possible solution to USB problems

  • Thread starter Thread starter Barry Ford
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Barry Ford

I had been having one of those maddening problems with my USB system.
Although the USB drivers were up to date, and Device Manager reported
that all devices were working properly, the computer would not recognize
any USB devices. I tried switching ports, turning the computer off and
on, and removing and reinstalling the drivers. Nothing worked.

Then I found a solution by accident. There was a brief power outage,
and when the computer came back on, the USB was working again. Don't
ask me why; I haven't a clue. So in future, if you have a problem with
USB, try unplugging the computer for a minute or two, then turning it
back on. It just might work.
 
IF you are running XP Home, and IF you have SP1 installed, and IF you
see an 'enhanced' USB 2.0 controller in your Device Manager after the 'power
outage' and the PC rebooted, what probably happened, by default, is that XP
'recognized' the USB device, or rather, the device that is connected to the
USB port also, and that would be the normal way to do it anyway. If this
happens again, check those things i mentioned.. You can also, 'delete; the
USB support inDevice Manager and if you have a PCI card that you installed
for USB 2.0, it will be re-detected the SP1 stuff that supports USB2.0 will
engage it...

You should NOT have to install ANY 'drivers' or anything else except SP1
from Microsoft, as all that crap on 'installation CDs' will do nothing for
you except muck-up XP.....Many 'problems' that are blamed on Windows XP are
really the fault of people rushing to install everything on a CD that comes
with their new hardware, (whatever it is) never thinking stuff might work
without it.. I am no smarter than the next person, but from experience i hav
learned most hardware works fine without any help from that little CD you
got..

I have, for example, an nVidia based Graphics card that came with over 100
megs of garbage that i certainly did not install and XP runs it as if it
were 'native' to the OS...

Take the time to scrolldown a bit and read about 'external hard
drive'.....It will save me from embarrasing myself by repeating an earlier
admonition to someone else about THIS SAME topic. No one reads any longer.
 
Peter said:
IF you are running XP Home, and IF you have SP1 installed, and
IF you see an 'enhanced' USB 2.0 controller in your Device Manager
after the 'power outage' and the PC rebooted, what probably
happened, by default, is that XP 'recognized' the USB device, or
rather, the device that is connected to the USB port also, and that
would be the normal way to do it anyway. If this happens again, check
those things i mentioned.. You can also, 'delete; the USB support
inDevice Manager and if you have a PCI card that you installed for
USB 2.0, it will be re-detected the SP1 stuff that supports USB2.0
will engage it...

You should NOT have to install ANY 'drivers' or anything else except
SP1 from Microsoft, as all that crap on 'installation CDs' will do
nothing for you except muck-up XP.....Many 'problems' that are blamed
on Windows XP are really the fault of people rushing to install
everything on a CD that comes with their new hardware, (whatever it
is) never thinking stuff might work without it.. I am no smarter than
the next person, but from experience i hav learned most hardware
works fine without any help from that little CD you got..

I have, for example, an nVidia based Graphics card that came with
over 100 megs of garbage that i certainly did not install and XP runs
it as if it were 'native' to the OS...

Take the time to scrolldown a bit and read about 'external hard
drive'.....It will save me from embarrasing myself by repeating an
earlier admonition to someone else about THIS SAME topic. No one
Click to expand...

I think your advice is flat wrong. Many simple devices work just fine
with what XP has. Many printers, cameras, scanners, GPS, and other more
complex devices often have proprietary drivers and software. If a
device that requires a proprietary driver is simply plugged to a USB
port, XP's hardware manager will typically screw things up so that they
cannot be corrected without specialized knowledge about how to get rid
of the failed install. Read .print_fax, .photos and you will gain some
appreciation of the limits of XP's USB hardware installation. Read
Cari's Windows Printer site for some additional insight:
http://www.coribright.com/Windows/

Q

Q
 
I'm in favor of using Windows drivers wherever possible. However, in
this case there were no Microsoft drivers for my hardware, an Ezonics
EZCam II. So I installed the drivers (yes, from the CD-ROM), and then
plugged in the camera. Windows detected the new device and installed it
perfectly.

But later (months later), the USB suddenly stopped working. I'm sure I
did something to make it fail, but I can't tell you what. Nevertheless,
when the power went out and came back on, TA DA! the USB was working
again. What can I say? It was like magic.

P.S. I am using Windows XP Professional with SP1. I don't know if I
have USB 2. My guess is that I probably do.
 
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