USB Device Not Recognized (Malfunction)

I have come across the same problem that apparently many Windows users are ailed with.

I thought I found the solution here when I googled the topic and was lead to this post http://www.ntcompatible.com/Desperately_need_help_---_USB_Devices_Not_Recognized_t32356.html

It seemed to work for everyone else, but it hasn't worked for me.

I have already done the Microsoft Standard 'moron checks' and I have added the stated USB Key to my registry. Nothing. I even unpluged my computer from the power supply twice, and still nothing.

My problem though, doesn't seem to be with any Modems, Printers, or flash cards..Instead my problem is with my USB Logitech Mouse and my APC Battery backup Power Strip.

My Device Manager tells me that everything is working fine. But when I plug in ANY USB Device, to ANY Port, it comes up as Unknown Device, and I get that annoying Malfunction Bubble that everyone else seems to get.

I don't know where else to go... I feel like Microsoft is just as much in the dark as the rest of us about this, and I was very excited to see that I'm not the only person with this problem. I almost got mad and formatted my computer, which I'm happy to say, I didn't go through with, because after finding this forum last night, I read that the format didn't work, and that would only add to my aggrevation.

Let me go ahead and follow suit by leaving you with some system specs.

Computer:
Alienware Area-51
Pentium4 3.1ghz
Windows XP Home Edition
Service Pack 2 (fully updated)
1gig DDR2 RAM
160gig HD.
ATI Radeon 9550 SE Video
Audigy 2 ZS Sound
ASUS PC4800 Mobo

If anyone has solved this problem or has ANY other methods I could try, please please let me know, I appreciate any and all help.

PS- I wasn't able to reply in the above said thread, thats why I'm making a new post out of it...sorry for inconvenience.

Thanks again.

After a bit more tweaking and tinkering, I managed to resolve my issue!

Thank you to all the people who have posted on this topic and to those that have thought about helping me

I'm so happy right now, that the fact that nobody replied to me in this post is irrelevant.

Thanks everyone!

I believe I have the same problem as yours. All my 4 USB ports will not recognize anything...

Will you please share what you did to solve yours?

Well, basically what I did is follow the instructions that is listed in the link I gave before. And it actually worked when I followed the instructions EXACTLY as they were written.

But at the time of this writing, I am once again having the same problems I described above. Its like my system relapsed. The only difference is this time the above instructions are NOT working. I can't figure it out. I'm really afraid to format because I've read that it doesn't seem to solve the problem.

It seems that at this point, nothing I'm doing is working. I think I have managed to find the source of the problem this time though. It seems to happen only after using my Samsung Yepp' MP3 player. My USB ports were working fine (after I fixed them) until I pluged in my said MP3 player, then the following day, the USB troulbes came back. This time I can't fix them...

So if anyone has any information about this, I would love to get this fixed again too.... Sorry I couldn't be more of a help Clueless, but I'm once again in the same position you are

Thanks Kain for your reply. Here is my situation so far:

I have the HP laptop DV8000 with AMD Turion 64. I have tried all the possible ways from many tips but cound not solve the problem. HP technical support seemed to be even more clueless than me! I then used the 3 HP Recovery DVDs to first try a Repair option to keep my files but this still did not work.

At this moment, after backing up all my files, I am using these same Recovery DVDs to do a Complete Recovery which is supposed to reformat my hard drive and reinstall everything back to Factory Settings. I hope this will solve the problem. It currently seems to take a long time (10% so far after half hour). If this still does not work, I think my new name will then be Cluelessest...!

I will keep you informed of how this turns out.

The HP Complete Recovery did not solve the problem. Bummer, all of that for nothing!

I'm having the same issue. HP DV5000 laptop.
Was working fine until my daughter plugged in a Coby MP3 player. Worked the first time , then never again. Will no longer recognize Ipod, Coby, or Sony digital camera. Tried all the tricks too. HP online chat support said I should update the ATI chipset driver. That didn't work. Will try again today in "safe" mode.

Here's what I was told:
At this point I suggest you to uninstall all the items listed under usb controller and then install the chipset driver.
Spring 2006 Original ATI Chipset Drivers for dv5000: First download the drivers from the following link: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software6/COL13270/pv-36944-1/sp26608.exe Then follow the below steps 1. Download the driver package. 2. Double-click on the icon for the driver package downloaded in Step 1, and then click NEXT. 3. Select I accept the terms in the license agreement, and then click NEXT. 4. Click OK to continue. The original drivers are now stored in the C:\SoftPaq\sp26608 folder. 5. If Device Manager does not start automatically, use the following steps. Otherwise go to Step 6: a. Click Start. b. Right-click My Computer, and then select Properties. c. Click the Hardware tab, and then click the Device Manager button. 6. Click the + (plus) sign next to "System devices" or "Other devices". 7. Right-click SMBus Controller or the device you want to update, and then select Update Driver.... 8. Click NEXT to install the software automatically. 9. Click FINISHED to complete the installation.

The first time I fixed the problem, what I did was go into control panel and uninstall ANYTHING that used USB.

I then booted to safe mode and uninstalled all the Human Interface Devices and Peripherals, then the USB Root Hubs and Controllers (in that order).

I then booted back to Nomral Windows, and let all the USB Drivers install themselves again. That did not fix the problem.

Then I repeated the above steps, again, this time while leaving Safe Mode, I selected the Turn Off Computer setting. When the computer turned off, I unpluged it from the power strip for about 30minutes. I then pluged it back in and booted it up, waited for the USB drivers to install a 2nd time, and it all worked.

But now that my system has relapsed, this isn't working anymore...I'm totally confused on the problem as of now.

Hopefully someone reading this will find a sure fire fix.

EDIT - The above process is known as Restacking the USB Drives...
And I'm sorry to hear that using the Recovery Discs didn't help. Your now the 2nd person who has reported that recovering WILL NOT fix this problem, so my mind is made up, I will not format, I'll just keep looking for a solution.

As an update, I'm going to try replicating the exact system settings I had before the problem occured, then try the USB Restack again and see what happens.

I guess I'll get back to you guys on that.

Sawman,

I was given the exact ATI chipset driver sp26608 by HP online chat support so we must be sharing the same hardware... I have tried uninstalling all Windows XP USB drivers then install the sp26608 but it still did not work including doing all of this in safe mode.

These "generic" Windows XP driver keeps installing by themselves (their names start with Standard....and their properties show driver information as from Microsoft....)

I am now leaning toward a possibility of hardware failure. Any thoughts?

This is my update:

I called HP Technical Support today specifically asking for the "ATI USB driver" because I strongly believe it is what I am missing based on the fact that no matter what I do, all the USB drivers shown in device manager are generic from Microsoft while there should be at least one that has something to do with ATI.

After a long wait, she told me to wait for a call from HP to have my laptop brought in for repair.

I will get back with you guys when the situation changes.

Windows XP SP2 comes with USB 2.0 Drivers installed on the system, those drivers should be good enough. Besides that, even before my USB drives went berserk, they were still taged by Microsoft in Device Manager.

After all kinds of software updates without success, HP has determined that my laptop needs the motherboard replaced but the lady said it will not be in stock for two months. I then asked if a simple exchange for another compatible refurbished model is OK but she did not have the authority so I was sent up to the next level, a HP case manager, who said he will try to make it faster and if it takes too long then an exchange might be an option.

I am now waiting for HP to send me the empty box so I can use the box to send back to them for repair.

A little off topic, since the laptop is going back for repair anyway, I also asked them to fix the battery which from the beginning could never be properly snapped into its place securely and thus can get loose easily but I use AC adapter most of the time anyway so did not mind.

I will keep you guys updated later on.

Thought I'd join the club here. I'm running Windows Vista x64 RC1, build 5600. Everything ran smoothly since I installed it shortly after its release, but about two weeks ago any USB storage device would fail - "USB Device Not Recognized". I have a printer and a wireless keyboard/mouse connected via USB, and I've also used a gamepad without problems. But neither external harddrive, memory card reader nor Canon camera works.

However, when starting Windows XP 32-bit (I have dual boot) it all works fine. I even got it working on Mac OS X Tiger!

So I formatted, sure it would solve the issue - yet it didn't. Still works in XP and OS X, though.

Further machine specs: Custom built AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+, 3 GB TwinMOS PC-3200, 2 x WD 200 GB S-ATA harddrives, GeForce 7900GT. Running freshly installed Windows Vista x64 5600, only newest ForceWare installed.

Geez. I am sorry to say that at the time of this writing, I am still baffled as how to fix my problem.

I've also had another issue arise (not sure if this one is related to usb or not though), my computer randomly shuts it self off for no given reason. Not one of those safe soft boots where windows tells ya theres a problem and needs to shut down, but one of those hard boots where the power suddenly leaves the tower w/o notice and your staring at a black screen with No Video Input. You then have to turn your tower back on and boot up, and sometimes (usually happens at least 2 times in a row to me), while its booting up, you'll start to see the desktop and the icons loading, and then boom, off again.

I'm getting rdy to format to fix the crazy hard boot problem because I think it has something to do with the way I did my registry in an attempt to fix the usb problem, but I know that formatting won't fix my usb problem.

So if anyone, anyone, knows how to fix this, please help us out, Thanks.

I have an update:

My laptop came back from HP and the USB problem was not even fixed with a note that an issue with the system was found but no part replacement was required... How they decided to ship the laptop back to me without the problem being resolved is beyond my imagination. Anyway, I called the HP case manager back and he could not give me a clear answer .He then wanted to start the process all over again so I will be waiting for another empty box from HP to ship the laptop back to them again. Wish me luck because I think I will really need it.

However, even though the main problem was not fixed, they did fix my battery which can now be securely locked into place without falling out.

when i insert a pen drive,my pc is recognising it but when i insert Blue Tooth Dongle it is not recognising...n says USB Device Not Recognized r malfunctioned....can u please help me on this.....thanks in advance..awaiting reply

Bhava, I wish I can help but I do not know how since I am not even a tech savvy PC user. However, have you tried to insert the Blue Tooth Dongle into another PC and see if it works? Just a suggestion.

By the way, about my laptop: it was resent back to HP and received by them on 1/24 but until now, the online status still shows nothing. I called yesterday asking for the status but then someone had to email someone to get the status then get back to me. I called back today but no body is available to take my call so I have to leave a message hoping that someone will call me back. Did I mentioned that HP called themselves "HP Total Care"?

Another update:

My USB problems seem to fix themselves and break themselves randomly, still.

Nothing I'm doing works, formatting doesn't work. I can't seem to fix the problem. Today I went to insert a USB device (because they have strangely been working for the last week or so), and as soon as I did, the entire computer just froze. The only way to get out of the freeze is to hard boot the computer (pull the power) and then boot back up. I tried a couple different methods to fix this new problem such as going into the system works and starting the "Universal Plug and Play" process. But it doesn't work. I'm at a total loss. I'm really angry with my USB ports and I've almost just given up completely on it.

Clueless, it really sux that HP failed you lol. I actually just bought a new HP Laptop today, came installed with WinVista Home Premium, it has its own set of "New OS Problems" lol. *sigh* Microsoft needs to get their [expletive] together and start fixing some of these problems.

Dear Kain,
Am I paranoid, or are we using devices that are deliberately bugged to cause this problem? If you check the dates when the "USB Device Not Recognized" error began showing up on forums, they're mostly all pretty recent. No wonder HP support and everybody else is perplexed, and that every solution out there only works temporarily if at all.

My problem, like yours, has been fixing and unfixing itself randomly. I know for a fact the problem began when trying set up my ebay purchased ipod shuffle. From then on any camera, card reader, external hard drive or mp3 player has given me the "USB Device Not Recognized" error. Only once has it "fixed" itself.

I did not format and reinstall XPHome, but I did install a dual boot Linux OS (Simply Mepis, which I use and love on another machine). Guess what: it didn't recognize the devices either!!!

I'm searching for a new motherboard. Boy will I be crestfallen if that doesn't work either!

I just can't bring myself to be angry with USB ports, because I know the problem started with one ipod shuffle. This is the single most baffling (computer) problem I have ever encountered. "USB Device Not Recognized"

I am in Mexico and I bought a computer there in USA. The model is Hp Pavilion DV2125nr and it seems that it has the same problem with the USB ports, two days ago I was working in the laptop and the mouse suddenly shut down. When I powered on the computer it used to power the Usb mouse too now it doesnīt. I donīt know what to do the laptop is still under warranty but the HP service is weak here, it seems that I will need to fix it by myself so if you find out a solution please let me know, Regards.

I am in Mexico and I bought a computer there in USA. The model is Hp Pavilion DV2125nr and it seems that it has the same problem with the USB ports, two days ago I was working in the laptop and the mouse suddenly shut down. When I powered on the computer it used to power the Usb mouse too now it doesnīt. I donīt know what to do the laptop is still under warranty but the HP service is weak here, it seems that I will need to fix it by myself so if you find out a solution please let me know, Regards.

Sophora,

Actually I thought about that.
Windows might have installed a usb patch in one of its magnificent *gack* Windows Updates, that could have started the whole thing. But if this is true MS isn't saying anything, and so far they offer no more support then "Yes, we know its broken, and we're confused, but working on it".

Quite lame actually.

But I seem to have narrowed the source of the problem to a certain Yeppo MP3 player. It seems to the be the 1 device that throws my USB system into non-responsiveness, randomly.

For the record tho, my problem isn't on a HP, its on an Alienware with an ASUS P4C800-E Mobo.

Kain,
Thanks for the reply. Mine isn't on an HP either. It's on a self-built, 3.06Ghz P4.

Just curious: did you acquire your problem mp3 player new in box? My offending ipod shuffle was an open box return.

DJBlackbeer: can you narrow down the origin of your problem to a particular device?

Clueless,
What about you? can you narrow down your malfunction to one particular device? (sounds kinda like an insult...)

I donīt know which device could made the problem, I just had connected my usb mouse and an external USB Hard drive, I think that maybe it was an overvoltaje problem but whatever of these it has made a several problem because it doesnīt give power to my peripheral, I updated my bios and reinstalled the drivers but I think that is a physical problem not software, any comments??

I have done some research and it's really starting to look like my ipod caused the issue. I have searched several forums and I keep seeing ipod's in the listings. I have a gateway laptop and am using a 4 port USB hub for about 6 months now (never experienced any issues). I just bought an ipod and the other day I plugged the ipod in and boom my computer shut down completely. I was scared to death!!!! I thought everything was fried!!! I left it off for about 30 minutes and unplugged all USB ports and it started up! I then started getting the "USB device not recognized" error. I then started researching and tried unplugging the power cord and battery and this worked!!!!!!! Until I plugged my ipod in..... My PC now recognizes everything but the ipod. I don't know what to do now. I just spent 300 bucks on a useless 30 gig ipod that I can't use! Great : )

Sophora,
It is my Fiance's MP3 player, and she bought it from a friend for like 35 bucks. Didn't get any software for it, just the mp3 player and the MP3>USB converter thingy (for pluging it in)...

Baseball,
Look back to the very beginning of this thread, where I posted a few things, try Restacking your USB Drives, it worked for me once. But then I got the problems back. It has been known to be the end all method of fix for "some" people though, worth a shot. I have also done the Cache release (unplug computer from wall and let sit for 15-20 minutes), that worked once as well. It seems like my computer is learning, kinda like a cockroach who changes its DNA to overcome extinction. I just can't kill this problem, and when it returns, the fixes I used last time around don't seem to work again.

But a warning, DO NOT FORMAT OR RECOVER YOUR HARD DRIVE EXPECTING A SIMPLE FIX! You will be angry and disappointed.

I'm really hoping that eventually someone will come in here with the Cure All End All fix, or maybe Microsoft will offer us a bit more support. You'd think that being the biggest proprietary Software Distribution Corporation in the world, they would want to make sure all their stuff works and their consumers are happy....oh wait, I said proprietary didn't I?

-----
Decided to repost my system here so that people don't have to keep looking on front page to find it, in case it helps at all.

Alienware Area 51 Gaming PC
ASUS P4C800-E Motherboard
Intel P4 3.2ghz Processor (486 Pin Chipset)
1gig DDR2 Ram
160gig SATA HD
ATI Radeon 9550 SE Video Card
Audigy ZS 2 Sound Blaster
Windows XP Home Edition (Service Pack 2) Fully Updated
-----

Baseball, Kain, DJblackbeer: In your research, what would you guess is the oldest occurrence of this problem? It seems pretty recent to me (less than 4 months for most people).

Are we dealing with a previously undiscovered bug that is carried on otherwise innocuous usb devices? I certainly alters the hardware somehow, because as I noted: even my Linux OS doesn't read the devices. There are regedit fixes out there that lead nowhere.

I wonder if there's a commonality in that some of us (Sophora, Kain) seem to trace the problem to devices purchases used (and perhaps wiped before we got them (?)).

I can't help but think that this seems to be getting bigger as more people encounter it (virus, trojan, worm? crazy ol' me...)

If that's the case, then a REAL fix ought to be forthcoming.

According to my research, this has been happening for a long time.
Infact, I have an article here dated back to June of 2005.
http://www.ntcompatible.com/Desperately_need_help_---_USB_Devices_Not_Recognized_t32356.html

I'm sure that it dates back a bit further as well, because some of the articles I've come across were having problems with their USB on Win98SE. Thats old... lol.

But yah, I'm really hoping a fix in is our future.

Not for anything, but have you noticed that this is the Biggest Topic in the forum right now? Heh.

Thanks Kain.

I have been experimenting a little bit and found some strange things. Now it looks like it wasn't my ipod.... well hopefully not. I did the whole cache release thing and prior to turning my pc on I plugged in my ipod and it worked. So I had three usb connections mouse, keyboard, and my ipod. I then tried to plug in an external hard drive to my hub and that was not recognized and also gave me a lack of power error. I wonder if this is a power issue? My hub has an external power supply so I wouldn't think this would be an issue. The really weird part is that I then unplugged my ipod from the usb cord and tried to plug it back in and boom it didn't recognize it. So now I have to go through the whole clearing cache again. This is really starting to get annoying. Hopefully a fix will be found soon.

Haha, welcome to my world, Baseball.

I've been ailed with this problem since a little bit before Christmas.

Well, at the moment the devices in question are working! I did none of the things Kain and others did, simply because of reading everybody's frustration.

Twice now the USB ports turned up functioning, both times have been under the following circumstance: I haven't restarted, hibernated, shut down, etc. for about 72 hours.

Yesterday morning I jumped bright eyed out of bed and checked and the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon was present in my tray. With mounting suspense I clicked My Computer and Lo! the Card Reader was present, the External Hard Drive was present! Yeeeha.

At any rate: I have until next restart to get a bunch of stuff done.

Baseball: my crystal ball says it was a combination of the ipod and the sauerkraut. Get it? Sauerkraut::Hot Dogs, Hot Dogs::Baseball. OK, somebody else take a crack at bringing some levity to this frustrating topic.

Unfortunately, I have the same problem as well, and it's killing me. I have a HP DV5020us laptop, and this problem happened to me about 3 days ago.

I set Napster to download a bunch of songs, and then went to class. I got back a few hours later and my computer had frozen up. I had to push the power button, and upon rebooting, none of my USB devices were recognized.

I'm at the end of my rope, here. I tried regedit fixes, turning off power and letting the capacitors bleed off, USB stacking, you name it, I tried it. I'm really frustrated, as I need to use my USB devices.

It's interesting to see how this has a. affected quite a few people recently, and b. affected a couple other people with HP pavilion laptops...

I think I found the problem.

I have a wireless mouse USB 1.1 on a USB KVM switch (between 2 computers) and a newer USB 2.0 external hard drive and when I plug them in at the same time, the two devices will not work correctly (i.e. I get the malfunction message).

If I unplug the external HD, the mouse/keyboard work fine. If I unplug the mouse, the external HD will work fine.

I disabled my onboard 1.1 usb ports (I have a usb 2.0 pci card) and tried just to use the 2.0 ports but the same problem persists.

I do not have a USB 2.0 mouse around to plug in & test it out. I need the external for back up, I guess I will have to purchase a new mouse.

I'll pick one up and report back later.

Not much to report as of now, means how I've just been working on my Vista laptop instead of my main computer...my usb works on this comp...heh. Later I'll try messing with my computer again and see if anything changes.

I'm pretty sure if you have 1.1 and 2.0 USB ports on your machine, or a 1.1 device... it's going to slow down the whole USB bus.

I didn't get a chance to get the mouse, I want to try my existing hardware (1.1 mouse & 2.0 ext. HD) on my Shuttle PC, it has all USB 2.0 bus, versus my other ASUS machine which has a 1.1 bus and 2.0 usb add in card (pci).

I hope this makes sense.

It makes perfect sense. But I don't know how to tell if any of my devices are 1.1...also, if I have a 3.06Ghz P4, I would assume that all the ports are 2.0, but I acknowledge that may be an unsafe assumption.
Scagnetty: your situation, while somewhat different, still has me blaming one device along the way for the origin of the problem. In your case it may have been the mouse...or it may have been the KVM switch itself. Are any of the devices in question used, by chance?
(Allow me to continue my paranoid skepto-phrenic vein: Is there a "design obsolescence" bug geared at causing us all to march down in frustration and buy new devices? Hence the prolonged silence from those who could fix it?)

I have another guess at it:

I moved my ext. USB backup drive off the top of the PC up about 12 inches onto a nearby table and the USB malfunction message has not returned since.

I think I read or heard somewhere if you have too many USB devices close together or too close to a USB wireless transmitter (my mouse), something is going to go wrong. It's been 10+ hrs. and the message has not returned.

I can monitor the situation this weekend and write back on Sunday evening.

I hope this helps someone out there.

PS. All my equipment I purchased new, nothing used. I have used it over several years though. The newest thing is the ext. USB HDD which I don't know how I got along w/o it. Greatest thing (along with Norton 10 daily automatic backup) since sliced bread.

Scagnetty: Man, if it's something as simple as spreading out your devices...mine have all been recognized since before my last post, and through a couple of reboots. I have wireless keyboard/mouse. These are the only usb devices never to cause a problem throughout this whole thing. Then there's the 250gb external hdd and the card reader. (I'm never going to stick that ipod shuffle in a usb port again.)

So I'll try to keep them all spread out all over the darn place and see if that keeps them all functioning. We're going to try your crazy fix.

BTW: I'm interested in hearing more about your auto daily backup. Is that all you use your external hdd for? How long does it take? How long did the first time take? Did you back up lots of media files? Should this be a new topic?

That seems to work for you guys eh? To bad I'm having problems with embedded usb ports, which are ALL 2.0.

And not using any wireless usb devices

Still a problem.

I removed the Logitech wireless mouseman (Circa 2000) and got a plain Logitech USB corded mouse for my KVM switch. I haven't had any difficulties since then related to USB.

My PC has been shutting down at random though since moving here to this new apartment, I may need a new power supply. I know this unit has been in operation for approx. 5 years.

Another quick thought:

Too long of a USB cable will produce the 'Malfuntion' or 'Device not recognized' message. I first ran across this years ago on HP's website when we employed too long of a USB cable for a printer.

We then had to get a USB extender cable and the device was recognized and worked again.

I hope this helps someone.

While I have not experienced the exact issue you guys are having, I am having a USB related problem that seems to have recently started. I think it is USB related anyway. The problem was crackling sound in Vista (and the usb keyboard and mouse would blink off and back on), or ocassional Video problems in XP where a game would goto 100% cpu utilization, and I would have to reboot to fix it. Both I think are usb related problems (The game problem in XP happens when moving the mouse quickly, and once starts persists until I reboot). I read elsewhere of users with crackling sound issues and it was an IRQ conflict (issue seen with 2 different soundcards, my X-Fi and their C-media chip powered card). Granted, IRQ conflicts are not supposed to matter anymore, IRQ's are supposed to be shareable. But I plan to try and experiment with this tonight. The things you mention about powering the pc off for awhile, sounds like something you do to try and get the irq's to reset. You can accomplish the same thing by going into your pc's BIOS setup screen and choose "Set all settings to default" or "Reset Configuration". The actual setting to change will vary depending on the make/version of your BIOS. Some custom BIOS for companies like HP may not have a reset choice at all. Also, if the problem is in fact an IRQ conflict (which is a hardware setting), reformatting will not fix that.

In short, it seems that recently IRQ's for USB hub/devices while supposedly shareable with other devices in your PC, do not seem to be playing well with other devices. My pc is dual-boot XP and Vista. The OS's themselves can move IRQ's around during bootup. I think I will try to give my USB port its' own IRQ, and set everything else to other IRQ's, see how it goes.

My pc uses and ASUS A8n32-SLI Deluxe mobo, an Adaptec XHub7+ powered USB2 hub (with a Logitech G5 laser mouse, Saitek keyboard, UPS, Printer, quickcam, external cdrw drive attached), and dual boots XP and Vista.

Someone should open a support ticket with microsoft, and let them analyze a memory dump to see whats going on.

GoodBoy

Scagnetty, the fact that your computer shuts off randomly w/o notice could be a heating problem.

Same thing just happened to me, apparently where I live now, dust collects a lot faster and it clogged up my processor fan which brought cooling to a halt. Basically when the processor reaches about 96 degrees Celsius (200something Fareheit!!) The computer shuts down to avoid burn out. So open your case and check for dust. If you end up having to remove the cooling fan, make sure you get some thermal paste to put on the chip before putting your fan back on.

Goodboy,

I've heard about adjusting IRQ's and such to hopefully make things work, but alas, I'm not quite sure how do to that...perhaps you can give me something else to try by telling me where to find the IRQ's, how to adjust them, so forth? That would be a great help.

Well, just try the bios resetting method first. Reboot the pc, press F2, F10, Delete, whichever key is to get into bios setup for your model of PC. Many home built pc's bios use Delete key to get in. Mine does. HP i think is F2, IBM is F10.

Anyway once you get in there, look for a reset to defaults option.

Now, thing is, since the OS can move these settings around, this might only be a temporary fix. But, if you try the reset to defaults right after experiencing the problem, and it seems to help, then there is a good chance we are on the right track. If the IRQ's are not sharing properly, we can look at your IRQ settings in device manager, see what devices are sharing IRQ's with your USB root/hubs, and go from there. I would start by changing the drivers for any devices sharing IRQ's with your USB. Likely it will be video, sound, or network that is sharing. If the suspected device has the newest driver already, then we will uninstall it and go find an older version. If the driver is not the newest for that hardware, we will try updating to the newest.

Something else to consider (not sure is already mentioned) is to make sure your motherboard is running the most recent version of its' BIOS. You mention an ASUS motherboard for a Pentium4, but you need to find out it's exact model number and current bios Revision. Should be displayed for a second or 2 right as you power it on, on the screen where it tells you which key to press to enter bios setup. This shows how to determine your mobo and bios versions: http://support.asus.com/repair/repair.aspx?root=110&SLanguage=en-us

Everyone,
This is Clueless reporting back. My DV8000 HP laptop came back from HP and the problem was fixed this time. They replaced the mother board.

Sophora,
My problem was that "none" of my 4 USB ports will recognize "any" USB device. Any USB device would end up with the unknown device message.

I just lifted this from another website, so if you haven't tried this yet... give 'er a shot:

Do you ever get the "USB device malfunction" message on your fully-patched Windows XP SP2 box? Sometimes, the 'Unknown Device' error still reappears under the "Universal Serial Bus controllers" category even after you've tried disabling the system as I suggested in my previous tip?

This is when it's time to use Registry Editor. You will need to use the modern Registry Editor, regedt32.exe, because you must give yourself rights to delete a key. (The usual caveats apply --if you make a mistake, serious consequences may arise.)


In regedt32 go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CCS\Enum\USB.

Look in each folder labeled Vid_Xxxx. There should be subfolders containing information about one of your USB devices in each.

Right click on the Vid_Xxxx folder that contains a folder labeled 'Unknown Device' in it and click Properties.

Check Allow Full Control, then right click on the same Vid_Xxxx folder and delete it.

Reboot and plug the device in.

Regarding heat issues, my server was running at 78 or 79C. I need to pull the heat sync of my other machine or buy a new heat sync for it. The other machine is running at 59C, not too bad.

I have since turned off the two other machines and am just using the Shuttle. It will have to do until we move again.

Probleme: USB Device Not Recognized
I have a USB Card Reader. Because the wire was too short, i replaced it with a longer wire. But the computer stop recognizing it .
Plz, help.

If your new USB wire is less than 10 feet in length, your machine should recognize the device OK. Longer than 10 feet and problems will arise.

Read pages 1-5 and see if any of those fixes can help you?? Report back please.

I lost my USB ports a few days ago and having tried everything I could find on the net (short of re-installing Windows) the following worked for me: Enter your BIOS during boot and look for 'Legacy USB Ports'. The setting was ENABLED and out of interest I changed it to DISABLED, my USB ports are now working again! I hadn't touched my BIOS settings prior to losing USB and 'restoring defaults' in my BIOS ENABLED Legacy USB. I'm running Windows XP Home on a Fujitsu Siemens AMILO Pro notebook. Good luck. Nigel

Hey all, sorry for the hiatas...
I've been in Florida the last week for vacation.

Thx for the replies on IRQ's and BIOs, I'll check into those possible solutions tomorrow and let you all know what I come up with.

*** Update ***

After one whole day with working USB ports I shut my laptop down and when I powered it up again they'd gone... 'USB device not recognized'! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

I spoke too soon!

Nigel

On my system... the new shiny USB 2.0 card doesn't play nice with my aging ASUS mobo w/USB 1.1 built in.

I quit using the USB 2.0 card because it caused my system to shut down at random several times per day.

Since I am using the USB KVM switch in the native 1.1 slots, the system is running without any problem.

If in the 2.0 USB slot... problems occur within a short amount of time.

Good luck to all, I hope this helps someone out there.

Hello guys. I just joined the forums due this discussion which is the best I have seen of any other site on the topic.

I am having the same problem on 3 out of 4 USB devices on my gateway laptop computer running windows XP.
The problem might have arose from either a 30gig iPod video, a 2.4ghz logitech wireless mouse, or one of three external hard drives. I am pretty sure it was the iPod, however.

I have read all 100 posts on this thred (or however many there really are) and I have tried all the fixed that would seem to work. Unplugging the power cord (and the battery), restacking the usb drivers, um yeah that's pretty much it (as far as I remember), but I tried those many many times with all sorts of different combinations. I am about to reformat and install windows vista which I need to upgrade to anyways. I am hoping that will solve the problem even though you guys have said it doesn't. I just have nothing else to try.

I really hope someone can find a solution to this frustrating problem.

*** Update 2 ***

Following a few days of experimenting I can confirm that in my case the problem is hardware. When I lose USB a firm thump on the left side of my notebook will restore the two ports beneath and also the two at the rear. My notebook is just over a year and well-travelled so something common to all of my ports is clearly loose or more likely in need of soldering. Nigel

Ive actually been avoiding my XP Computer recently because of the USB problems, I've been using my Vista Laptop lol, which is where I'm posting from right now. It has its own suite of NEW problems, but at least I've been able to fix all the problems I've found with Vista so far.

Problematic, to my knowledge no one has tried to fix the problem by updating to Vista, but its worth a shot, I'd be very interested in hearing how that turns out.

59Rocker, yeah, I know that most of the issues concerning this problem seem to be hardware. But I'm one of those hard headed *bleeps* that refuse to believe that lol. The fact that Microsoft knows about this problem and just can't seem to find a fix, lead me to believe that it is not a Hardware problem as it is a Software Bug in the XP code. Your computer companies and manufacturers are usually willing to jump the gun on 'replacing your mother board' because that puts money into their pocket.

I'm a firm believer that I should fix all computer problems myself. Theres enough information on the internet to find and troubleshoot just about any computer problem that may arise (excluding this one for some odd reason). The people who fix your computers are people just like you and me. They use the same Micro Tools that we do, the open the case the same way we do, and they replace your defective parts the same way we could. So why pay the outrageous price tag and drop it off to pay somebody by the hour what you could do yourself in a few hours tops at the price of the part you need?

All that aside tho, I'm totally stumped on this issue. I still need to try a Registry Default and IRQ fix.... But I can't bring myself to mess with my XP computer anymore. Perhaps tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm glad to know that this thread has turned out to be the most involved thread on the net about this problem. Because I started off on the same search around Christmas of last year, and found nothing that helped. Thats when I came here and started this thread. We are now 6 pages in and possibly closer to a fix. I'm sure that eventually someone will see this and be like "heres your fix".

*cough* Microsoft *cough* Pleaaaaase? Haven't we been good to you????

My ipod shuffe second generation (1 Gb) isnīt working with my PC, ASUS 2A7N266-VM, Slot A AMD Athlon, nVidia nForce chipset, Bios up-to-dated, and so on. The problem occurs both with Windows 2000 or XP. Any other USB device (MP3 player, pendrive) have been worked fine is this computer. The PC donīt recognize the USB device. The ipod blinks yellow light and nothing more. But I am sure the this ipod is working fine in other computers, like with ASRock K7S41 motherboard PC, as with Win2000 or WinXP. Is there specific problems with some kind of ASUS motherboard or I got a hardware problem with my PC? Thanks a lot for any help.

What type of USB ports do you have? USB 1.1 or 2.0.
Does your PC use UHCI, OHCI or EHCI USB controllers (see
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/u/uhci.htm for definitions)?
Are all the USB ports enabled in the BIOS?
Do you have the Logitech drivers installed?

Hi,
You know, I've been reading this post and have had a problem where some of the USB are devices are not working while others do. And I have read stuff about people saying; "It will be nice when somebody can tell us how to fix it.", and you know something, I AM THAT PERSON! I think?

I just installed a Logitech webcam on one of my computers but decided to move it to another computer, and when I uninstalled it from the first computer, some of the devices stopped working. I didn't notice it right away, but when I did, I started searching the net and found this website. I tried some of the stuff here but none of that fixed it. But then I remembered reading somewhere that Logitech makes bad drivers. So I thought that maybe I'd try installing the webcam again, and guess what, it fixed it. When I uninstalled it, the problem started again, so I intalled it again and the problem went away.

After all I went through, I feel like there is a law suite against Logitech coming. Last time I EVER bye logitech GARBAGE!

Ambassador,

Could you be a bit more specific?

You say that all you had to do was uninstall and reinstall logitech software?

I was never really a big fan of logitech software in the first place, I love the product, but I hate the software. I currently use a USB Trackman Mouseball (by logitech). But ever since my usb's died, I've had it hooked up in the usb/ps2 converter.

Logitech software is something that never crossed my mind. I'll go ahead and try the install of logitech software (even tho i loathe it) just to see if it fixes anything.

Thanks for the input Ambassador.

Peterh,
I'm using Intel 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D2
'' '' 24D4
'' '' 24D7
'' '' 24DE
And
Intel 82801EB Enhanced USB2 Universal Host Controller - 24DD

If that helps at all.

Ok, I tried Installing Logitech Mouseware (current version 9.0.7 or something like that), but to no avail. I'm still experiencing the USB Malfunction Problems. I still need to try a reghack and a IRQ fix tho..so we'll see after that.

Ok, last update for today.

I tried the BIOS reset, did nothing.
BTW, I'm running ASUS Mobo P4C800-E, BIOS Rev. 1017, P4 3.2hgz 486 Pin Chipset.

I also investigated the IRQ thing. My Vid Card (ATI Radeon 9550SE), shares an IRQ port (16) with one of my USB Controllers. It says there is no complications, but I can't change it either, its grayed out. So no fix there either.

Lastly I tried the RegEdit thing where you look into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\Vid_xxxxx
folders. Where I didn't find anything folder AT ALL labeled Unknown Device (yes I tried plugging in my usb devices while searching..nothing) Also, I never found the folder 'CSS' but CurrentControlSet was the closest to it.

I've exhausted all options on the thread at this point now.....still need help.

Well, I just bought a webcam and decided it would be better on another computer, so I moved it. But when I uninstalled the software for my webcam on the first computer, it deleted some sort of driver that the other devices require to operate. And when I installed the software again it apparently put the driver back, causing the other devices to work again. I did this twice to confirm.

My advice is this: If you uninstalled some USB device when your problem started, install it again. (If you ever had any USB device on your computer and you don't have it on that computer anymore then try installing it on that computer again, I think it's worth a try.)

Another thing you can do is to go in to the Device Manager and look for "USB 2.0 Root Hub" Or something named like that, and open the properties for it, click on the "Driver" tab, click on "Update Driver", click "Next", select "Display a list of known drivers", click on "Next", select "Show all hardware of this device class", and start browsing around trying to install different drivers.

I really feel for you all, I know what you're going through because it happened to me. I will do my BEST to help.

P.S.
I'm sorry if it's hard to understand what I'm talking about but I have a busy week, therefor I have to be quick when I write this stuff.

i made progress by starting to use the USB ports on the back of my Toshiba Satellite laptop. At least now I can occasionally get my laptop to recognize the iPod Shuffle for a few seconds. I read that the front USB ports don't have enough power. Seems like that might be true.

So, now i still usually get a "USB Device Not Recognized", but when I am able to get into iTunes and it almost recognized my shuffle, it says 'bad format', and then says 'error' when it attempts to format the iPod.

i have a new ipod and know i'll be able to use it at work computer. my laptop usb ports died a few months ago, so i sold my ipod. can't use my external hard drive, printer, nada - so it's something with the hardware/windows, for sure.

Hi, decided to join in, have read all of this thread, and have tried most things.

My problem is with my Trust 1200 Graphics tablet, which i have had since december 2003- no problems with it, ever.
But I got a new computer this january... and wahey, look what little message pops up when i connect it! bah.

(Some details...
Acer AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+ 2.01 GHz, XP Media Center Edition, service pack 2, version 2002. Ask if you need more. Its brand new so i wouldnt think anything would be outta date, has all the updates.)

I tried the unplugging thing (30mins). Nope
Checked BIOS. Nope
Deleted Registry unknown file crap... and it worked!.... for a few seconds anyway, then i think it fixed itself back to unknown device.

Something to note- it workes fine on another, similar computer, no problems at all... so i thought Id try and export the registry files from the pc it works on and copy them into my unknown device registry file.... this time when i plugged it in, it came up 'usb human interface device' but sadly didnt work... it was a longshot, lol!

So yeah... if anyone wants to try that method they should... may work for them... and if anyone has any suggestions for me, yay!
Cheers, penguin

Alright so a quick update: as I presumed windows vista did not solve the problem.

I do have a logitech mouse just for the record but I never installed any software for it.

Last thing: if this was just some kind of driver problem, wouldn't reformatting have fixed it?

Well, I guess I had a unique problem if my solution didn't work for any of you. I guess you could always just harass the motherboard mfg or even Microsoft to try getting them to fix it.

I'm sorry but I can't think of anything else that would fix the problem.

I have a m audio midiman 4x4 usb and a logitech optical mouse plugged in to the usb ports on the mobo. I plugged my lexmark usb printer into the front usb port. The printer was turned on when I plugged it into the usb port. Suddently my mouse ceased to move the pointer, but still was getting power (the laser was still on). At this point my m audio midiman 4x4 was still operational. So I unplugged the midiman and mouse, then plugged the mouse into midiman's port. No joy. I then plugged the midiman back into its port, and it didn't work.

At this point I was getting the infamous "USB Device Not Recognized" bubble. So I proceded to update all my drivers, which was very hard due to the fact my mouse didn't work. No joy. I uninstalled all the usb controllers from the device manager window, rebooted the pc, the drivers reinstalled upon reboot but no joy there. I did make sure the mouse and midiman still functioned correctly on my laptop.

I then pressed cntl + r, for the run dialog, and typed in msinfo32 to run system info. I expanded the "Software Enviroment" and selected "windows error reporting." I pinpointed exactly when the problems began and saw a list of the same error over and over again.

"3/20/2007 12:53 PM MsiInstaller Detection of product '{C6F5B6CF-609C-428E-876F-CA83176C021B}', feature 'Complete' failed during request for component '{6EA56B47-0667-460E-A91B-53AA80E3616D}'
"

have no idea if this has anything to do with the problem, just wanted y'all to see what I found just in case one of you recognized it.

well after all that I finally found this forum (with my laptop). So I tried the "usb restack". But I didn't delete my usb controllers first. I just shutdown, turn off the power supply, and unplug the power cord. I left it like that for 45min, i went to mcdonalds, came back plugged the power back in, turn the power supply on, and booted. Joy joy joy my mouse works. but my midiman don't, but I think I just need to reinstall the drivers for that (the midiman has always been a little sensitive).

as a side note, if the power off thing didn't work I was going to go into c:/windows/system and delete the usbport.sys, and usbhost.sys files manually then reboot. don't know if windows would automatically downloaded new ones, but I told my self I would find new ones somewhere.

hope this helps and thank you guys so much, I was about to rip my hair out, and get a pci-e usb card

*sigh* my poor usb's lol.

Ambassador, I'll go ahead and try your re-installing ALL former usb programs, just as a last ditch effort...

I don't wanna spend the money for a new mobo, but I might be out of options.

Guys,

Here's my problem and the solution that worked for me.

As usual, I take no responsibility for what this does to your pc,
should you try this and screw thing up it's your responsibility.

DELL Precision 390 WindowsXP pro SP2, a brand new PC.
Sony Ericsson W300I phone.

I plugged the phone into the USB port and the USB mouse died and stayed dead - same problem as everyone else. I tried the usual fixes to no avail.

Next I tried booting the PC using Linux Knoppix (For those in the dark, Linux is an alternative operating system to Windows and dosen't use any Microsoft code or configuration settings whatsoever), thus eliminating WindowsXP and the c:\ drive from the equation. Result, mouse still wouldn't work, so the problem isn't with WindowsXP or the registry.

Next re-booted WindowsXP, went to the control-panel/administrative-tools/computer-management tool and selected the Device manager. I then deleted each of the Universal Serial Bus controllers until my USB keyboard died. I then shut down the PC, unplugged it from the mains, waited five minutes then re-booted.

Result - problem solved, the mouse now works and so does the phone.

I therefor suspect that the problem lies somewhere with the non-volatile memory that holds USB settings, I guess that if these settings are wiped by the computer management tool/power cut, they are rebuilt from scratch when the system is re-powered/booted.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Guys.

Andy,
The operation you describe is called "Restacking the USB Drives"
Which indeed worked for me once.

But the problem came back again soon after, and restacking the usb's a 2nd time didn't cure it.

Hi everyone. I've been having just about the same problem here. A while back I was using a Dell Pentium 4 PC and my iPod/iTunes worked fine with that (although the PC itself was horrid) but recently after building myself a new Core2Duo-based PC, I've not been able to get Windows XP to recognise my ipod. Every time I plug in the ipod the same "USB Device Not Recognized" bubble pops up and under device manager it shows up as "Unknown Device".

I've searched the web for 3 days already and I've done every thing suggested with the exception of uninstalling all my usb drivers. The reason I did not try this is cos I'm using a USB keyboard and mouse and am afraid that I will not be able to use the computer at all if they're not recognised (due to drivers being uninstalled plus I don't readily have a ps2 mouse/keyboard at the moment), although I'm not sure if this will be the case as my BIOS appears to support USB mice/keyboards at startup (it can be disabled as well).

The weird thing is that all my other USB devices work with absolutely no problem whatsoever, no matter which USB port I plug them into. Apart from the keyboard and mouse I'm also using a Canon printer, a Wacom tablet and at times I plug in my Playstation Portable to transfer stuff to and from my pc - all via USB, and with no problem at all. The only thing that seems to be causing this is the iPod.

I really hope that this is some kinda software bug that can and will be ironed out soon. I'm not a fanboy, but I like Apple products and I could have bought any MP3 player but chose the (generally more expensive) iPod cos I've never had a problem with Apple's stuff in the past. I'm not jumping to conclusions, don't get me wrong, but I would be really disappointed if this is something that's going to cause me to shell out more money to fix.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I tried plugging the ipod into my sister's PC and the same problem persists. With both my PC and her's, the iPod charges thru the USB connection but refuses to be recognized, not even as a drive under "My Computer".

Thats definately a weird problem.

The problem we are all having doesn't appear to be a software problem like you might have. When we plug our 'defective' device into ANY other computer, it works fine.

I'm thinking that the source of our problems is a hardware defect in the USB ports...or maybe a bad motherboard, as some seem to have fixed their problem by replacing the motherboard, something I am not willing to do....yet.

I hope you get yours fixed.

While I'm on the subject, has anyone in this thread fixed their problem yet? Or are we all still completely lost?

UPDATE:

I ran the HP scan, and it came up with nothing.
I'm going to go ahead and uninstall the drive from device manager and see what happens.

WHOOPS - THE PRECEDING POST WAS POSTED IN THE WRONG FORUM, IGNORE IT, I APOLOGIZE.

Hi, I'm an italian guy who is experiencing the same problem as you.
I bought a HP DV6276EA Laptop a couple of months ago and in the first one I never had problems with my usb peripherals.
After the first month, all new peripherals results as Unknown Devices, but the ones used in the past still work.
To check if it's an HW or SW problem, I download the Linux Knoppix 5.1 Live CD and booted my PC under Linux, and all peripherals works without any problem.
So, I exclude that, in my case and in the one similar to mine, it could be an hardware problem or a problem caused by the notherboard, it's just a bug of Windows Vista, so we must wait for a fix.

PS. Fix 925528 doesn't work on my system.
PS2. Sorry for my poor english...

My problem is on a Windows XP Machine.
I still can't solve this one.

If your vista update didn't work, try contacting HP, they will probably end up replacing your motherboard. So far that is the only solution for this problem that I have been able to find.

I don't think that replacing my motherboard will resolve my problem.
As I sayd, all works as well under Linux, so motherboard has not any problem...

Ah.

Well then, your stuck on the same boat I am
Join the club...

If for some reason you find a resolution, let us know.
Ive tried many many things to no avail. You can find a complete reference of things others and myself have tried on these 9 pages...

Good luck.

I've tried everything in the previous pages and nothing solved my problem.
It's very strange that the problem is present even on Windows XP, I thought that it was a Windows Vista bug... well, I hope Microsoft will do something for us, I payd the OS (it was pre-installed on the laptop) and I want to use it at all, not only with old peripherals...

Bye

If this problem is occuring on your PC, try a different power supply. The guy who's PC was crashing randomly is more than likely a PSU problem.

Adding the extra USB device could be the straw that broke the camels back, drawing that little bit too much power and crashing everything.

If the whole PC shutsdown, its probably that or overheating.

For laptop users, try faffing about in the BIOS for something related to USB. Turn it off, boot, turn it on, boot and try again. You'll find the option in Integrated Peripherals, Connectivity or similar. (Hammer F2 or delete during start up; straight after you switch on your PC).

If a USB device isn't recognised in your PC, try it in another to see if the same problem continues. If it does, the device is to blame not your computer. Newer USB devices ONLY work with USB 2.0 and not 1.0 or 1.1 which can cause Windows to say that its not recognised. If its a cheap USB device then it'll not be backwards compatible with 1.0 or 1.1.

My aging Sony Vaio loses the whole side connectivity if its on battery power randomly. That includes the USB ports and the sound card. It acts as if they aren't there, which sounds like a power issue. Sticking the power cable in and restarting fixes the problem.

Just to let you know, Microsoft unfortunately don't care about your problems as you have already bought their product. The Vista bug will be worked out by the motherboard manufacturer not by Microsoft. Check their site for additional updated drivers.

Hope this helps someone

In my BIOS there's nothing about USB peripherals, and I don't think that USB is the problem itself, because even SD and MMC cards suffer the same problem, only one works, the one used when everything was ok, all the others don't.
So, it's a Windows Vista problem because he can't recognize any new peripheral, or better he recognize them (if I put a pendrive he tells me that is a flash drive, if I put a SD card he recognize it as a SD card) but doesn't want to let them run, telling that no drivers was found.

Yesterday I flashed my BIOS with a new version but nothing has changed...

Italian HP customer care solved my problem.
I wrote them my problem and they asked me so:
1) go in the peripherals list, My Computer->Manage
2) right-click on the unknown peripheral
3) select Update software driver
4) specify the path C:\Windows\system32

I thought they were joking, because windows usually scan system32 automatically to find a driver for the device, and I even tried to tell the system to scan whole HDD for a driver in the past and nothing was found.

Now I tried what HP suggested me and... it happened, my pendrive has been found and installed correctly!

I don't know what to say, that ridiculous, a ridiculous Windows bug!

Now the only thing I must discover is how to tell the system to scan system32 directory automatically... someone knows?

You could try this:

Start -> Run:
regedit

browse to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

Create or edit data which name is Installation Sources (data type REG_MULTI_SZ)
add the "C:\Windows\System32" to it.

I made what you suggested but the path is already present.
Could it be a matter of access permissions?

Greystar, thats AWESOME!!
That worked on a Vista PC though, right?

I can't believe I didn't think of that myself.
I'm currently in the process of moving, but once I get my PC unpacked again, I'm sure gonna give that a try. Hopefully it works on XP PC's too... *crosses fingers*

Having recently had the same 'device not recognized' message after moving my XP machine, I have read this thread entirely and have solved my problem by simply uninstalling all of my USB devices in Device Manager, shutting down and unplugging for half an hour then re-booting as normal with all devices in place.

Win XP Home not only recognized all previously unrecognized devices but also found a driver online to make my aerial dongle work and told me how to make my Lacie external hard drive operate faster too! I have rebooted since and all is still good.

I don't know if it will last or work for everyone. I seldom have a good word for Microsoft but this time they seem to have come up trumps.

I think the key with most MS problems is to think as simply as possible. No need to format or fiddle with the bios or registry, just disassemble and let MS try to put it back together!

Hope that helps.

A slight aside:

Like politicians and most corporates, Microsoft is driven by marketing. They love catch phrases like 'plug and play'. What they actually mean is that each device will be covered by a driver that will make it work on their operating systems. What they don't say is that their operating system is actually more basic and less clever than the slogan that their marketing people devised.

Don't be fooled by words!

i have had this problem for about a year and a half now, i first bought my laptop 2 years ago, from IbuyPower.com (not a name brand). no problems whatsoever during the first six months, then suddenly my USB devices started not being recognised. ok no woop my USB device died....just to check however i try it on another computer on which it works fine...ok then. After this my ports fixed and died on and off i could not find a patern. i contacted the manufacturer none of their over the phone solutions worked i sent the computer in, they sent it back saying the problem was fixed. it was for about 10 hours then it came back, at this point my warranty was over (wonderful) since then ive tried every single solution ive found [including those found in this thread i hadnt tried before]..none have worked...however i have found some odd trends:

Global trends-
- This seems to occur Mostly on laptops
- nothing known will fix it but it often fixes itself temporarily
- turning off a computer, unplugging power/supply for 30 mins will make them work again sometimes (something about the Mobo getting too much juice)

personal trends-
Assuming they are fixed at the time
-exessive use of my Wireless card (internet) seems coreletated to when they crash
-Computer heat seems corelated to when they crash
-Computer 'power plan' seems to make diferences
-leaving a computer on too long and they crash
- leaving my hand on the laptop near the USB ports seems to cause them to crash (may be related to heat?)
-sometimes crash for a sec, and come right back, at this time my mouse's LED blinks wildely, shuts off, blinks wildely again, if my mouse comes back online the LED works again, if it doesnt the LED shuts off

Assuming they are broken at the time:
-leaving a computer on for extended periods of time *may make them work again
-turning everythign off, and unplugging any and all power supplies (battery included) for the night makes them turn on again fairly consistently (95% of the time), again this solution was suggested for Mobo getting overload of juice

other trends:
even though they do not detect devices, they provide power e.g.- my cooling plate USB powered works, even though none of my devices are recognized (this has been reported by diferent people over the net)

Solutions i have tried-
1) reinstalling all my USBS
2) restacking them
3)reformating (to my dismay this did Nothing)
4) upgrading to vista
5) all the registry things
6) all the BIOS things
7) IRQ things
8) and many other solutions

most of these solutions did nothing, and those that did are only temporary and eratic, the only one i can use fairly consistently is a complete shutdown and removal of power for long periods of time (over 12 hours) this will make them work again for short periods of time.

I am really hoping someone can come up with an actual permanent solution, as this makes gaming (and many other things Photoshop etc etc) extremlly hard

You may have already did this, but did you try to contact the company and ask what they did to "fix" the problem, also telling them that it did not work? If the work was done under warranty, then they should honor it and work with you.

Is the laptop always connected directly to a power outlet, or through a surge protector? Does it happen only when on battery power or anytime, regardless?

I would also appreciate some feed back. Because I am still having problems too =/

So I guess that the Vista upgrade didn't work?

aye i did ask them and i got no answers..and they didnt honor it

hmm well the laptop is connected through surge protector usually but at school or my freinds it is connected in normal plugs, and the problem happens regardless of battery power our outlet

nope it didnt...a solution that ive though of, may be to buy a PCI USB port card..it wont fix your actual USBs but itll let you use USBs...however ive seen reports where they work, and others where the same problem over with their new card.

another solution ive thought of bu not tried yet, again this wouldn fix your current problem but maybe allow you to use USBs, is if you computer has Printer ports or firewire or PS/2 ports...maybe find a converter/adapter so you can plug you devices into these ports instead?

i have not tried either of these solutions, as i dont have enough money to buy a 40$ dollar PCI card or adapter (expensive for laptops) and i havent found a converter/adaptor (i know there are ps/2 ones, but my laptop has no ps/2 ports

I also have the same problem.. USB DEVICE NOT RECOGNIZED!!!
I plugged my EPSON printer after I brought it in a repairshop,, and guess what??? The balloon pop-up and said that it didn't recognized my printer. What?? So I reinstall the cd, but it didn't solve my problem. I read all this thread about USB DEVICE NOT RECOGNIZED. I tried to shut my pc and disconnect the main socket. But nothing happened?! I also tried the BIOS thingy and it didn't help. I use windows XP.

Now, I can't use my mp3, digicam, and my nokia PC suite.

If you find the solution for this fiasco, just post it. Im desperate!!! Next week I'll try to reformat my PC, even though it didn't work for you. Thanks guys!!

Yeah, one of my USB Devices is a Logitech Mouse that runs through USB. I happen to have a USB/PS2 Converter (came with the mouse, yippee), all I did was plug the mouse into the converter, then plug that into the PS/2 port for the mouse, and the mouse works that way. But using the USB port directly into the computer does not work.

I kinda figured that upgrading to Vista wouldn't fix the problem. But thanks for the confirmation.

I don't see how adding a new PCI card with usb ports would work, means how it would still be running off the Motherboard which seems to be the cause of the problem. People have reported that replacing the Motherboard is a sure fire fix.

I have another question though, has anyone tried switching from Windows to Linux OS? Perhaps the usb problem is a M$ Windows Software bug??? The way I see it, is if you switch to Linux and your USB ports work again, we can start knocking on M$'s door.

in this thread itself, some people had luck with the Windows->Linux switch, others it didn't do anything for them. this is the only place where i have seen that idea considered so i don't have any other results to compare to sorry.

as for it being motherboard based...USB-ports on Laptops are part of the mo-bo, intergrated into it, therefore replacing the mo-bo as that gentleman had done in this thead for his laptop would have replaced the USB's meaning we do not know if it is mo-bo or USB oriented problem

OK. I have a pentium D 3.4Ghz machine with a 661GX-M7 motherboard.

I have a GForce FX5200 128mb video card, with 1.5 GB of ram. Recently upgraded.

I have Windows XP.

I have solved the "USB device is not recognised" problem, by going into the bios and disabling "USB 2.0 Support" option. (near "USB Legacy Support", and "USB Mouse Support"). Everything works fine. My 512k internet connection has no slow down in ping for games and everything works fine.

Yeah my data transfer will be slower on my 1G memory stick but who cares? I use it once a month for relatively small files so it's not like I need the speed.

No other solutions worked and I couldn't be bothered trying anything else.

So it comes down to only an issue with 2.0 on my system. If this works for other people, then the problem must have something to do with USB 2.0

i could find no such option in my BIOS sadly could you be clearer as to where you had to go to find it?

Borg22, what model number is this laptop?

I have had this problem on my Acer laptop for about 2 years. ACER advised me to reinstall Windows XP (I passed) and I ended up buying a PCMCIA - USB card. It was about $30 and has 2 USB 2.0 ports. Only now, my card is starting to act up. Could be the card going bad... I am now looking at Bluetooth USB hubs. Anyone tried that?

its a custom made ibuypower Battalion S-turbo laptop..not sure what he model number would be closest thing i can find is:

258ka0

Thanks to all who have contributed. My issue is similar but involves AT&T/Cingular's (HTC) 8525 model pocket PC using the USB cable to sync. Some days it recognizes just fine, and on others it does not.

I am on a Dell Inspiron 9400 using Vista. I, like many others, believe this is a Microsoft USB/Human Interface Device subsystem issue. BIOS adjustments, PC reboots, removing all other USB devices does not seem to work. The only thing that has worked for me is to reboot the PC and perform a soft reset on the phone.
It has worked everytime for me. My wireless Microsoft USB laptop mouse has never had an issue, but it is less complex. Think about it - iPods, Smart Phones, Pocket PC phones, and the like are running a separate mobile OS, so there is a much more elaborate handshake going on.

This issue would have already been resolved if large companies used USB devices as a common practice since they are the ones with the premium Microsoft support contracts (I used to work for AIG and we would have a top notch Microsoft developer on the phone with us of and on for weeks tearing into the guts of COM objects, hang dumps, the works). Unfortunately, though, this is not an enterprise software issue and will not have the same urgency. If anyone knows of a good .NET programmer with some spare time, they could probably get some detailed info through their IDE tools that would provide clarification in how the USB/HID handshake works.

I'll drop a post at some Pocket PC sites and others as well.

Wildman94

Wow...my eyes are bulging out of my head after all the "usb device not recognized" posts I've read. On my Acer Aspire 1804, I simply went to Device Manager and uninstalled the "Unknown device," as well as the Intel 82801FB/FBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 265C. Then I rescanned my hardware and WinXP reloaded both items. Lastly, I unplugged the device and immediately plugged it back in again...and it worked. Every time! This only an occasional problem, but since this is a USB world, it becomes an even bigger problem when you need the device NOW!

Not sure about all the stuff others are doing with editing the registry and unplugging batteries for a half an hour. Seems like a waste of time. As an AV/IT consultant, I don't have that kind of time to be waiting around for a fix to happen. Hope a fix comes with USB 2.X or 3.X.

I have got the dreaded "USB Device Not Recognized" bug. I have tried just about everything in this forum. Nothing has worked. By the way, due to all the attention, my computer is running the best its every run. The only problem is, it will not recognize any USB devices. Device manager states that USB's are working fine. However, when I place a USB device in the port, it comes up with "USB Device Not Recognized." Everything works ok in my laptop so it's not my USB devices.

I have an AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+ with 2.1Gb of Ram and I run Windows XP SP2 Professional. The motherboard is a MSI K8N SLI Platinum. My dilemma is that I cannot find the same motherboard to replace it (that's if it is a hardware problem). I don't think they make them anymore. Anyhow, it's nearly two years old.

I would like to fit the problem because the computer still does the job. So, I look with interest for more solutions. By the way, I tried the PS/2 conversion to USB, but it didn't work. As I said, everything else works except for USB Device. It's a mystery.

I just discovered that if I have any USB devices attached to the computer when starting the computer, it will not start up. In fact, it locks up immediately. When I take the USB device out and press reset, it starts as normal. Still looking for some pointers to fix the the problem.

I gave up and found another motherboard. I will let you all know how things go once I put the new motherboard in.

Lawd, I feel so stupid. The problem (for me) lies with the drivers for the Intel 82801FB/FBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller. It's not a hardware problem. It's a driver problem.

You can buy a USB 2.0 card or put in a new motherboard, but you would still be using the same drivers. So, you would still wind up with the same problem down the road. Some people on here have it right: The workaround is to disable USB 2.0 support. But I edit video and need the speed (until I switch to firewire).

I wonder if it's possible to use Linux drivers to solve this problem? Hhhmmm.....

Just today, I experienced the dreaded "USB Device Not Recognized" balloon. Great.

My Specs:
Dell Precision 380
Windows XP Pro, SvcPk2
2GB Ram
Pentium D 3GHZ

Here is a list of my USB devices that I normally have plugged in at one time or another:

SmartDisk card reader
Dell optical mouse
Maxim keyboard
Motorola Q Docking station
Iriver 4GB Clix

I had returned from a meeting and noticed that my screen saver was activated, as it should be. I always lock my computer when walking away, as I work in cubicle land. Sort like the movie "Office Space".

I docked my Motorola Q, and a second later plugged in my Iriver to charge the battery. At this point, the computer locked up. The screen saver no longer responed, and the keyboard and mouse were dead. I powered the system down with the power button and waited a few mintues. I then powered it back up and noted that ALL of my USB ports were not responding. Great.

After messing around with removing the USB devices in Device Manager, I found this site and read the entire thread. A few posts back somebody talked about going into the Registry Editor and removing any USB keys that had "Unknown" keys in them. I did find one key that had unknown USB devices. I deleted this one, and checked the rest of the registry entries. I then shutdown the system, and then unplugged it for about 5 minutes. When i fired it back up, I was not greeted with the dreaded "USB Device Not Recognized" balloon. I grabbed a USB mouse, said a quick prayer, and plugged in the USB mouse.....it worked. Amazing, well it has worked for now.

I have since plugged in my Motorola Q, Iriver Clix, keyboard, mouse, and SmartDisk card reader, and they all appear to be working fine. I have even plugged int a USB 2GB thumb drive, and it appeared correctly and is working correctly.

It appears that the ONE Unknown USB device was messing it up for the entire bunch of USB ports. All of my ports were not responding.

I did find an article on Mircosoft's site about the screensaver being on, then plugging in USB devices within 10 seconds of the screen saver coming out of S5 or S6, things would go bad. I followed their directions, but they didn't work (no surprise there).

I have concluded that my next computer purchase will be a MAC. Based on Microsoft's lack of interest in fixing their own operating system, massive security problems, problems with their new operating systems, disregard for the public's concerns, and an apparent inability to address the issues; I'm done with Microsoft's junk.

I have an MCSA and I provide computer support for a large population of Windows users. However, my own personal preference is now MAC. Since the Knuckle Dragging Goons at Microsoft have no interest in fixing their junk, I predict more and more people will be joining the MAC ranks.

ARE YOU READING MICROSOFT!

Omg guys, i tried plugging my ipod into the computer and it told me "USB Device Not Recognized" and i tried everything i could imagine to fix this, but nothing worked, and it's driving me crazy. If you kno the sure answer, plz let me know


e-mail: wilson_duarte@yahoo.com
aim: williedakid62389

thnxs

Wow, looks like we have some new people in the post.
Alright, well as promised a while back, I bring forth a new update.

I am still ailed with the same problem, and I finally got around to talking to Alienware Support (i have an alienware area-51 gaming pc).

I ran the whole problem by them, and even directed them to THIS thread. The AW Support guy told me to flash my bios to the most current revision that my motherboard can use (ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard), I was using REV 1017 by alienware, and I upgraded to 1024.001 Beta from the ASUS site. This did not fix my problem. I was further instructed to check the USB Connector heads on the motherboard, and if that does not fix it, I should replace my motherboard.

Seems like all tech support leads to the same place, replacement of faulty motherboard. That sux.

I have also tried disabling the usb 2.0 drivers in the bios menu, but that did not fix my problem either.

I am pretty much at my wits end on this one. Pleeing to M$ doesn't seem to help, and up to date, nobody has found a definate fix. I'm still looking though. Thanks to everyone who has been adding to this thread, and I hope that help and support keeps coming until we find a cure.

EDIT - I have never been able to find the registry entry that has the "Unknown USB Devices" in it, I have looked in every Vid_XXX folder I can find, but never find the unknown usb device entry...So that fix has not been able to work for me either =/

so that means that so far, there's no way to fix this problem

Kain;

I am not probably be of much help, but figure that I can throw some free floating ideas into the mix. You have a complex array of bios options with your motherboard. Since you upgraded the bios, did you check the bios settings for USB fully? Sometimes the default settings, if that is what you chose when you upgraded the bios, miss a few things. In the users manual for the Asus motherboard, section 4.4.6, note the options in the Advanced-->USB Configuration. Are all eight ports activated?

Is legacy USB support set to auto?

What do the other settings say?

Guys, I've been following this thread as I too have the USB issue with my brand new MSI P35 Platinum, and I'm on the verge of returning it.

While searching the MSI Forums, I found this article regarding the tenth pin on MB USB connectors creating all sorts of problems.
http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=57472.0

Does anyone think this issue relates to our problem here?

Yes, yep, and yes.

I actually come here with some good news, for me at least.

After talking to Alienware Tech Support for the last few days, I have managed to resolve my problem.

At this point I'm extremely embarrased to say that the problem on my system at least was caused by a dirty USB Header. Also, my USB Header was not connected all the way on my front usb ports.

The AW tech support guy basically told me 2 things to help fix the problem, 1) update BIOS (which looking back now, I didn't really have to do), and 2) Check USB Headers and see if they are in working shape.

After checking on my headers, I noticed that one of them wasn't securely fastened, so I cleaned em up, fastened them, and crossed my fingers hoping that my USB Ports would work again. The time it took for my system to boot up, launch windows, and start my initial programs (a 30-45 second process) seemed like an eternity. I couldn't wait to plug a usb device in, I finally did, and JOY!

I pluged in a differnt MP3 player then the one I mentioned in this thread, and low and behold, I almost cried when Windows recognized the usb device, installed its drivers, and updated them. Holy cow, my problem is solved. After 7 loooooong months I can use my USB Ports again.

So for those of you who still have the problem, check your USB Headers! Maybe it will work for you.

For those not as tech savy, the USB Headers are the connection slots on your Motherboard that connects the wire from the motherboard to the front end usb ports. Unplug the wire on both sides, blow some canned air into the connectors, clean the pins, fasten the wire back in tightly. Experience joy, hopefully.

Lets just hope that this isn't a temp fix, I sincerely hope I won't have these problems anymore.

To all you out there who have the USB Device Not Recognized problem:

I was struggling with this issue for several days and finally found the ultimate solution (well not exactly a solution but more of a workaround - hey but what the hec? it works!!!)

I've noticed that many of you have taken extreme (and costly) measures such as formatting your hard drives and replacing motherboards - in most cases this was ineffective, so here's what I advise:

Laptop users: Go to the nearest computer accessory department and purchase a PCMCIA-to-USB adapter. There are many cheap ones out there that can provide you up to 2-3 USB sockets on them... if more are needed just plug in a USB HUB into this adapter and you're all set. (Let's face it - no one uses PCMCIA anymore but they still exist on EVERY Laptop)

PC Users: Follow the same procedure as Laptop users after buying a PCMCIA socket for your desktop.

Total cost: 60 USD

Good luck and remember that workarounds are often better than solutions :-)

Ari

Have you turned the computer off and on again?

I tried a lot of things to get rid of USB Device not Recognized. I was getting it on all USB devices except the mouse. All USB devices had been working before. I tried to update drivers, even installed XP on a second disk, then dialed a friend. I laughed when he said "Did you turn it off and on again?", but THAT'S WHAT WORKED!

After I shut down XP and pulled the plug out of the computer for a few secs, then powered up - all USB devices recognized, until I came to a camera. USB Device not Recognized. So powered off and on again. All USB devices recognized again (except the camera).

Theory? Probably unplugged the camera when it was switched on. This probably buggered the camera interface. Then whenever the camera was plugged in it put the USB controller into some funny state so that it rejected most USB devices.

Dear All,

In regards to "USB Device Not Recognized" after personally having tasted it and searching for solutions, i have found a way it can be resolved. The following is what i did to resolved this USB issue:

Unplug your USB Device first. You will plug it in again the final steps.

Before you do this, do a backup of your registry:
Start-Run- type in "regedit" (without quotations) and click ok.
registy window will pop up. Go to File - Export and save to a location of your choice.

1)Delete the follwing folders and its contents ( if found) in the :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\ENUM\USB\Vid_xxxx
Note:You need to set permission to delete the folder Vid_xxxx
Right Click on the Vid_xxx and set permission and then do the delete.

2)Go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services

Check if there is a key name USB, if its not there then create a new key USB

If key found check for any DWORD value name as DisableSelectiveSuspend
if found then set its dword value as 1. If not found, then create a new DWORD value and name it: DisableSelectiveSuspend
Add the value as 1 to it.

3) Check for any chipset driver/inf update available for your motherboard. If found any, do a update them. To know what motherboard and chipset your system has, go to http://www.cpuid.com/ and download the cpuzid utility. a simple good utility to identilfy the chipset and etc. Using the info you can google for the chipset updates.

4) Restart your computer after all these been done. Restart even if there is no chipset drivers to update.
5) go to Start - Run and type in :"devmgmt.msc"(without quotation)and click OK. Device Manager will pop up.

5) In the Device Manager, scroll down to usb serial bus controller. uninstall everthing you see there.

6) now scroll to system devices ( pls note in the