Windows XP SP2 using USB modem freezes at startup - Any remedy?

[Anwar Ahmad]

I have recently upgraded my system (Intel D945GCL motherboard, Intel Pentium
D 915 CPU 2.80GHz Socket 775 LGA 2 x 2048 KBytes L2 Cache, 512KBx2 DDR2,
PC2-5300 RAM) and installed Windows XP Pro SP2 on it. After installing all
the drivers it started freezing at cold boot.

1. When I shut down the system completely and boot it using On/Off button;
windows freezes. Screen goes blank and log-in screen never appears.

2. If I unplug my USR 56K USB Modem only then I can boot it up successfully.
After start up modem is plugged in and it works fine.

3. If I restart windows no need to unplug the modem. Windows and modem both
work fine.

After reading suggestions on internet I have 1) Updated chipset drivers for
motherboard 2) Updated BIOS with latest available BIOS and 3) Reinstalled
latest drivers from USR modem.

The problem appears to be only with modem. Other USB items like webcam do
not create any problem. I need the modem ON all the time as I use it a lot
to dial my phone numbers using DiaIer and monitoring CLI on PC screen etc.
Unplugging/Replugging every time is not possible for me due to my physical
disability. I need to have a person around very time I boot the system.

Any suggestions leading to solving this problem would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards

Ahmad

 

[Bob I]

You say ON/OFF button. Is this the power button on the PC, or a
Powerstrip the PC is plugged into? Is the Modem powered externally, or
by the PC?

 

[Anwar Ahmad]

Bob

ON/OFF button is located on the PC besides Reset button.
modem is internally powered (by PC) using only 150mA out of 500mA
available.

 

[Bob I]

I suspect that the powering on of the modem is causing the issue. Can
you put it on a powered hub to keep it alive?

 

[Anwar Ahmad]

Thanks a lot Bob for help. I wish I could get self powered hub. My PC is
mounted on a trolley with only three electricity sockets. I read somewhere
that the problem lies with XP's poor power management of USB Hubs. I thought
MS Gurus might have some inexpensive solution or maybe MS have some sort of
patch. Would it not be better to get an internal modem in same price? Any
other possibility please?

Kind Regards

 

[Bob I]

You are certainly free to install an internal modem. The symptoms you
describe seem to indicate that the issue is caused by some problem with
the USB modem receiving power and initializing while the PC is booting.
Is the operating system even running when the hang occurs? Since a reset
is a momentary interruption the powered items are already running and
Windows is allowed to start, I would not see Windows XP as the issue,
but the hardware itself.