I
stick with headphones on my laptop for a while!

[v4n...@gmail.com]

FYI, to obtain a hotfix from MS you must call product support. The
number can be found on their site. hotfixes are provided free of
charge, but are not regression tested, so make sure your symptoms match
what is described in the KB article for the hotfix.

[Phil Davis]

Hello GTS,

Your question asking if anyone has tried the HotFix in the KB892050 article
I can tell you that I did obtain this HotFix from MS and it DID NOT help one
bit to solve the problem. MS does not furnish any instructions with this
HotFix, just two self-extracting Zip files. One of the self-extracting Zip
files (WindowsXP-KB892050-v3-x86-ENU.exe) actually performs registry changes
and (must) provide the two files (1) Usbehci.sys and (2) Updspapi.dll to the
Windows XP system (at least I found both of these files in my Windows folder
with the exact date and time stamp as specified in the 892050 article.

With regards to the second self-extracting file
(WindowsXP-KB892050-v3-x86-Symbols-ENU.exe)nothing quite so dramatic
happened. It just asks you in which folder you want the "unzipped" files to
be placed. No explanation was provided so I just specified a sub folder
underneath the folder containing the two self-extracting files. When this
self-extracting file is executed it creates a folder (in the location you
specified) called "Symbols" containing another sub-folder called "sp2fe"
containing another sub-folder called "retail" containing the last sub-folder
called "sys". The ONLY files in this chain is in the "sys" folder which
contains a file called "usbehci.pdb" , identified as a Palm Database File.

The confusing part of this entire HotFix is that there are no instructions
as to which of the two self-extracting files should be executed FIRST and in
which folder the second self-extracting file
(WindowsXP-KB892050-v3-x86-Symbols-ENU.exe) should be "unzipped" to.

As I mentioned, I installed this HotFix and then tried to install my Canon
Pixma MP530 printer via the USB 2.0 port on my PCI to USB Enhanced Controller
Card. The results were as before .... the device (printer) was not
recognized. I don't know, perhaps I have to uninstall the USB 2.0 controller
card and re-install it again before trying for the last time.

Considering ALL of the people having problems with this USB 2.0 - WinXP SP2
incompatibility, I'm simply amazed why Microsoft is not taking this more
seriously and providing a fully regression tested fix for this problem. In
the article KB892050 MS themselves listed the CAUSE of this problem as :
"This problem occurs because the Microsoft USB 2.0 driver causes an Enhanced
Host Controller Interface (EHCI) specification violation". Well that's real
great considering that the article was dated July 24, 2006. In other words,
MS considers this problem trivial and would rather spend their time fine
tuning VISTA so everyone having USB 2.0 problems can go out and buy the new
Vista O/S to get their USB devices working properly. Good business plan,
right ???

If anyone out there has any tips regarding the installation of the 892050
HotFix I'd be very grateful for your feedback. Thanks.
--
Thanks for looking at this !!
Phil

[Jim Cladingboel]

"Phil Davis" <Phil...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F3E1F373-C34B-40BF...@microsoft.com... <Snip>>
>
<Snip>

> Considering ALL of the people having problems with this USB 2.0 - WinXP
> SP2
> incompatibility, I'm simply amazed why Microsoft is not taking this more
> seriously and providing a fully regression tested fix for this problem.
> In
> the article KB892050 MS themselves listed the CAUSE of this problem as :
> "This problem occurs because the Microsoft USB 2.0 driver causes an
> Enhanced
> Host Controller Interface (EHCI) specification violation". Well that's
> real
> great considering that the article was dated July 24, 2006. In other
> words,
> MS considers this problem trivial and would rather spend their time fine
> tuning VISTA so everyone having USB 2.0 problems can go out and buy the
> new
> Vista O/S to get their USB devices working properly. Good business plan,
> right ???
>

> <Snip>>
>
Wholeheartedly agree, Phil. My USB 2.0 problem with a Seagate external HDD
has so far defeated the MS "Help" (?) people here in Oz, and couldn't be
resolved in this NG - helpful though it is.
I have now put this USB 2.0 problem to the Help Line experts of the leading
PC magazine in Oz. When (if ?) I have a result, I will post it back here.

Jim.

[Phil Davis]

Hey Jim,

Did you have any luck giving this problem to the Help Line experts of the
leading PC magazine in Oz ??

I've pretty much given up on fixing this USB 2.0 problem under WinXP - SP2,
mainly because I don't believe MS is going to even try to find a solution to
the problem. As a last resort, I downloaded 5 Flash BIOS updates for my Dell
Dimension 8200 computer and if I STILL cannot get my computer to recognize my
Canon Pixma MP530 multifunction device (printer, scanner, fax), then I guess
the next resort is either to trash the computer or try installing Windows
Vista which should be on sale in the next couple weeks. It's my guess that
that's exactly what MS wants us to do rather than to FIX the XP-SP2 problem.

What's a little confusing to me is that the scanner drivers for the MP530
installed without a problem and I even scanned a document to make sure that
the computer could "talk to" the MP530 device. No problem there. Strange
that it's only the Printer that is not recognized by the system. The drivers
installed OK but when you attempt to print a test page, it responds back that
there is NO connection.

The second "strange" thing is that I took the MP530 over to my second
computer (also a Dell (Dimension 2400) but 2 years newer and there was NO
problem installing the device. Same Operating System, same Service Pack
installed. Riddle me that !!! This is really confusing me now because the
2400, although 2 years newer than the 8200, is a Low-end computer. Hum !
Makes me think that perhaps the older Mother Board in the 8200 has problems
handling my PCI to USB controller card.

Today Dell told me that they don't furnish updated Mainboard/Chipset drivers
because most of their customers would probably trash the Mainboard in the
process of updating the drivers. That's probably a true statement and you
can include me as one of those customers.

I hope you've had better luck than I have, Jim, and if you do get any
feedback from the Help Line experts please post it in this thread and it will
be greatly appreciated. Good luck to you and all of the thousands of others
that are having similar problems.--

Phil

[Jim Cladingboel]

Hi Phil,

Due to the Christmas break, I missed the current magazine issue and will
have to wait for the next, due abt 1st February. I had hoped for an email
response - but perhaps those experts are having a problem too!

I have a Canon MP800 and it works perfectly on any of my USB ports, altho
only at USB 1.0 level, which isn't really a problem for printing.
Have you tried _ fully_ deleting the printer software and reloading the
Canon Drivers? I would guess that's more likely to be your problem,
especially as the scanner section is working. It mught be a good idea to
switch off AV and firewall software when you do that.
IIRC, there's a bit of freeware which checks that your USB ports are
working. You should find it on Google and it might reassure you about the
motherboard handling your PCI to USB controller card

As to Vista I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. (A) It will be full of
bugs and (B) Why give in and at the same time add to Bill's billions?
Good luck, I'll keep you informed of any developments.

Jim.

"Phil Davis" <Phil...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:8A9C3EFC-9A6F-4738...@microsoft.com...

[Phil Davis]

Hi Jim,

To answer your questions, yes indeed I have always uninstalled the Canon
drivers before trying another solution. I have also always exited ALL
application software running on my computer including the windows firewall
and AV program (Trend Micro Internet Security 2007). The only thing I
haven't disabled is my Internet connection and that goes through a Router to
my DSL connection. There could be a hardware firewall on the Router that I
haven't taken into consideration though. Hum ... maybe I should think about
that.

I was told (or read in a forum) if the system accepts the Enhanced USB
Controller when drivers are loaded for the PCI to USB Controller Card
(4-external USB Ports) then there is no problem with the MB communicating
with the USB 2.0 controller. My Device Manager shows me that the Enhanced
USB Controller driver is present and reports that it is running without
problems. Ha !!

This freeware that you mentioned, is the name of it "IIRC" ? If so, then
I'll use Google to find a download for me.

Yesterday I downloaded 5 flash BIOS updates from Dell and have performed all
5 updates. My BIOS was at version A03 (never updated since I bought the
computer in 2002) and I saw that the latest version offered by Dell was A09.
They warned me not to try to update from 03 directly to 09 because it can
cause some serious problems. I went through each flash update one step at a
time. Haven't had a chance to see if these updates make any difference in
being able to access my printer but will try to get to this in a few days. I
really doubt seriously that the BIOS updates will make any difference.

As far as the Scanner working and the Printer not, this doesn't strike me as
strange at all. The scanner has it's own device driver and is not using the
same driver as the printer installs. Besides that, the two problem printer
driver files that MS admits is causing the problems due to "Enhanced USB
Controller specification violations" (described in MS Knowledge Base article:
KB892050), have nothing to do with the scanner drivers (or at least I think
not).

Jim, unfortunately I don't think that MS is going to be coming up with a fix
for this WinXP-SP2 problem anytime in the near future. They suggested that I
wait until Service Pack 3 is released but that can be a long, long wait. In
the meantime this Canon device is just sitting on my desktop occupying space.
At least I can use it as a copy machine and a scanner. I haven't even tried
the Fax capabilities yet.

I can understand your frustrations with MicroSoft because I share your
opinion; however, having said that all of the reviews from beta testers as
well as computer resellers and journalists have been very positive for the
Vista product. Sure, there will be a few bugs that have to be patched
however I've read that Vista protects it's kernel much better than any of
it's previous operating systems. It's safe to say that WinXP (Home Edition
anyway) had little or no protection of the kernel and that's why we all got
hundreds of "critical security updates" from MS since it's inception. Hell,
I still get two or three per week and I doubt if it's going to get any better.

As far a Vista goes, I'm really not interested one bit in the new bells and
whistles, 3-D user interfaces and/or the media enhancements. I watch media
programs on my TV, not on my computer. All I want is an O/S that is stable,
has "graceful degradation" error handling built in and is capable of handling
"new" products and devices being introduced to the public as we speak.

Regarding the price of Vista, I will attempt to get it in the Update version
(some $ less expensive than the full, blown - standalone version) and also
I'll try to get it at the "Student/Teacher Discount" (many more $ cheaper).
Honestly, I don't understand why anyone would pay the full price for this
product. Sooner or later (not in the near future but it'll come) MS will
stop supporting the WinXP platforms and one will have to update their O/S.
Come to think of it, it would appear that they're not putting a great amount
of effort into supporting WinXP right now !!! Wouldn't you agree ??

I'll let you know if my BIOS updates fix the USB printer problem but I'm not
holding my breath. Also, I'll keep watching this thread to see if you get
any satisfaction from your PC gurus !! Have a nice day, Jim and try to smile
even if it hurts a bit.

P.S. Pardon my ignorance but you mentioned "Oz" in your post. Where
exactly in the world is this ? I moved over here to Munich, Germany from
California almost 23 years ago so I'm a bit out-of-it when it comes to
abbreviations for world-wide locations.

Best regards,
--
Phil Davis

[Jim Cladingboel]

Hi Phil,
First, IIRC is an abbreviation for If I Recall Correctly, and Oz is
Australia. Sorry.
I had that USB program on my PC before I upgraded to XP in November, so I'll
try on Google myself.
As to your USB problem, you've obviously tried everything. Having an
Enhanced USB Controller in your System's Device Manager doesn't mean much.
I have one in mine, and I can't get USB 2.0 to work from the motherboard
ports or the PCI to USB Host card. You are stuck up the same dead end as I
am.

What do you think of a new posting addressed to all MSVPs asking for some of
their research/knowledge of this problem? Perhaps there is a new Vista USB
2.0 driver which XP will actually recognise - just for a change. As you say,
it's affecting a whole lot of people out there.
My ideal O/S is the one you describe, but it might never happen.

Looking on Google just now, I came across this Question & Aswer :
Q: How do I ensure that my USB 2.0 devices work on Windows XP?
A: QFE 4 for HCT 10.0 includes tests to ensure that USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
devices and USB EHCI host controllers work properly with Windows XP.

Does this mean anything to you? Perhaps an MSVP could explain it.

Best wishes, Jim.

"Phil Davis" <Phil...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:F8B29E7C-530B-4B65...@microsoft.com...

[Phil Davis]

Hi Jim,

I like your idea about starting a new post addressed to all MSVP's; however,
I really don't have a clue in which forum this kind of a post is best served.
If you are willing to initiate a post and let me know where I can find it,
then I'll certainly be willing to add (a lot) to the thread.

Thanks for your clarifications regarding the abbreviations. I never would
have guessed that "Oz" had anything to do with Australia. I always thought
that "AU" was the identifier for the country itself. Is the "Oz" a country
identifier or is it a City or County within Australia ? I told you I was
rather ignorant about these matters !! Anyway, I envy you for living in
Australia. Always wanted to go down there on holidays for a few weeks but to
date, have never found the time or $$$ needed. Oh well, things are going
real good on the stock markets these days and maybe my ship will come in :-).

Sorry I can't help you with the "QFE 4 for HCT 10.0" problem but, as you
say, probably one of the MSVP's know exactly what it is. I'm going to try to
locate the "IIRC" freeware and download it. Hell, I'm ready to give anything
a try these days.

One thing you might be interested in is an article I read at the following
URL :

http://tinyurl.com/yatung

If you get to this URL, page down until you come to a topic entitled "USB
drive not working stable". There you'll find a recommendation to do a
complete USB device clearing using Microsoft's DEVCON and a link to a site
where you can download a "RenewUSB.bat" file. There's no need for me to
quote the whole article here but I did find a comprehensive explanation of
the DEVCON command-line utility at the Microsoft Support Site. It has the
Article ID : 311272 in case you want to give it a look see. It sounds quite
powerful, indeed. In the article, MS provides the reader with the URL to
download the (free) utility which is a file called "DevCon.exe". You just
have to make sure you get the 32-bit version instead of the 64-bit version.

This utility apparently does all kind of things that the Windows Device
Manager cannot do. It sure gives you a very comprehensive report of just
about all of the devices in your machine as well as which drivers are
controlling what. Then you can take several actions if you so desire !!

Jim, let me know if you start a new post and, if so, where I can find it. I
normally don't spend a lot of time in forums but I do know there are millions
of them scattered around the world.

Here's wishing you a nice day down there in the warm, summer sun.

Best regards,
--
Phil Davis

Munich, Germany

[Anna]

Jim & Phil:
I'm afraid the following won't be of much or even any practical help to you
re these USB non-recognition problems that we've all been experiencing and
have reached epidemic proportions since the advent of the XP operating
system, but for the little that it may be worth, here are some of my
thoughts on this issue...

These USB non-recognition problems have been vexing all of us for some time
now. We've become increasingly convinced that the relatively large number of
problems in this area involving the non-recognition of USB devices that
we've all been experiencing is an indication that there is something
seriously flawed with respect to either the USB 2.0 specifications, possibly
involving quality control issues affecting the manufacturer of these USB
devices as well as supporting components such as motherboards and other
USB-related components. Then too, we've become increasingly suspicious of
the XP OS as it relates to its recognition of and interaction with these USB
2.0 devices.

We have encountered far too many unexplained problems affecting
detection/recognition of these devices and their erratic functioning not to
believe that something is seriously amiss in this area.

We continually encounter situations where a USB 2.0 device - generally
involving a flash drive or USB external hard drive, will work perfectly fine
in one machine and not in another. And, in far too many cases, we're unable
to determine why this is so since we're unable to detect any
hardware/software problem in the balking machine that would cause this
non-recognition effect.

We've put together a more-or-less checklist for troubleshooting these rather
common USB non-recognition problems that (hopefully) may be of some value to
users encountering this type of problem...

1. Access Disk Management and see if the USB device is listed. If so, and
there's no drive letter assigned, see if you can assign a drive letter to
the device.
2. If the USB device is listed in Disk Management with an assigned drive
letter, right-click on its listing and select Explore from the submenu.
Hopefully, Windows Explorer will open and the device will be listed.
3. Connect the USB device *directly* to a USB port on the computer, not via

a USB hub. Try different USB ports should your computer have multiple ports.
4. Avoid using a USB extension cable.
5. Try connecting a USB device (that does not contain an auxiliary power
supply) to a USB port both before and after the boot operation.
6. Where a USB (or Firewire) external HDD is involved, access Device
Manager, highlight the Disk drives listing and click on the Action menu item
and then the "Scan for hardware changes" sub-menu item. Do the same in Disk
Management > Action > Rescan disks.
7. Try alternate powering on/off methods. If the USB device contains its own

power supply, try booting up with its power on, then try powering on only
*after* the system has booted to a Desktop.

8. Try a different USB cable.
9. In the USB controllers section of Device Manager, uninstall all the USB
controllers listed and reboot.
10. If the device in question is not a commercial USB external HDD but
rather one in which you installed a HDD in a USB enclosure, jumper the HDD
as Master (or Single if the HDD is a Western Digital disk). A number of

users have reported that jumper configuration corrected their
non-recognition problem. In my own experience it didn't seem to matter how a

USB external HDD was jumpered. But it may be worth a try.
11. If the device in question is a USB external HDD, first check out the HDD

with the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility. If it checks out OK,

and you can remove the HDD from its enclosure (without voiding any
applicable warranty), do so and install the HDD as an internal HDD to

determine if there are problems with the drive.

12. If the USB device is connected to a USB 2.0 PCI card, try changing the

PCI slot to which it's currently connected to another one.

13. Access the website of the manufacturer of the USB device to determine if

there's any firmware update or info re the problem you're experiencing or
there's any possibility that the USB enclosure itself might be defective.

14. Determine from the manufacturer of your motherboard whether there's a

BIOS upgrade affecting USB device recognition.

A number of posters have reported they've found useful information re
troubleshooting USB devices on this
site...http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtrouble_e.html
Anna

[George]

I'm not sure if I'm having the same problem of not. While working (WITHOUT)
a flash drive or USB device inserted, my Inspiron 600m laptop gives me a "USB
Device not recognized" message. When I click the message balloon, it
suggests that I "reconnect or replace the device." But there's no device in
there! Just the constant message driving me nuts! I'm a real novice, so I
want to know the consequences of going to Device Manager (which shows several
USB devices, all supposedly in good working order.) If I remove all USB
devices listed, what will happen? Will I lose anything, ruin anything? Or
is the device manager just "holding" information, which will be recovered the
next time I insert the flash drive?" (All I use is flash drives, to take
info from laptop to desktop. No games. We did watch a movie once when
the power went out. ) Irritating as the constantly recurring message is, I
don't want to damage anything trying to get rid of it. Can anyone help a
real scared noive? Thanks!!!

[Jim Cladingboel]

Anna,
Many thanks for your intervention, but after many weeks of frustration I
can tell you exactly what is wrong with XP.
The so-called "Update Wizard" needs to be rewritten. It just DOESN'T WORK!
It absolutely insists on protecting whatever driver it initially chooses, to
the exclusion of all else.
As XP will not accept the USB 2.00 driver which is supplied with my mobo, I
went to the expense of purchasing a high speed USB 2.00 PCI Host card with
four ports. When I install the drivers from the supplied CD, the response
is "The Wizard could not find a better match for your hardware
than currently installed". Which is patently ridiculous! When I direct XP
to a floppy containing updated Drivers I am told "The location you specified
does not contain any device information files". At times it even states
that the location (Drive A) doesn't exist!
I downloaded and installed the latest Driver from the mobo makers, ASUS,
same results.
With this state of affairs recurring time and time again, how can that
Wizard be operating correctly?
My mobo has six ports, of which four are designated as USB 2.0. The PCI
card has another four ports.
Infuriatingly, when I insert a flash drive into any of the USB 2.0 ports, a
balloon in the Notification area tells me I am inserting a 2.0 device in a
1.0 port (as if I didn't know!) and to use the hub listed above. The hub it
highlights has FIVE ports! Just what is going on here?
I have used Regedit to check that in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion the item 'DevicePath' points to '%SystemRoot%\inf',
and have checked that the INF folder contains USB.INF.
I have tried the sieber.de website, but no result. What else can I do?

FYG, the driver which the Wizard insists can't be beaten is version
5.1.2600.0 dated 01/07/2001, details shown as
USB\VID_0BC2&PID_0503\5&2C9A06280&1. I believe it is USBSTOR.INF or .SYS.
Is there something which can be done to resolve this problem quickly? In
the time It takes to move a couple of GB to/from my EHDD I could walk around
the block!
Is there, perhaps, a Vista USB 2.0 driver which the 'Wizard' dare not
reject?

Re your 14 points: 1 & 2 : I don't have Disk Management - Classic view?
3. Done that. 4. EHDD has own power and extension cable. 5. Done with flash
drive as above. 6. "Scan for hardware changes "produced nil results. 7.
Done that. 8. See (4). 9. Done that. 10. N/A. 11. Can't, EHDD under
warranty. 12/13/14 All done.
A useful check, but unfortunately no further clues.

Thanks, Jim.

Anna wrote in message
news:%23Vh8kBN...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

[thecreator]

Hi Jim,

If Windows , states that it can't fine a better match, then manually
update the drivers, don't automatically update them. Windows XP does have
this ability.

Click on Add Hardware in the Control Panel. Click Next.
Accept the default and click Next.
Scroll down until you find your Hardware device and if not in the list,
scroll down until you see Add a new hardware device. Highlight it and click
Next.
Dot Install the hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced).
Click Next. Follow the onscreen instructions. But you need to tell Windows
where to look for the Drivers.

--
thecreator

"Jim Cladingboel" <carr...@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:e9WegCVN...@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

[Jim Cladingboel]

Thanks for that thought, but I have tried it several times. That procedure
always results in the Wizard giving me one of the messages quoted in my
reply to Anna. I *know* it *should* work, but like so many other things in
XP, it just doesn't. Whether I use the 'Update Driver' tab, or the Add
Hardware process, the result is always the same. Like Phil, I just cannot
believe that Microsoft can not only create software which doesn't work, but
also ignore the problem they have created, especially when it is in such a
significant area as USB 2.0.
Perhaps I might have more success going to Linux or Ubuntu or whatever?

Jim.

"thecreator" <thecr...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:h56dnT-OFtkIwjvY...@comcast.com...

[Jim Cladingboel]

Could you please, individually or collectively, help with a major problem
in Windows XP Home + SP2?
However often, and in whatever manner I try, XP will not accept
any appropriate USB 2.0 driver for my external HDD. This is the case
both for the latest USB 2.0 driver for my motherboard and for my USB/ PCI
Host Card driver.
The so-called "Update Wizard" just DOESN'T WORK !
It absolutely INSISTS on protecting whatever driver it initially chooses, to
the exclusion of all others!
As XP would not accept the motherboard USB 2.00 driver, or the latest ASUS
version of same, I installed a high speed USB 2.0 PCI Host card with four
ports. When, again and again, I install the drivers from the supplied CD,
the response is always "The Wizard could not find a better match for your

hardware than currently installed".
Which is patently ridiculous!

When I direct XP to a floppy containing these updated Drivers I am told

"The location you specified does not contain any device information files".
At times it even states that the location (Drive A) doesn't exist!

I regularly direct this Wizard to update from the Windows\Inf folder
and from the Windows\System32\Driver folder. While these directions
seem to require the relevant folders to be looked at, I always receive the
same "...could not find a better match .." response.
With this state of affairs recurring time and time and time again, how can

that Wizard be operating correctly?
My mobo has six ports, of which four are designated as USB 2.0. The PCI
card has another four ports.
Infuriatingly, when I insert a flash drive into any of the USB 2.0 ports,

not only does a balloon in the Notification area tell me I am inserting a

2.0 device in a 1.0 port (as if I didn't know!) and to use the hub listed

above, the hub it highlights has FIVE ports! Just what is going on?
XP can't count?

I have used Regedit to check that in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion the item 'DevicePath' points to '%SystemRoot%\inf',

and have checked that the Windows\INF folder contains the USB.INF file.
What else can I do? I think I've reached the absolute limit.

The transfer speed I get to and from my EHDD is around 7 to 8 MB/second.
It should be around 60 MB/second!

As you are the official Microsoft Windows XP experts in this Help & Support
NG, please respond with the answer to this problem, or take whatever action
may be needed to have Redmond take an urgent look at this impossible
situation and do something - very quickly - about it.

Thank you. Jim.

[Edward W. Thompson]

"Jim Cladingboel" <carr...@tpg.com.au> wrote in message

news:%233daLYt...@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

While not addressing your problem please consider how many copies of WINXP
are in use and how many USB devices are efficiently in use, I think I have
five. Now consider your situation, which is the exception. I am afraid
logic suggests the problem is not WINXP but the way you have it configured,
I doubt whether the problem is with the devices. I guess the test would be
is to plug your USB devices into a machine that is operating USB devices
correctly, very few USB devices require special drivers, personally I would
not use a USB device that requires a dedicated USB driver.

[Jim Cladingboel]

"Edward W. Thompson" <thom...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:OEpfy6tN...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

Edward, Thank you, but you seem to have missed the point. My EHDD will run
on *any* USB 2.0 driver. It is the O/S which is absolutely resisting
upgrading to UB 2.0 level, even though XP contains such a driver - installed
with the original XP program. Can you explain why this O/S will not allow
the use of one of its own MS drivers?
Where is the logic in that.

Jim.

[kevi...@sbcglobal.net]

Hello thecreator,

What happens if you manually install a driver and it doesn't appear to
change anything?

I have had similar USB drive recognition problems. I manually chose a
different driver and the properties screen still displayed the previous
driver information.

I had two different Sandisk flash drives that quit working at the same
time. I ultimately re-installed the operating system. This worked for
a while and then they suddenly stopped working again. I never found
the cause of the problem. This was on an XP professional OS.

During this time, my flash drives worked on my home computer which is
an XP Home edition. Now I am seeing the same problem.

My problem is: The drives do not get assigned a drive letter. I
manually assign one and they can then only be recognized from within
Office apps or by going to the Device Manager.

I am VERY tired of this annoying problem.

I would be very pleased to hear about a workable solution.

[thecreator]

Hi kevi,

What Anti-Virus program are you running on the computer? Are you running
any program that monitors the Windows Registry? Have you recently upgraded
any programs, which protects the computer?

Example, in the past, McAfee Anti-Virus Program wiped out Outlook
Express E-mail Messages.

Look at some of the changes to Computer Programs / Upgrades.

--
thecreator

<kevi...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:1169043641.6...@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

[sal...@optusnet.com.au]

Hey guys I have read this post from beginning to the end and my
problem seems to pretty much the same as the guy who wrote the first
post. Whenever I insert a USB 2.0 flash drive into any port on the
computer, front or back, the computer crashes with nothing responding
to it at all (ie mouse, keyboard) i have tried to update the usb
drivers, reinstall them and god knows what but nothing has worked.
This is really frustrating since the USB's work fine in all other
computers (Uni, friend's). I have a Gigabyte motherboard with an Intel
845E chip. I also have Win XP SP2. Any help would be greatly
appreciated.

[thecreator]

Hi ,

Have you done a Clean Install? Reformat the Hard Drive partition and
reinstall Windows XP. Install Service Pack 2 and before you install any
other programs, try the USB 2.0 Flash Drive and see what happens?

Do you have a program to create Drive Images, in order to save your
current setup to another partition, in order to go back?

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/trueimage/

--
thecreator

<sal...@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:1171189091.4...@v45g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...

[sal...@optusnet.com.au]

Thanks for the reply creator, yes i have tried a complete reinstall
but i installed the motherboard usb 2.0 drivers before the sp2 and all
the updates, do you think that could have caused the problem. I am
prepared to do another reinstall if need be so your help would be
appreciated.

P.S. I don't have a drive imaging program.

[Neil]

Regarding Vista, I am having the same problem on my Vista laptop. I cannot
see the USB drive in Explorer or Computer, but the files do show up in Media
Player, and I can copy them to my hard drive. Strange........

[Milty@discussions.microsoft.com Uncly Milty]

I have been fighting the same problem for over a year. What I have learned so
far is that my Intel USB controller 82801DB will not recognize any USB2
device, I have a scanner and a printer running on USB ports but they are USB1
devices. I have a friend with a computer simliar to mine with an Itel 82801EB
usb controller, his driver date is 2002, mine is 2001. Very obviously the
service pack 2 that microsoft has admitted to has not been fixed.
I finally gave up and purchased a five port USB PCI card and guess what
these ports will recognive any usb 2 device but will not run at the higher
transfer speed. I bought this pci card from TigarDirect for $15, it is a
Masscool 5-port USB 2.0 PCI card (S457-1080)
I hope this helps because we sure are not going to get help from Microsoft.

[nesredep egrob]

On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:39:00 -0700, Uncly Milty <Uncly
Mi...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>I have been fighting the same problem for over a year. What I have learned so
>far is that my Intel USB controller 82801DB will not recognize any USB2
>device, I have a scanner and a printer running on USB ports but they are USB1
>devices. I have a friend with a computer simliar to mine with an Itel 82801EB
>usb controller, his driver date is 2002, mine is 2001. Very obviously the
>service pack 2 that microsoft has admitted to has not been fixed.
>I finally gave up and purchased a five port USB PCI card and guess what
>these ports will recognive any usb 2 device but will not run at the higher
>transfer speed. I bought this pci card from TigarDirect for $15, it is a
>Masscool 5-port USB 2.0 PCI card (S457-1080)
>I hope this helps because we sure are not going to get help from Microsoft.
>
>"John Slattery" wrote:
>
>> I really hope someone out there can give me some substantive help with this.
>> I have just purchased a Dell 512mb Flash Drive and my system at home will not
>> recognize the device. I have also had the same problem with a SanDisk 512 mb
>> flash drive. Both of these drives have worked fine on numerous other
>> computers. My system is running Windows XP Pro with SP2 loaded. The USB Host
>> Controller drivers (Intel) have all been updated, uninstalled, reinstalled,
>> and updated again. I have checked everything I can think of in Device
>> Manager. I even went into BIOS out of desperation.

That is interesting - why desparation. I would have thought you would be on the
right track there as you below refer to another symptom, trying to boot the
machine with the Flash Drive inserted - surely that shows you that the boot
order is not in the correct 'order' - reset the boot order to be C:, CD drive
and then A: - make absolutely sure that the USB is not mentioned in the boot
order.

Borge in sunny Perth, Australia

[bob]

I have been having the same problem, I can use my usb mouse, keyboard,
printer, scanner, pen drive, freecom 80Gb external drive, camera etc with no
problems. I have just bought a Seagate FreeAgent desktop 500GB drive, when
connected, the found new hardware wizard pops up, and asks for a driver. It
is not listed in my computer, but is in device manager under other devices
with a yellow question mark, and the code 28, I tried the drive on an XP Pro
machine and it worked ok. Has anyone looked at MS article 925196, not being
that up on computers, I wonder if this would help, or mess up my other
devices, also I am not sure what bits to delete in the registry. In registry
editor under the string
{4D36E980-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} in the right panel it lists
{default}, Class, EnumPropPages32, Icon, NoInstallClass, SilentInstall,
TroubleShooter-0
String {4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} right panel lists
{Default}, Class, Icon, Installer32, LowerFilters, NoInstallClass,
SilentInstall, TroubleShooter-0, UpperFilters

Not sure what any of this means, or which bits you are supposed to delete,
Thanks for any help you can give,
Bob

[Jim Cladingboel]

All the Drivers you need should already be in WinXP.
I have 4 USB 2.00 sockets on my PC and I run XP with SP2.
I also had an enormous and very lengthy problem getting XP to install
enhanced USB drivers for my external HDD.
If you go to Control Panel\System and click on Hardware then Drivers you
will see, near the bottom, your USB drivers listed. One at least should say
"Enhanced".
Double-click on it, and click the Driver tab, then go down and to the left
and click Driver Details.
This *should* show the following items, all from from System32 :

USBEHCI.SYS
USBHUB.SYS
USBPORT.SYS
HCCOIN.DLL
USBUI.DLL

However, for some reason the New Hardware Wizard will NOT install these
drivers without a lot of effort on your part.
I ended up copying the 3 .SYS files fromC:\Windows\System32 to a
floppy and directing the Wizard to upload those drivers from A:.
It took a while! You might have to direct the Wizard to A:\USBEHCI.SYS
many times before it eventually takes any notice of you!
That's how, after weeks of trying, firstly to discover what was needed (as
above) and then getting the Wizard to install them, that I finally got
access my external Seagate HDD.
This is a Wizard which is really obstinate and thick as two planks!

By the way, don't expect a 20 MB per second transfer rate. I get around 7
upto about 12 on a good day but don't know what is the limiting factor.

Hope it works for you,

Jim.

"bob" <b...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A6CA35CB-68BB-4CDF...@microsoft.com...

[boji...@aol.com]

You may need updated drivers .

[bob]

I did update the chip set drivers for my Intel motherboard, will this cover
it or will I need to download any other files ?, on another note, I tried
copying the usb files to a floppy, but I keep getting an error message that
this location does not contain any device information files, should I keep
trying, or is there something else I need to do, Bob

[boji...@aol.com]

Need updated drivers for the 500GB drive on your machine from Seagate
.

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:06:17 -0800, bob

[Jim Cladingboel]

Bob, as I said in my original message it can take days of trying before the
damned Wizard suddenly seems to give in.
XP has had a serious problem with USB 2.0 devices since day one and _nothing
at all_ has been done about it.
A lady named Anna on this NG stated some time ago that MS/others were
investigating the problem, and she had a tutorial on things to do to get a
USB 2.00 device working, although her advices didn't help me.
MS, of course, would prefer you upgraded (?) to Vista. But that has its own
problems!
It's boring and frustrating, but getting the wizard to look at Drive A seems
to be the only way to go. Sorry.
PS: You could try putting the files on a CDRW and try for a result that way,

Jim.

"bob" <b...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:5C2E41F3-7695-4383...@microsoft.com...

[bob]

Thank you both for your help, I will keep trying with the floppy, on a quick
look on the SeaGate web site it just states you do not need any drivers, I
will have a good look round and see what I can dig up,
Thanks for taking the time to try and help
Bob

[bob]

just a quick update, did not have much luck with the drivers on the floppy,
or finding any drivers on the SeaGate web site, but I did find a link in
these discussions to a site offering tips for this problem, sorry you have to
read through the posts to find it, I could not see it when I tried to find it
again, it was to do with usb drives, anyway one of the tips was to check if
Crytographic Services was running, in my case it was, but the next tip to
check the registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion the item

DevicePath must point to %SystemRoot%\inf additional items seperated by a
semikolon are ok, the "inf" was missing from my string, so i added it and
Wow, the drive is now working. Hope this might help someone,
Bob

[bmactavish]

I've been going nuts over this, too, but Bob pointed me into an easy
fix. When I checked DevicePath, I found that not only was
%SystemRoot%\inf present, there was some added stuff that included a
temp entry for my ActionTec modem. I deleted the temp stuff, plugged
the drive in and it was instantly recognized. Thanks to you all and
Bob! :-)

--
bmactavish
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View this thread: http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=457963

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[bobhwll]

Hi,
I also had a problem with usb 2.0 devices not working in windows xp
sp2.
I decided to try Bob's registry fix.
when I went into the registry I could not find %SystemRoot%\inf listed
under DevicePath.
I edited the DevicePath entry by adding ; %SystemRoot%\inf after the
only other entry there.
I rebooted my machine, inserted the flash drive, nothing!
In device Manager I found the drive listed with a yellow exclamation
mark as always. I right clicked on it, and clicked on reinstall driver
and voila the new hardware wizard found and installed the driver and
gave my flash drive a drive letter. All is well.
Thanks Bob, you're a lifesaver
bobhwll

--
bobhwll
------------------------------------------------------------------------
bobhwll's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/member.php?userid=38386

[lgraepel]

My daughter got an iPod for Christmas and my computer is not recognizing the
USB drive when she tries to download songs. I contacted the maker of my
computer (Gateway) and they walked me through some steps but none worked. Is
there something easy that I can try.....I am not a computer guru. My
daughter is driving me crazy!!

[Fluff]

"John Slattery" wrote:

> I really hope someone out there can give me some substantive help with this.
> I have just purchased a Dell 512mb Flash Drive and my system at home will not
> recognize the device. I have also had the same problem with a SanDisk 512 mb
> flash drive. Both of these drives have worked fine on numerous other
> computers. My system is running Windows XP Pro with SP2 loaded. The USB Host
> Controller drivers (Intel) have all been updated, uninstalled, reinstalled,
> and updated again. I have checked everything I can think of in Device

> Manager. I even went into BIOS out of desperation. Nothing I have tried works.

[Fluff]

[bobhwll]

Igraepel and John Slattery
I am no computer boffin but the registry fix I mentioned in my previous
post worked for me: Try HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion See if 'DevicePath' points to
'%SystemRoot%\inf. If it doesn't, then try modifying Device Path by
right clicking on it and in the modify box enter %SystemRoot%. If
there are other items in DevicePath then after the last item add a
semicolon and enter %SystemRoot%
Plug in your device and reboot your machine. If Windows does not
immediately recognize it automatically, go into Device Manager and
check if there is a yellow exclamation mark against "other devices" If
there is then right click on it and click update driver. Hopefully
Windows will then install the driver for the device and you will be in
business.
I hope this works for you. It is very frustrating to have a device
which does not work correctly and no apparent solution is forthcoming.
regards
Bob Howell

[lgraepel]

I have finally found the answer to my problem. An on-line tech with
Microsoft advised me to purchase a PCI - USB adapter. I went to Best Buy and
purchased the adapter that has 4 additional USB ports included. It is a card
that has to be installed inside your computer. The Best Buy employee advised
me to get the Geek Squad to install it. It took about 20 minutes for them to
fix it. The adapter cost $38 and the installation was $40. It was worth it
to me to be done with this problem. I got home and tried it out and it
worked great! Give this a try.

[lgraepel]

A Windows on-line tech advised me to purchase a PCI-USB adapter. I went to
Best Buy and purchased the adapter that included 4 additional USB ports.
Their Geek Squad installed the card into my computer and now it works great!!
Thanks for your advice but if you ever have this problem again, this is a
great fix. The card cost $38 and installation was $40. Worth it to me!

[John K]

On top of all other suggestions here, take a look at:

KB Article Number(s): 297694
HotFix196406

I have an older laptop with USB1.1 and had difficulty seeing USB flash
drives. This hotfix patches a problem where Explorer won't see the drive if
the drive letters aren't consecutively assigned.

It's a special request hotfix -- not in SP2.

[Roland]

[Jim Cladingboel]

Hi Phil, I can't believe you're still having this problem. Sorry.
I haven't been able to locate the USB checker I used, but if you Google for
"USB check utility", there's a range of items listed there which might help.
However, you might only find out they are working, but not at what speed.
By the way, Oz is Australia, where I am.
Meantime, I've checked my Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller,
which has the following Driver :
MS Driver Version 5.1.2600.2180 [xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158].
Driver details, all contained in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers are:
usbehci.sys
usbhub.sys
usbport.sys
Plus the following DLLs :
hccoin.dll
usbui.dll

All three of those .sys files should be in that Drivers folder.
The 'standard' drivers, 5.1.2600 are only USB 1.0 and have to be updated
/changed to the version above. Hope this is enough for you to locate it.

Good luck, Jim.

"Roland" <Rol...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
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