XP reports USB hub error, but no hub attached

[Carl P]

I have XP Home on a laptop (AMD 2400 I think).

Today I've been receiving a Windows error warning of a power surge on
the USB hub. This warning continues to pop up (and block document
windows) even after removing all USB devices. If I click on the error,
I get a dialog box reporting that one USB device is drawing too much
power through the hub, and it lists 5 USB ports with one highlighted as
the problem device. It instructs me to remove the device and click the
Reset button.

I have three problems with this error. First, from the dialog box
there's little way for me to determine which physical USB port is the
problem, so I have to unplug all devices. Second, doing as instructed
(disconnecting the devices and clicking Reset) doesn't clear up the
problem, as I immediately get another warning.

Finally, and most importantly, I don't have a 5 port USB hub attached to
the computer. The only USB is the three ports supplied by the
manufacturer, attached to the motherboard. These ports apprear to be
working just fine, whether or not I disconnect and reset.

The error seems to be related to a hub which I don't have. What could
cause this error to pop-up despite my having no hub attached? How can I
stop the error?

What's even more odd is that over the last few minutes the error has
stopped despite my having done nothing about it (I no longer am getting
the power surge on USB hub error).

Many thanks in advance.
Carl Paulsen

 

[Yves Leclerc]

I have XP Home on a laptop (AMD 2400 I think).

Today I've been receiving a Windows error warning of a power surge on the
USB hub. This warning continues to pop up (and block document windows)
even after removing all USB devices. If I click on the error, I get a
dialog box reporting that one USB device is drawing too much power through
the hub, and it lists 5 USB ports with one highlighted as the problem
device. It instructs me to remove the device and click the Reset button.

I have three problems with this error. First, from the dialog box there's
little way for me to determine which physical USB port is the problem, so
I have to unplug all devices. Second, doing as instructed (disconnecting
the devices and clicking Reset) doesn't clear up the problem, as I
immediately get another warning.

Finally, and most importantly, I don't have a 5 port USB hub attached to
the computer. The only USB is the three ports supplied by the
manufacturer, attached to the motherboard. These ports apprear to be
working just fine, whether or not I disconnect and reset.

The error seems to be related to a hub which I don't have. What could
cause this error to pop-up despite my having no hub attached? How can I
stop the error?

What's even more odd is that over the last few minutes the error has
stopped despite my having done nothing about it (I no longer am getting
the power surge on USB hub error).

Many thanks in advance.
Carl Paulsen

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Please note that the first USB ports are connected to a special hub known as
"Root Hub".

 

[Carl P]

Ahhh, that makes sense, and in fact, now that I look at it, I see the
error dialog refers to the "USB Root Hub (5 ports)" - even though the
"root hub" has only 3 physical ports. The error is intermittent,
sometimes popping up every few seconds and at other times only
occasionally (every few minutes).

In any case, it's a pain and is getting in the way of my work. Any
ideas for what's going on and how to fix it?

BTW, I used Device Manager to uninstall all USB related devices then
re-booted, but the problem persists.

Carl

 

[Yves Leclerc]

You need to give more details about your PC/motherboard. There might be a
special USB process to do.

 

[Carl P]

What kind of details? CPU = Mobile AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2400+ 1.8 GHz.
512 MB. As for specifics of the motherboard itself, where do I find
that info?

Carl