Some USB Storage Devices Don't Work - But Some Do

[Lost Texan]

My current challenge is a new Maxtor Onetouch 4 external hard drive. Windows
detects it as an "other device" and gives error code 28 asking for a driver.
It never shows up as a hard drive. The Maxtor is plug and play and should
not need a driver. The Maxtor works fine when plugged into another computer,
so I know the drive and USB cable are okay. I also tried three different USB
ports that work fine with other items (like my printer) plugged into them, so
the ports are okay.

I am running XP home edition, with Service Pack 3 installed.

This issue seems to be part of a pattern that has emerged in the last 6-12
months. Windows recognizes one Ipod but not another. Likewise, it
recognizes one thumb drive but not another.

Microsoft Help and Support has Article ID # 925196 that describes my problem
pretty closely. That article advises to delete an upper filters value and a
lower filters value from specific Registry Keys. I found the keys but
neither an upper nor a lower value showed up.

I hope this description gives enough symptoms for someone to recognize the
actual problem and point me in the right direction. I have been searching
Microsoft's and other user groups for many hours over several days without
finding a solution.

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[Gel]

My current challenge is a new Maxtor Onetouch 4 external hard drive.  Windows
detects it as an "other device" and gives error code 28 asking for a driver.  
It never shows up as a hard drive.  The Maxtor is plug and play and should
not need a driver.  The Maxtor works fine when plugged into another computer,
so I know the drive and USB cable are okay.  I also tried three different USB
ports that work fine with other items (like my printer) plugged into them, so
the ports are okay.

I am running XP home edition, with Service Pack 3 installed.  

This issue seems to be part of a pattern that has emerged in the last 6-12
months.  Windows recognizes one Ipod but not another.  Likewise, it
recognizes one thumb drive but not another.

My XP PC had grief with USB devices, and only way
was to reboot; however XP3 has fixed that.

 

[Moi]

My current challenge is a new Maxtor Onetouch 4 external hard drive.
Windows
detects it as an "other device" and gives error code 28 asking for a
driver.
It never shows up as a hard drive. The Maxtor is plug and play and should
not need a driver. The Maxtor works fine when plugged into another
computer,
so I know the drive and USB cable are okay. I also tried three different
USB
ports that work fine with other items (like my printer) plugged into them,
so
the ports are okay.

I am running XP home edition, with Service Pack 3 installed.

This issue seems to be part of a pattern that has emerged in the last 6-12
months. Windows recognizes one Ipod but not another. Likewise, it
recognizes one thumb drive but not another.

My XP PC had grief with USB devices, and only way
was to reboot; however XP3 has fixed that.

Microsoft Help and Support has Article ID # 925196 that describes my
problem
pretty closely. That article advises to delete an upper filters value and
a
lower filters value from specific Registry Keys. I found the keys but
neither an upper nor a lower value showed up.

I hope this description gives enough symptoms for someone to recognize the
actual problem and point me in the right direction. I have been searching
Microsoft's and other user groups for many hours over several days without
finding a solution.

Thanks for any ideas.

I use the one-touch and it works fine. No drivers. However, I do not use the
(imaging?) software that's on it.

 

[blueman]

Been searching for an answer to a similar usb problem for a week. I've
looked at posts back to 2000 and tried everything. This seems to be
very common yet there is no good answer. I can't figure out why
Microsoft hasn't addressed this. You can follow thread after thread
where someone has tried everything and yet there is no resolution or
answer as to why this is happening

The good news is I finally decided to go with a workaround and went
out and bought (for $37) a usb pci clot card with 4 ports, plugged it
in and it works perfectly. The time I spent searching for an answer
was worth way more than the $37 dollars I spent. This might be an
option for you.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Been searching for an answer to a similar usb problem for a week. I've
looked at posts back to 2000 and tried everything. This seems to be
very common yet there is no good answer. I can't figure out why
Microsoft hasn't addressed this. You can follow thread after thread
where someone has tried everything and yet there is no resolution or
answer as to why this is happening

The good news is I finally decided to go with a workaround and went
out and bought (for $37) a usb pci clot card with 4 ports, plugged it
in and it works perfectly. The time I spent searching for an answer
was worth way more than the $37 dollars I spent. This might be an
option for you.

A couple of comments, first, that kind of card is about $20 where I am,

And second, the fact that the add-on card works points to physical problems
with the physical chips on the original ports (the motherboard). XP is
going to use the same drivers for both physical devices, and of one works
and the other doesn't, the one that doesn't is probably just physically
broken. Unfortunately there are few moving parts to fix in semiconductors,
and if the parts are broken you pretty much can't fix it with software.

HTH
-pk

 

[Functional illiterate ABN]

Been searching for an answer to a similar usb problem for a week. I've
looked at posts back to 2000 and tried everything. This seems to be
very common yet there is no good answer. I can't figure out why
Microsoft hasn't addressed this. You can follow thread after thread
where someone has tried everything and yet there is no resolution or
answer as to why this is happening

The good news is I finally decided to go with a workaround and went
out and bought (for $37) a usb pci clot card with 4 ports, plugged it
in and it works perfectly. The time I spent searching for an answer
was worth way more than the $37 dollars I spent. This might be an
option for you.

Thanks for the info. I just purchased one of these and have yet to attempt to use it Are you using it as a backup or a seperate drive? The reason I bought it was for additional memory in an attempt to relieve my c drive and other drives.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

"Functional illiterate ABN" <Functional illiterate
(e-mail address removed)> wrote in message

I use several external USB drives, mostly as backup and storage, but I never
buy pre-built ones, since you can't know the most important detail - the
maker of the actual disk. Good cases are around $30, 500 gig drives are
around $100, it takes more time to open and toss the packaging than to
assemble the drive.

If you are planning to use external drives for bandwith-hungry applications
like audio or video processing, you should consider FireWire; if so you must
be aware that FireWire does not really support hot-plugging, though it's
supposed to. Hot-plugging can destroy the port circuitry, and this can
become very expensive.

As to the previous poster's issue, though, that looks to me like a defect
with the motherboard port circuitry, and that's why the new card suddenly
allowed the attached devices to function properly.

HTH
-pk

 

[blueman]

A couple of comments, first, that kind of card is about $20 where I am,

And second, the fact that the add-on card works points to physical problems
with the physical chips on the original ports (the motherboard). XP is
going to use the same drivers for both physical devices, and of one works
and the other doesn't, the one that doesn't is probably just physically
broken. Unfortunately there are few moving parts to fix in semiconductors,
and if the parts are broken you pretty much can't fix it with software.

HTH
-pk

There may be a problem with the Motherboard but the only issues I was
having was with the USB ports. As I mentioned, there are endless posts
relating to this issue with few solutions. You can probably get it
cheaper than $37 but this one ws rated high and it's still a lot
cheaper, especially in regard to the cost in time, than replacing the
Motherboard. As I said, this is a "Workaround" that I'm very happy
to live with.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

There may be a problem with the Motherboard but the only issues I was
having was with the USB ports.

Yes, specifically with the USB controller chips on the motherboard.

That's why things work properly with the new card - you aren't using the
defective / damaged chips on the motherboard.

As I mentioned, there are endless posts
relating to this issue with few solutions.

It might be interesting, in a rather boring way, to correlate these posts
with the actual USB chips and boards involved.

In your case, it's pretty clear that the problem had nothing to do with
Windows, aside from Windows being unable to detect the damage to the chips.

You can probably get it
cheaper than $37 but this one ws rated high and it's still a lot
cheaper, especially in regard to the cost in time, than replacing the
Motherboard. As I said, this is a "Workaround" that I'm very happy
to live with.

It's certainly the easiest way to do it, and in addition demonstrates the
underlying problem.

-pk

 

[Lost Texan]

Thanks for all of the posts. Patrick raises an interesting question about
the motherboard but I have a confounding symptom (I think) in my case: All of
my USB ports work with any of the devices that the computer recognizes. None
of them work with devices that the computer does not recognize. One flash
drive is recognized but another is not; one Ipod is recognized but another is
not; the Maxtor One Touch 4 is not recognized in any port. All of the
devices that the computer will not recognize are instantly recognized on
another computer.

Does that detail make any difference in anyone's thinking? Thanks again.

 

[Functional illiterate ABN]

Thanks for all of the posts. Patrick raises an interesting question about
the motherboard but I have a confounding symptom (I think) in my case: All of
my USB ports work with any of the devices that the computer recognizes. None
of them work with devices that the computer does not recognize. One flash
drive is recognized but another is not; one Ipod is recognized but another is
not; the Maxtor One Touch 4 is not recognized in any port. All of the
devices that the computer will not recognize are instantly recognized on
another computer.

Does that detail make any difference in anyone's thinking? Thanks again.

CWK.... 101 ABN

 

[Patrick Keenan]

"Functional illiterate ABN"

CWK.... 101 ABN

I think I removed that from a system recently . Yes, it's malware
masquerading as a utility, whose main purpose is to bill your credit card.

There are lots of links about how to remove this, if you type the name into
Google you'll get at least a dozen telling you how to remove it.

Most of them tell you to delete a long list of files, most of which are in
the program files\antispycheck folder. There's an easier way to do that,
which is to simply rename that folder - add an X to its start, and reboot.
It's possible that you might have to boot to safe mode to do this.

My usual approach is to host the drive on another system, and I can rename
whatever I feel is necessary.

Anyway, renaming the folder and rebooting will prevent the app from loading,
will likely generate error messages, and you can proceed to manually remove
the files and registry entries that are appropriate.

This page is an example of what you will find, and presents a variety of
methods and tools for removing it.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/malware-removal/antispycheck

HTH
-pk

 

[Functional illiterate ABN]

"Functional illiterate ABN"


I think I removed that from a system recently . Yes, it's malware
masquerading as a utility, whose main purpose is to bill your credit card.

There are lots of links about how to remove this, if you type the name into
Google you'll get at least a dozen telling you how to remove it.

Most of them tell you to delete a long list of files, most of which are in
the program files\antispycheck folder. There's an easier way to do that,
which is to simply rename that folder - add an X to its start, and reboot.
It's possible that you might have to boot to safe mode to do this.

My usual approach is to host the drive on another system, and I can rename
whatever I feel is necessary.

Anyway, renaming the folder and rebooting will prevent the app from loading,
will likely generate error messages, and you can proceed to manually remove
the files and registry entries that are appropriate.

This page is an example of what you will find, and presents a variety of
methods and tools for removing it.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/malware-removal/antispycheck

HTH
-pk

Geeze, you're a genius. However, after looking at the websight, this is going to take me a week. Gonna' try it anyway, being the functional illiterate that I am.

You sound like good people and I thank you...

CWK- 101 ABN