Thanks, this worked for me with a slight mod for my laptop. I could not find this solution anywhere else though...
I disconnected my new IPod Nano while it said "do not disconnect". (I know, I'm a moron). All of my USB hubs and USB devices stopped working, I repeatedly got the Windows message that the USB devices were broken. Couldn't find solution, help desk was useless (except to remind me that I am a moron). I finally found this thread, but it didn't seem to work, because I have a laptop. I had to disconnect the power cord _and_ pull out the battery. Now everything works great. Thank you!!!