Always prompted with "found new hardware" to install driver software for any USB device

hye
I'm having this problem since few months ago. before I had installed a software named VMWare for my college's assignment in order for me to use Linux Ubuntu. but apparently it gave me a lot of problems until I decided to uninstall the software. after I uninstalled, all NEW USB devices such as external HD, flash drives and etc cannot be detected and windows always prompt "Found New Hardware" pop up message and require my windows to install driver software for my USB devices. I tried clicked the "Locate and install driver software (recommended)" but it still prompt out again the message. it happened for all new USB devices. I don't know why. maybe it happened after I installed the VMWare, I guess?

can someone help me with this? I cannot use my new flash drives and external HD for me to transfer my works. it's so tiring

Have you tried reinstalling the chipset drivers, which would generally be responsible for USB support?

yes, I've tried that before. several times. but it still pop out the same "Found New Hardware" pop out message. what should I do next? do u have any suggestion?

One thing that can sometimes help with USB problems is to shutdown and remove the power. If you are using a laptop, also remove the battery. Wait a few minutes and then plug everything back before rebooting.
If that does not help, try using a restore point to bring back the configuration from before you installed VMWare, that could solve issues with the configuration (a lot of USB issues are actually caused by misconfiguration in the Windows registry).

Hope it helps.

Plug your USB flash drive or external drive into the USB port. Is it the Found New Hardware Wizard that pops up?

Look in Device Manager. Do you see any entries with yellow icons? Which entries?

I suspect your USB Mass Storage driver is corrupt. But try the above and tell me what you see

/* Edit */
And what version of Windows are you running? What Service Pack level is installed?

I plugged my external hard disk and yes, the Found New Hardware Wizard pops up. also look in Device Manager and there is one entry in Other Devices with yellow icon. so, if my USB Mass Storage is corrupt what should I do next? please help!

currently I'm still using Windows Vista Home Premium, Service Pack 2, 32-bit OS

how to bring back the configuration and where is the restore point? I don't know how to do that. can you give me the step by step procedures. thanks a lot!

Go to your start menu, Click on all programs. When the menu pop up . Click on Accessories The scroll down to System tools, Click on this, There you will see System restore, Click on this. When the window open hit next. Once this window opens , Go down to the left corner. Put a check in the box next to (show more restore Points) Then pick a restore point from a couple of weeks back or before your problem. Then click next. When the next window comes up Highlight the restore point in the square box. Then hit finish, The computer at this time will start the restore process, Do not turn it off let it do its thing. Good luck hope this helps you.

I already did the system restore and the problem still exist. but I did noticed one thing. I couldn't pick a restore point from the moment the problem existed as in few months ago. the restore point somehow has been set. I wish to undo what I did but there's no Undo System Restore option. or maybe I need to wait for a few days to undo, is it? I'm so confused now. I hope my problems can be solve as soon as possible. anyway, thank you for helping. appreciate what you have done

Did you click on the box , That said show more restore points? If you wish to undo this restore point you will need to go back into system restore. It will have back up and made a restore point for you of the time and date. You did this restore Just click on that date and time. It will take you back to windows , Before you did the restore. What you need to do was go back before you had the problem. If know about the time frame it happen. This would most likely solve your problem.

If you can't get a System restore point to work, do you still have your Vista installation disk? A repair might fix the problem

now when I open the System Restore, there is a sign indicate "No restore points have been created on your computer's system disk" thus I cannot find any Undo System Restore option. Next and Back button also disabled. When I clicked at the System Properties > System Protection and click the System Restore, then it will pop out "The System Restore wizard is already running. The Program will now exit". I logon into my laptop by using admin ID and always as admin as I don't create any other accounts. I'm sorry if I keep bother you.

Nope, I don't. Sorry

I have one more idea on fixing the driver (altho it's still a guess the USB Mass Storage driver might be the problem) but will have to post later today or tomorrow

Your not bothering anyone, You need help with a problem which is ok. See what LookinAround has to help you.

No bother kimjaezie. We're all hoping to be able to help. That's why we're here

Let's see if your USB Mass Storage driver might be the problem. There are 3 files involved. See if each one of these files exist on your machine (note the last file is in a different directory)

If they all exist, then we'll calcualte each file's checksum to verify content against another set of those files I have on a Vista SP2 machine

Download and install HashTab. This simple tool calculates file checksums. For each of the 3 usbstor files:
> Right click the file, select->Properties. Click the File Hashes tab
> Click on the MD5 value, right click select Copy
> Now tell me the filename and paste in its MD5 checksum value so I can compare it to the checksums on the other Vista SP2 machine

C:\WINDOWS\inf\usbstor.inf
C:\WINDOWS\inf\usbstor.pnf
those files above aren't exist in my C but C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\usbstor.sys did exist. I did the File Hashes for this filename C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\usbstor.sys and the hash comparison / MD5 value is BE3DA31C191BC222D9AD503C5224F2AD. so, what's next?

/* edit */
To anyone reading this in the future: Note the fix below, is a specific fix to a specific problem for a specific version of Windows. I don't advise you try copying driver files yourself unless you know what you're doing or AT LEAST know how to recover if it screws things up!
/* end edit */

Those two missing files are definitely a problem. The usbstor.sys file is good.

Do you have a friend with a Vista SP2 machine? Take a copy of usbstor.pnf and usbstor.inf and save them both in your C:\WINDOWS\inf directory. Reboot. Then try plugging in your USB flash drive again.

Let us know how it works. <fingers crossed>

@LookinAround; how about \windows\system32\DriverStore\en-US\usb* ?

@jobeard
That's a good question. The Windows' driver store (which started with Vista) is, admittedly, a construct I still don't fully understand.

As a sidebar for windows geeks: as I understand it.... For the case of good ol' XP, on plug and play hardware detection Windows searches for drivers based on registry entry DevPath. DevPath instructs Windows the sequence of folders to search for drivers. (fyi.. DevPath has the same syntax as the environment PATH variable which tells windows where to search for cmd executables)

MS Technet documentation tells me for Vista and Win 7, upon Plug and Play hardware detection, Windows first searches the driver store looking for a matching driver. If not found, Windows then searches other locations including DevPath in the registry.

Unless the registry is also screwed up, DevicePath always includes folder C:\Windows\inf. So, I'm guessing (and hoping) simply restoring the usbstor.pnf and usbstor.inf files to C:\Windows\inf may be sufficient to fix this driver problem so the USB Mass Storage driver can be located and installed. (Also, given that file usbstor.sys already exists in the folder it belongs)

In any case, that's my reasoning behind my best guess for my suggested fix. If that doesn't work, any fixes to the driver store is beyond me...

/* edit */
I'll add to this side bar for windows geeks: I am aware of a command called pnputil that's used to add)or remove driver packages from the driver store but never tried it nor sure just how it works.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! now it works! like finally! all my new external HD and flash drives can be detect. thank you so much for helping! appreciate what you've done for me. I'm happy now

and A BIG THANK YOU to the team!