asked on

Win XP Pro won't recognize USB Mass Storage

I have a Dell Dimension running Win XP Pro SP2. It will no longer recognize any USB Mass Storage Devices. I have an MP3 Player, a thum drive, and an external HD, and they all get the same error no matter what USB Connection I plug them into. "USB Device not Recognized". Other USB Devices are working well (Printer, mouse etc).

I've uninstalled all the USB controllers and allowed them to reinstall on a reboot. I tried reinstalling the chipset drivers. Both of these had no effect. Any ideas?

rindi

Use a powered USB Hub between the PC and the device.

hindsight

ASKER

I'll try to dig one up and attempt it as a troubleshooting methond, but it's really not a fix for the problem. I'm also installing SP3 hoping it may replace usbstor.sys/inf, and maybe that will make a difference.

1nmisri

Another option is Remove all USB devices
Go into Device Manager
Uninstall all the USB ports
Reboot
Add your USB devices 1 at a time and let the OS configure USB ports as Plug and Pray...Play

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

rindi

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

orangutang

Here are some possible USB solutions:

Remove all USB drivers with:
https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/ee-stuff/6853-RENEWUSB.zip
, let it reinstall them, delete the "UpperFilters" and "LowerFilters" registry values from:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}
, check:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925196
and the "SIMILAR PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS" section, and run:
rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 C:\WINDOWS\inf\usbstor.inf

hindsight

ASKER

SP3 Had no change. I ran both RENEWUSB.BAT and RMHIDDEV.BAT, but I did not have UpperFilters or LowerFilters in either the Key you specified or the key specified in the MS article ({4D36E980-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}). Very strange. I think my best option may be to do a repar install of Win XP.

rindi

I object. As I mentioned earlier, USB devices can have problems if with power. This isn't anything you can fix through software, as it is a hardware problem. If your hardware doesn't provide enough power the only option is to use a USB HUB that has it's own power, or in some cases you can try using another mainboard or USB controller. An XP repair will have no chance of success in such a case.