Computer Freezes when flash drive or external drive inserted in US

[Guest]

Can anyone please help. Using WinXP home SP2.
All other devices work in any of the USB ports. Flash drive and external
hard drive previously worked ok. I have tried re-installing USB drivers. When
computer freezes it totally locks up and I cannot reset it by any means. I
end up having to power it off.

 

[Guest]

Hello,

Do other devices work ok on the same usb plug ?
Normally you have at least two usb hubs on the mainboard alone, so try
plugin the HD or thumb drive somewhere else. To check which Hub is used, open
your Devicemanager and open the USB Node ..
You may also want to check how much power it uses ( USB Maximum is 500 MA i
think ). To see if this is causing the Problem, try an active USB Hub
connected to your PC. An active USB Hub is one with an external Power Supply
( = you have to connect the Hub to a power supply unit )

Removing of Drivers:
Unplug the Devices for which you want to remove the Drivers. Do not replug
them before you restarted the PC ( they get autodetected and come back from
the dead )
First look here to see all "old" drivers:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315539/en-us
Description on how to remove Drivers:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/support/driver.mspx. Just
follow the Headline: How to reinstall a device driver. Do not restart after
each driver!
Remove all Storage etc. driver which are softed out ( remember to keep those
for your cam etc. which are currently not connected ) After that remove the
infcache. The Infcache is a file where Win XP caches installations, for
faster access. Normally it is located in : C:\WINDOWS\inf. But to be sure
better search your whole Systemdrive ( normally C: ) including all hidden,
system etc. folders for infcache. Now Reboot. All newer external HD´s and
Thumb Drives work with Win XP SP2 out of the Box. Just connect the Drive and
see if it comes back.

Alf Maier

 

[Guest]

I have already checked all usb ports and problem follows flash drive and
external hard drive only. These devices work ok on other PC's.
I have already checked the power used by the devices to be ok. These devices
worked ok on the computer before.
I uninstalled all usb drivers as suggested including the usb mouse, removed
the "cache." file and still same problem. (I previously did this except for
the mouse)
I also checked Sis website for an updated driver for Sis 7001 usb
controllers but winxp sp2 has the latest drivers.

Is it possible installing Itunes could have something to do with problem??

Thanks for your reply but I still have the problem.

 

[Guest]

I have already checked all usb ports and problem follows flash drive and
external hard drive only. These devices work ok on other PC's.
I have already checked the power used by the devices to be ok. These devices
worked ok on the computer before.
I uninstalled all usb drivers as suggested including the usb mouse, removed
the "cache." file and still same problem. (I previously did this except for
the mouse)
I also checked Sis website for an updated driver for Sis 7001 usb
controllers but winxp sp2 has the latest drivers.

Is it possible installing Itunes could have something to do with problem??

Thanks for your reply but I still have the problem.

 

[R. McCarty]

You not only have a power limitation, but also a total Bandwidth on
the USB controller. Some devices such as media players consume
a large portion of the 500mA draw. Usually, XP reports issues such
as a current overload - but not always. Also certain combinations of
USB devices can interact and cause lock ups like you describe. On
systems where I run into this, I install a secondary PCI based USB2
card and dedicate it's ports for high demand devices.

 

[Guest]

I would recommend trying an active USB Hub, to check if power Problems are
causing the Problem. You could also buy a PCI USB Card to check on this.

greets

Alf maier