"USB device not recognized" - but nothing's plugged in!

[Frederick]

On startup, this Vista Business laptop announces that
there's a USB device which is not recognized. I can
check the ports and nothing's there physically or in the
device manager.

Everything else is terrific - it's fast, stable, etc.

??

Fearless

 

[Paul Montgomery]

On startup, this Vista Business laptop announces that
there's a USB device which is not recognized. I can
check the ports and nothing's there physically or in the
device manager.

Everything else is terrific - it's fast, stable, etc.

??

Go into the Device Manager (Control Panel Classic View) and see if you
find it listed somewhere.

Delete/uninstall it.

See what happens.

 

[Frederick]

Go into the Device Manager (Control Panel Classic View) and see if you
find it listed somewhere.

Delete/uninstall it.

See what happens.

Good idea - there was an 'unknown'. I deleted it.
Maybe...
Thanks

 

[Frederick]

Good idea - there was an 'unknown'. I deleted it.
Maybe...
Thanks

The Unknown has arisen. This time I 'disabled' it.

Downright mysterious, as there's nothing plugged into
this laptop.

Fearless
....but getting a little worried

 

[Paul Montgomery]

The Unknown has arisen. This time I 'disabled' it.

Downright mysterious, as there's nothing plugged into
this laptop.

Fearless
...but getting a little worried

The only thing it could be is that something on your motherboard is
missing a driver or has the wrong driver and it's being seen as a USB
device.

How old is the computer? Had you made any changes to it before this
began?

 

[Spirit]

Sounds like you have a corrupt USB controller issue.

Boot into Safe Mode - Device Manager - DELETE the
entire USB section (unplug all you can 1st) and REBOOT.

This will restore the Controllers and clear any corruption.