Windows Vista and USB devices

[Guest]

Are we ever going to see an update regarding the USB devices and Vista not
recognizing them. I have three computers I am currently working with that
have Windows Vista and all of them have problems with Vista recognizing and
installing USB devices. Why do we need to point Vista to the Windows folder
when it should automatically go there when trying to find drivers for USB
devices. Why do we need to install devices at all when they are plug and play
and do not even come with devices and eyt Vista does not even recognize them.
I think a good patch or update is in need here for us customers who have paid
for Vista and not gotten what they bargained for. A simple update should not
be hard to figure out when you are touting the benifits of Vista and yet it
still has problems that you fixed with Windows XP...

----------------
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http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/co...b34&dg=microsoft.public.windows.vista.general

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

There are many reasons that USB devices don't function or install properly,
but it's not necessarily because the OS is having a problem. The same thing
occurs in XP, it's certainly not exclusive to Vista. There is a
troubleshooter here:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/c39bd203-f729-47a4-8351-83291e13c8a81033.mspx#EQ

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Guest]

There are many reasons that a USB device could fail, I said three computers
that are behaving in exactly the same way and I have heard this from many
others on the internet.

I reviews games and hardware for computers as a living. I am currently
working on a brand new Lenovo desktop that is having the exact same problem
as my two computers and has been doing the exact same thing that many have
complained about with Windows Vista. "Windows Vista does not correctly
recognize USB devices."

I am not saying this as a question but as a fact. I have had a problem
connecting simple devices such as flash drives to my Vista computers since
Vista came out and it is not a problem with the computer hardware or the
devices. Vista is not recognizing the USB devices for some reason. Now tell
me you have never heard this from anyone else and I may think you have a
point but I have read many articles and threads in forums complaining about
this very fact.

When Vista cannot find drivers that are in the Windows directory there is
something that needs a patch or update, this also happens on all three
computers and if this was not happening to others than I would not have found
out how to tell Windows Vista to look in the Windows file for its own
drivers. There are people out there that are having this problem and you
should not be pointing me to a solution that is going to say that something
is wrong with one of my computers when it is happening to many others as well
as mine.

I am not trying to be hard or difficult but pointing me to a solution for a
failing hardware is not going to help anyone else who is also having this
problem. How about MS starts to look at the problem as a software related
thing and work to find an answer instead of telling everyone it is a problem
with their system or hardware.

I have had this problem with three computers and all with different
hardware, and it was happening on the brand new computer before I connected
it to an internet or network. Vista does not recognize USB devices. How about
we troubleshoot that, you must have new computers with Vista that are having
this problem that you can duplicate it with. All the problems I am haviing
with Vista are not due to something else and all the fixes that people are
coming up with seem more of the band aid fix but how about we fix the correct
thing here and patch Vista.

 

[Lang Murphy]

There are many reasons that a USB device could fail, I said three
computers
that are behaving in exactly the same way and I have heard this from many
others on the internet.

I reviews games and hardware for computers as a living. I am currently
working on a brand new Lenovo desktop that is having the exact same
problem
as my two computers and has been doing the exact same thing that many have
complained about with Windows Vista. "Windows Vista does not correctly
recognize USB devices."

I am not saying this as a question but as a fact. I have had a problem
connecting simple devices such as flash drives to my Vista computers since
Vista came out and it is not a problem with the computer hardware or the
devices. Vista is not recognizing the USB devices for some reason. Now
tell
me you have never heard this from anyone else and I may think you have a
point but I have read many articles and threads in forums complaining
about
this very fact.

When Vista cannot find drivers that are in the Windows directory there is
something that needs a patch or update, this also happens on all three
computers and if this was not happening to others than I would not have
found
out how to tell Windows Vista to look in the Windows file for its own
drivers. There are people out there that are having this problem and you
should not be pointing me to a solution that is going to say that
something
is wrong with one of my computers when it is happening to many others as
well
as mine.

I am not trying to be hard or difficult but pointing me to a solution for
a
failing hardware is not going to help anyone else who is also having this
problem. How about MS starts to look at the problem as a software related
thing and work to find an answer instead of telling everyone it is a
problem
with their system or hardware.

I have had this problem with three computers and all with different
hardware, and it was happening on the brand new computer before I
connected
it to an internet or network. Vista does not recognize USB devices. How
about
we troubleshoot that, you must have new computers with Vista that are
having
this problem that you can duplicate it with. All the problems I am haviing
with Vista are not due to something else and all the fixes that people are
coming up with seem more of the band aid fix but how about we fix the
correct
thing here and patch Vista.

I have Vista installed on five different Dell models and have only seen one
repeatable USB problem on one of the PC's... an external USB drive will
mount successfully, but it will not dismount, it doesn't show up as
connected in the remove devices dlg. I can mount it and access it, but
cannot "safely" dismount it without shutting the PC down. Since that PC is a
desktop, and all the other PC's on which I've installed Vista and -not- had
USB issues are laptops, then I would guess that it's either a chipset or
BIOS issue. Other than the Leveno, what are the 2 other PC's on which you're
running Vista?

Lang

 

[Guest]

HEAR HEAR!

I have USB problems under Vista that I *never* had under XP. And devices
that work one day arbitrarily stop working the next. I'm left to point Vista
to the C:/Windows folder, where it finds the driver and reinstalls it...
again. Then the next day it loses it, or another.

Like the other posters, I know that this is not the fault of all these
various devices or their manufacturers (which worked fine under XP). The
problem is with my OS, Vista. Some acknowledgement from Microsoft would be
nice, because I've read about these issues on several message boards from
different posters. Even better would be a fix for it.

 

[Rick Rogers]

Well, what can i say. I have Vista running on three systems in my household,
all designed and built by me, and none of them has had a single issue with
any USB device, nor did they throughout the majority of the beta testing.
And no, I did not do anything special to any of them, I treated them as any
consumer would. As noted in the link I provided, the majority of USB
problems occur when either hardware or software is added that does not meet
proper specifications or corrupts/alters the installed driver.

Remember that when you read forums and help sites, you are only going to
hear of the problems encountered by some. No one comes in to post that they
aren't having any issues. If you read a hundred complaints, recall that
there are already millions of users, which makes the actual percentage very
small, and again many of these can be traced back to adding non-compliant
pieces of hardware and forcing use of XP drivers in a Vista environment.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Ian Betts]

Are we ever going to see an update regarding the USB devices and Vista not
recognizing them. I have three computers I am currently working with that
have Windows Vista and all of them have problems with Vista recognizing
and
installing USB devices. Why do we need to point Vista to the Windows
folder
when it should automatically go there when trying to find drivers for USB
devices. Why do we need to install devices at all when they are plug and
play
and do not even come with devices and eyt Vista does not even recognize
them.
I think a good patch or update is in need here for us customers who have
paid
for Vista and not gotten what they bargained for. A simple update should
not
be hard to figure out when you are touting the benifits of Vista and yet
it
still has problems that you fixed with Windows XP...

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow
this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/co...b34&dg=microsoft.public.windows.vista.general

Because all the motherboard drivers need updating for Vista, It New.

 

[Ian Betts]

There are many reasons that a USB device could fail, I said three
computers
that are behaving in exactly the same way and I have heard this from many
others on the internet.

I reviews games and hardware for computers as a living. I am currently
working on a brand new Lenovo desktop that is having the exact same
problem
as my two computers and has been doing the exact same thing that many have
complained about with Windows Vista. "Windows Vista does not correctly
recognize USB devices."

I am not saying this as a question but as a fact. I have had a problem
connecting simple devices such as flash drives to my Vista computers since
Vista came out and it is not a problem with the computer hardware or the
devices. Vista is not recognizing the USB devices for some reason. Now
tell
me you have never heard this from anyone else and I may think you have a
point but I have read many articles and threads in forums complaining
about
this very fact.

When Vista cannot find drivers that are in the Windows directory there is
something that needs a patch or update, this also happens on all three
computers and if this was not happening to others than I would not have
found
out how to tell Windows Vista to look in the Windows file for its own
drivers. There are people out there that are having this problem and you
should not be pointing me to a solution that is going to say that
something
is wrong with one of my computers when it is happening to many others as
well
as mine.

I am not trying to be hard or difficult but pointing me to a solution for
a
failing hardware is not going to help anyone else who is also having this
problem. How about MS starts to look at the problem as a software related
thing and work to find an answer instead of telling everyone it is a
problem
with their system or hardware.

I have had this problem with three computers and all with different
hardware, and it was happening on the brand new computer before I
connected
it to an internet or network. Vista does not recognize USB devices. How
about
we troubleshoot that, you must have new computers with Vista that are
having
this problem that you can duplicate it with. All the problems I am haviing
with Vista are not due to something else and all the fixes that people are
coming up with seem more of the band aid fix but how about we fix the
correct
thing here and patch Vista.

I bought a brand new Medion Laptop with XP Media on it. Decided I wanted
vista and upgraded. I then had to go to Medion on line and download Vista
drivers for the NEW motherboard, inside my NEW laptop. They sent me a CD to
do it. What's the big deal???

 

[Guest]

No, sorry, Rick, that answer still doesn't wash with me. For instance, I'm
using Vista-logo certified drivers for my Kyocera laser printer, and every
day Vista loses them.

After they were installed.

After they've been used successfully.

How is this Kyocera's fault?

 

[Rick Rogers]

That wasn't me you were responding to. And, just so you are aware, just
because a driver is certified for use in an OS does not mean it will
function perfectly under all conditions. Conflicts and unsupported functions
can quickly disable and/or corrupt them.

When are you losing the drivers? Randomly during printing? If so, there may
be a power supply problem. After hibernating or after restarting? If it's
the former, then Kyocera did not include support for that function in their
driver (AFAIK, it's not required for certifying). Some devices simply do not
support hibernate, they only make the hardware function and may not come
back from the low power state, this is actually quite common. Now, if they
don't come back after restarting, then something is causing an
initialization conflict, and diagnosis involves disabling other programs and
services in the startup axis.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your response.

The printer driver is disappearing after hibernation. But this is recent; it
used to not do this. I've also had issues with USB hubs, my Windows Mobile
device, flash drives, hard drives... And this from the moment I first
installed the OS on a new machine.

There's much about Vista that's great. But there are some holes (the File
Explorer-level DVD applications corrupting disks on format, these USB issues,
etc, which I share with others) that I'm hoping will be resolved in SP1. What
makes me worry, though, is the lack of acknowledgement of these issues.

Fingers crossed.

- Hamish

 

[Swingman]

in message

I have Vista installed on five different Dell models and have only seen
one repeatable USB problem on one of the PC's... an external USB drive
will mount successfully, but it will not dismount, it doesn't show up as
connected in the remove devices dlg. I can mount it and access it, but
cannot "safely" dismount it without shutting the PC down. Since that PC is
a desktop, and all the other PC's on which I've installed Vista and -not-
had USB issues are laptops, then I would guess that it's either a chipset
or BIOS issue.\

I have an external AccomData 500 GB USB that exhibits the EXACT same
behavior ... not only with Vista, but also with XP and Win2K Pro.

A call to AccomData tech support shrugged it off as "we don't know why this
happens on some systems".

 

[MICHAEL]

* jeffopus:

Are we ever going to see an update regarding the USB devices and Vista not
recognizing them. I have three computers I am currently working with that
have Windows Vista and all of them have problems with Vista recognizing and
installing USB devices. Why do we need to point Vista to the Windows folder
when it should automatically go there when trying to find drivers for USB
devices. Why do we need to install devices at all when they are plug and play
and do not even come with devices and eyt Vista does not even recognize them.
I think a good patch or update is in need here for us customers who have paid
for Vista and not gotten what they bargained for. A simple update should not
be hard to figure out when you are touting the benifits of Vista and yet it
still has problems that you fixed with Windows XP...

Jeff,

For your USB problems, go here
https://support.microsoft.com/contactus2/emailcontact.aspx?scid=sw;en;1410&WS=hotfix

Request the hotfix for KB article number 936003
They will email you a link to download the hotfix.
The link below talks about the update.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;936003
Microsoft has released a cumulative update rollup for Windows Vista. This rollup helps
establish a quality baseline for the USB core components on the Windows Vista operating system.
This rollup supersedes previously-released USB fixes and contains additional high-applicability
USB fixes.


-Michael

 

[Guest]

Thanks for that -- it sounded encouraging. But the first link leads to a
"We're sorry, but that page could not be found" error.

The second is a bit better, as it leads to cumulative fix page, but to get
it, we have to Contact Microsoft for this hotfix", except that links to a
general "Contact Us" page, which is frustrating. It's Saturday evening, and I
don't want to have to phone a reception desk on Monday morning to ask someone
about this hotfix, I want to download it.

Still, it is the acknowledgement I was after, so that's good to hear.

 

[Cal Bear '66]

To get to the hotfix request page, sometimes you have to try a few times.

 

[Guest]

Hey, that worked! (Trying the hotfix request page again.)

Thanks, everyone, for your help with this issue. It's much appreciated.

 

[astrofellow]

Has there been any success in tracking this usb problem down...

I have vista home prem... I use my laptop to do Astrophotography.. When I
connected the scope and camera's I did not get a chime.. they would not work
either... I could see that they were in the device manager when they were
plugged in but they would not work.. scope would not connect either...

I did a system restore and everything works fine now... this appears to be
perhaps a vista system update issue?

Thank for any input...

 

[Chris of LV]

Please see below:

Well, what can i say. I have Vista running on three systems in my household,
all designed and built by me, and none of them has had a single issue with
any USB device, nor did they throughout the majority of the beta testing.
And no, I did not do anything special to any of them, (you designed and built them - that'd be special) I treated them as any
consumer would. <--- a consumer buys and uses, you describe a builder / devloper experience - they're different.

As noted in the link I provided, the majority of USB

problems occur when either hardware or software is added that does not meet
proper specifications or corrupts/alters the installed driver. <--- My 'vista certified' MICROSOFT keyboard and mouse manufactured in MARCH of 2008 don't work. I'm curious as to how hardware built (under license of course) by Microsoft does not meet proper specifications or corrupts / alters the installed driver. Tell me just how a DRIVER "corrupts / alters" itself please.

Remember that when you read forums and help sites, you are only going to
hear of the problems encountered by some. No one comes in to post that they
aren't having any issues. If you read a hundred complaints, recall that
there are already millions of users, (a hundred complaints is representative of THOUSANDS, if not tens of thousands...) which makes the actual percentage very
small, and again many of these can be traced back to adding non-compliant
pieces of hardware and forcing use of XP drivers in a Vista environment. <--- many, but not all. And if not all, why any? AND - the XP and Vista "environments" were built by the same fruity toot tooting company - why would a USER need to be concerned with compliance?!?!?! Why wouldn't the BUILDER worry about compliance?!?!?!?! The builder KNOWS THE ENVIRONMENTS - IT BUILT THEM!

IF MICROSOFT builds XP, and MICROSOFT build Vista - they're the common
denominator! Would a lumber mill start turning out 2x5 studs, and tell the
home owner - I know we built your house, but now we use only 2x5's because
they are better and more secure and more stable than 2x4's. Sigh...

OK - so here are my questions.

IF Vista will search the internet (as it says it does) for the correct
drivers - why doesn't it find them (like I can when I search)? And IF Vista
can KNOW you need to uninstall old / corrupt / incorrect drivers (which many
Microsoft KB articles say a person must do) - why doesn't IT do that? And IF
Vista has found the drivers, uninstalls the old / corrupt / incorrect
drivers, why doesn't in upload and install the correct drivers?

Here's this: if FORD ships a truck with a faulty air flow sensor - THEY
INSTALL THE NEW ONE, UNDER WARRANTY. If they ship lots of trucks, with bad
air flow sensors - THEY ISSUE A RECALL - and THEY FIX IT - even if the
warranty is expired - because it was a manufacturer defect. When I register
the purchase of my "new car" with the manufacturer - they CALL ME and say
"hey, bring in your car so we can update the wingding" - I registered my
Vista - why no message to me "hey, let me remote help a fix for these issues
for you" ?

True - if I install an after-market air flow sensor and break my truck -
it's on me. I put Vista on, according to directions, and NOW my USB drivers
are wrong. But wait - I didn't change the USB drivers - MICROSOFT DID! How
is that MY bad? OK - maybe for a third party plug in, there might be a 'fix'
to be installed - but the MICROSOFT Vista software won't talk to the
MICROSOFT Vista hardware. That means MICROSOFT is on the hook for the fix.
MICROSOFT can dial into my machine, look it over, and fix the air flow
sensor, right?!?! EVERY SINGLE copy of MICROSOFT Vista is REGISTERED. They
know who I am, the serial number of my laptop, the color of my eyes and the
size of my boots! Why on earth do I need to do anything but turn the key and
drive the thing!?!?!?!

If Windows Update can scan my machine for "necessary updates" - why can't
they look at my machine and see I've been having issues - and connect me to a
rep and say "Chris, I see you're having trouble with your USB ports - they're
showing ! next to them, may I help?"

How secure, compliant, up to date, whiz-bang, hi-tech does a mouse have to
be anyway? Why on earth would you CAUSE issues with a build? Why wouldn't
you SOLVE issues with a build?

Update recommends things; Defender scans for issues --- why doesn't the
BUILDER know when something is bonked on my machine, and OFFER some help?
PASSIVE help (we posted a KB about that) is silly in this age of ACTIVE
security, scanning, MARKETING (like on websites), etc. I'm signed in right
this very second - MICROSOFT can (if it wanted too) know every single issue
this machine has had over the last 48 hours, or 48 days, or 48 months!
There's NO NEED for 8000 KB articles, 8000 posts by users and replies by
nutcases, 8000 or 800 or 8 unhappy customers...

I invite (challenge) a MICROSOFT rep to remote help right into this machine
and do right by their stockholders. Hey - if I goofed something up - groovy
- don't freakin' fix it. If YOU goofed something up - fix it! YOU built it,
YOU fix it! Don't tell ME how, I didn't fail to make the things compatible -
YOU DID.

If the construction company orders 40 inch doors, and they built 42 inch
door frames - THEY COME TO THE HOUSE AND FIX IT - I don't run down to Home
Depot, get new doors, and install them. THEY built the incompatibility, THEY
can fix it.

MICROSOFT built XP - the USB ports worked. MICROSOFT built Vista - USB
ports don't work. Only the OS changed. Only the OS builder is responsible
for the fix. Seems pretty straight forward to me...

I truly believe MICROSOFT does GREAT things - this issue, and the poor
resolution there of - is not one of them. Talk about embarassing.

MICROSOFT needs to fix it - MICROSOFT goofed it up. The lack of quality
control in every phase - from conceptualization to rubber meets the road - is
laughable. Those responsible should be fired and hang their heads in shame
and humiliation. To offer to customers a product so rife with issues -
amazingly irresponsible. How very sad for you... you don't have my $, you
have the taxpayers money, in the form of a school district purchase. Shame
on you. Shame indeed!

Chris