I apologize if I've upped this thread from the dead, but I wish I could say this fix helped me. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to. Since it seems this is the only tech place with this issue I could find on Google that doesn't require payed registration, I felt like asking this here.
I have an HP Pavilion zv6000 laptop, purchased in the late summer of 2005. For the last two years the USB ports have worked relatively fine, but then earlier this month I've been getting the "USB Device Not Recognized" pop-up bubble. I find that only three of my devices seem to work well. The printer works, the USB mouse works, and a small external laptop HD works (though it runs slow (I suspect it's stuck on USB1.1), it is still recognized), but two external HDs (both powered with their own power devices) I've been using for the last year, and an iPod fail to be recognized anymore. I've tried all peripherals in all the ports, but only the mouse, printer and the laptop HD work in any of them. I've tested out the HDs and the iPod on other computers, and they work fine.
I think I have the same problem as Technophobe, in that it seems that devices that support USB1.1 work, but the ones that require USB2.0 come back as 'malfunctioned', even though the ports themselves should be USB2.0.
I've tried a number of "fixes" found on Google:
1. I uninstalled all USB devices in the device manager, and then restarted, but that didn't do anything. I tried it again in safe mode, but again that does nothing.
2. I reinstalled Windows XP on my machine, and - to my extreme disappointment - the problem still comes up.
3. I tried editing the registry. Half the suggestions don't seem to correspond with my registry (I don't have the keys), and the others don't seem to do anything.
4. I've looked in the BIOS, and haven't found anything about USB or peripherals. It's very simplified.
5. I looked for drivers, but the drivers I have now are all standard to Windows. HP doesn't offer any additional software for it, and I've used programs that analyze the drivers, and those claim the drivers are updated. The motherboard is an HP-brand motherboard, so I don't know where to go for additional USB drivers for it (if I would need them at all).
6. I've tried looking for Windows USB2.0 drivers, but I seem to be up-to-date with those.
7. I tried this quick fix mentioned by Technophobe. I turned my computer off, unplugged the power and removed the battery. I let my computer stay this way for thirty minutes, and it didn't do anything. I tried different means of doing it. I removed the battery and left it on AC power. Nothing. I tried running it only on battery power. Nothing. I am now draining the battery, and seeing if that'll do anything.
Technophobe's solution made me think that the reason these USB problems started popping up could've been what I did earlier this month when my computer froze. I had closed the lid, and it usually goes to standby; However, when I went to check on it a few hours later, it was still running and had frozen. I tried pressing the off button, nothing. Unplugging the AC power did nothing. So I unplugged the AC power and removed the battery, causing a sudden power loss for the laptop. Restarting it with the battery and AC back in place fixed that problem. I probably sound horrible for doing that, but I didn't feel like I had any other alternative.
It was not long after that, that these problems started to pop-up.
So, I'm pretty much stuck. I don't want to send it in (I've had bad experiences with other companies where I've sent things in, and I have very little extra money for it), but I'm starting to run low on ideas...
