USB Flash Drives not responding

[Lenny Jacobs]

I have a number of USB flash drives and camera memory cards that will not
work properly (hang up) when I use them with my Vista laptop they all work
fine with two laptops running XP. The drivers are installed properly. The
only way they will work is if I shut off the Vista laptop and restart with
the devices inserted. I don't think that this is the way that the Vista OS
developers intented these devices to work but it seems that this is what
resulted from thier efforts.

 

[Just.some.guy]

I have a number of USB flash drives and camera memory cards that will not
work properly (hang up) when I use them with my Vista laptop they all work
fine with two laptops running XP. The drivers are installed properly. The
only way they will work is if I shut off the Vista laptop and restart with
the devices inserted. I don't think that this is the way that the Vista OS
developers intented these devices to work but it seems that this is what
resulted from thier efforts.

Well I have a Vista laptop too, and when I insert my USB flash drives or
memory readers, Vista recognizes them. So to me that says there *is*
something wrong, but *this* time, maybe not with Vista.

 

[alexB]

Just back off.

If your XP is running on a different motherboard this is where you better
focus your attention.

USB trouble are very common. Go down this NG, every day there are at lest 15
posts related to them.

Many new MBs have limits on the amount of Amperes the USB input can allow.
It is not the case with old ones. The problem may be inherent in the
hardware you are using.

It is NOT a Vista problem.

Don't use pejorative language if you are not sure where the problem is.

You should consult the hardware maker for help.

 

[Lenny Jacobs]

This problem is not just occurring on this particular computer, but also on
other computers where the USB devices worked just fine before they were
upgraded from XP to Vista but will not work properly after Vista is
installed. You may have noticed in my original message that all of these
devices work just fine if they are plugged in before the computer is turned
on. This is not a problem caused by inadequate current capacity on the
mother board, it is an OS problem.

I have been using various OS's since the early 80's, from CPM through all
versions of DOS, all versions of Windows, Windows CE, Sun - Solaris, Tandem
UNIX OS. I have had more problems with Vista in the short time that I have
been using it than all of those other OS's combined. Even Windows ME was
less troublesome than Vista. I sorry that some readers of this newsgroup get
defensive when contributors criticize Vista, but this is a really awful OS.

 

[AlexB]

The reason I got "defensive" is that I also have some experience with USBs.
I do not have a laptop but I do have 4 desktops all with Vista. I had this
USB problem with XP for years and then with Vista until I solved it by
making sure all drivers are in place (some were unaccountably missing) and
installing a 5-port USB CPI card (I pulled out one for firewire, and
installed this PCI).

Now all my Vista's work just fine.

What may be happening (I did notice the comment about USB working at startup
but then quitting) is that when the demand on the lean PSU increases or just
when the CPU gets too warm, Vista (or perhaps even the BIOS) shuts the USB
off because they are considered dispensable.

All things considered I have hard time to believe it is a Vista problem but
of course I have no proof.

When I began doing Vista it was the first thing on my mind: Vista is to
blame. Time and again I proved myself wrong.

 

[AlexB]

I suggest you may go to the BIOS and turn off the USB control in there and
see if it will help.

 

[Lenny Jacobs]

I also forgot to mention that other devices work ok in the USB ports (mouse,
printer, etc.) and that camera memory cards that are inserted in the
dedicated non-USB camera memory slot also exhibit the same problem. This is
a Vista OS problem handling external memory.

 

[Rich T]

There seems to be an unresolved bug in Vista with USB drivers. Despite lots
of postings here, and installing every update there is, I still have random
failure of USB ports. I don't understand why something that worked so well
in XP does not work in Vista.

 

[DarkSentinel]

There seems to be an unresolved bug in Vista with USB drivers. Despite
lots of postings here, and installing every update there is, I still have
random failure of USB ports. I don't understand why something that worked
so well in XP does not work in Vista.

I have yet to have any problems with the USB subsystem. Every thing I have
plugged in has worked like a charm. My old peripherals, new stuff. Zero
problems. Now a problem I DID have on one of my old system boards, was the
chipset was a bit wonky. Old Tyan Tiger 133. Ports wouldn't pick up half the
time, and this was under XP. Tried everything. Chipset drivers, drivers in
XP, etc. Wound up just having to pop in a USB 2 card.

My POS Acer under Vista. Not one problem at all. Even picked up the hub on
my NEC monitor. This may be something (mobo chipset) you want to look into.
One thing also to remember. MS does NOT write the drivers. The mfr does.
Might be better served screaming at them.

 

[Glyn]

See my response below under USB Mass Storage Device Driver. All I can say is
that it worked for me!