The following is based ONLY on speculation, because I have seen this error
message only with respect to CD/DVD drives, not USB or floppy drives.
However, based on the research I did relating to the same error message I
received for my CD drives, this problem may be caused by an incorrect "filter
driver" entry in your registry. Sometimes, certain registry settings can be
made when you install software that uses a device, and if you subsequently
uninstall the s/w, the registry doesn't get properly reset. In the CD context,
this seems to happen with CD/DVD writing s/w, particularly Roxio Easy CD
Creator. According to several MSKB articles, of which 320553 is one, the
problem is in the "UpperFilters" and "LowerFilters" registry entries, and the
solution is to delete them.
The MS KB article can be found at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320553
Before changing your registry, at the very least make a system restore point,
and preferably back up your registry -- just in case. See the "Important"
warning in the MSKB article 320553.
Note that there are 2 "Methods" described in KB 320553. Although MS suggests
you try Method 1 before Method 2, I think Method 2 is safer, especially because
the problem you have is not exactly the problem described in that article.
"Method 2" from KB 320553 is to "uninstall" the devices from Device Manager,
reboot, and let Windows find the device and reinstall the proper driver and
registry settings. I would try this on the floppy drive first, just because
it's a simpler device. Device Manager may not, in fact, show a question mark
next to any of your devices. Uninstall it anyway.
If this works for the floppy, try the USB devices. For the USB devices, use the
"safely Remove Hardware" feature, "stop" any USB devices that are shown to be
running (probably none in your situation), then remove them from Device Manager.
If that doesn't work, "Method 1" also probably won't work, but it may be worth
trying. See "Method 1" in the article for directions. But you DO NOT want to
delete those values in the registry subkey identified in the article -- that's
for your CD drive, which I assume is working properly.
BACK UP YOUR REGISTRY.
I'm not at my WinXP machine right now, so I can't give you precise information,
but from memory --
the subkey ending {4d36e965-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318} identified in MSKB
320553 is for the CD drives. Before and after this subkey are other subkeys in
which the number within the curly braces begins with 4d36e96x, where the x goes
(at least) from 0 to F (I don't recall, there may be more than 16, in which case
some would end 95x or 97x). You should be able to determine by inspecting the
values associated with these subkeys which one relates to the floppy drive.
IF YOU CAN'T DETERMINE WHICH ONE RELATES TO THE FLOPPY, QUIT WITHOUT MAKING ANY
CHANGES TO YOUR REGISTRY.
If you can identify the subkey that relates to the floppy drive, and if there
are values for "UpperFilters" and/or "LowerFilters" follow steps 4 through 8 of
"Method 1" described in the KB article.
I know -- because I poked around in the registry -- that there is an entry as
described above for the floppy drive. I do not know, because I didn't
specifically look for it, if there is a single entry for the USB hub or if there
are separate entries for each USB device. I suspect the latter. Unless someone
with specific knowledge adds to this thread, you'll have to do a bit of
detective work.
Good luck.
