USB no longer recognized

[--- .NET Em ---]

Up until a few weeks ago I could use my USB Stick on this XP Home SP2
computer. Nowadays I can´t, when I plug it in a bubble pops up saying
something like "Could not recognize USB device" and in the device manager it
shows as "Unknown USB device"

A few days ago my niece had her USB stick plugged in (it works) so out of
curiousity I plugged in mine. Surprise! it worked!!! I could read my stick
and all.

Then, she removed her USB Stick and then the "Unrecognized USB device"
bubble popped up again. Now I can´t access my USB stick again.

Obviously my device is not damaged but there is something wrong with the XP
system. Any ideas what this could be?

Thx,
Emilio

 

[Touch Base]

| Up until a few weeks ago I could use my USB Stick on this XP Home SP2
| computer. Nowadays I can´t, when I plug it in a bubble pops up saying
| something like "Could not recognize USB device" and in the device manager
it
| shows as "Unknown USB device"
|
| A few days ago my niece had her USB stick plugged in (it works) so out of
| curiousity I plugged in mine. Surprise! it worked!!! I could read my stick
| and all.
|
| Then, she removed her USB Stick and then the "Unrecognized USB device"
| bubble popped up again. Now I can´t access my USB stick again.
|
| Obviously my device is not damaged but there is something wrong with the
XP
| system. Any ideas what this could be?
|
| Thx,
| Emilio

You could try:
Remove and reinstall all USB controllers
To remove and reinstall all USB controllers, follow these steps: 1. Click
Start, and click Control Panel, and then click Performance and Maintenance.
2. Click System, and then click the Hardware tab.
3. Click the Device Manager button.
4. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
5. Right-click every device under the Universal Serial Bus controllers
node, and then click Uninstall to remove them one at a time.
6. Restart the computer, and then reinstall the USB controllers.
7. Plug in the removable USB storage device, and then test to make
sure that the issue is resolved.


General USB troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310575

OR

It's been reported if you use Windows XP SP2 CD and copy the contents of
I386 folder to the C:\Windows\driver cache\I386 folder it will fix corrupted
USB drivers.

 

[Hertz_Donut]

Are you using the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the system tray to
properly remove the device, or are you just yanking it out without stopping
it?

If you removed the device while shadow copy was in progress (delayed write),
then the thumb drive is most likely corrupted and cannot be accessed (as you
have found). If another known good device works in the same USB port as the
inoperative thumb drive, then you know the fault is not with the port.

In the future, with thumb drives, you should *ALWAYS* stop the device using
the "safely remove hardware" icon, even if the drive is showing no activity.

Honu.