Windows XP Won't Install New USB Drivers

[Dieselsplash]

remote desktop? i'm trying to fix this on a laptop!

LOL OMG, I'm not laughing at you, but that's just funny.

I had the same problem on my desktop, and It's all the same thing really, it's not about what kind of computer you have, it's about windows usb root hub, always is, it took me like 7 hours of sitting at my computer and bashing through one option after another until I got to that though. good luck

 

[glassceiling]

Well as you know I have had the usb plug and play problem. My problem fit the mold. Just like everyone else, all but the most recent plug and play device would work. For me it began with new hub. Trying to fix the hub problem, at the advice of HP I downloaded their update, and then my external RocketPod” hard drive that had been working fine for 8 months, quite working. I had, as so many, tried everything in the book, even purchased software “regcure” that did nothing but keep my money, even after I complained that it did not live up to their claim to fix the problem. It looked as though I was going to have to reload the OS. I asked if anyone knew that it would in deed fix the problem. No one answered, so I bit the bullet and did the complete reinstall. I had already tried the recovery and pc doctor and everything else available. Reloaded SP2, pointing the drive wizard to the i386 file, you name it I tried it.
Well, the full re-install worked. Both the offending devices, the external hard drive and the hub are now working. BUT, I just wonder for how long. Makes me very nervous. Backups will be for ever on my mind.
If anyone finds out what is really going on an causing the problem, please post it.

 

[Sly319]

OK, looks like I am going to have to go down the full install route as well as nothing else is working for me - did you loose any data on your PC after the re-install?

S

 

[rmvalduc]

USB ports

I too have been having this problem and sure would like to get some answers.

 

[Loquacious1]

Plug n' Play USB Woes

This has been so depressing to read, as I've all these same problems which started not long after the big Windows XP patch roll out. One problem after another, have been putting out fires ever since. Started with a Belkin USB 2.0 PCI card I'd installed, then 2 ancient USB 1.0 Buslink externals - which have my most recent backups on them! Woe is me... am looking around my SOHO and wondering what's next? I'll come unglued if my Wacom tablet stops working, not a good feeling, like Win95 deja vu all over again. What gets me is that system restore was supposed to solve these re-installation issues. Anyone tried that? I'm too chicken now.

I tend to believe the latest patches may have everything to do with what happened, and that we are posting so many of the same problems around the same time frame is a bad sign. Hard to say how many others there may be only lurking and not posting their experiences thinking there is no solution other than a fresh install.

At least I know it's not something stupid I did, and no mystery as to why other seemingly minor software driver corruptions have been cropping up. If anyone figures this out, please share before desperation sets in, I've a LOT of software to put back on my system and am not looking forward to it.

Thanks to you all for posting what you already have.

 

[Tedster]

I downloaded Tuneup Advisers RegCurebut, it claimed it would fix the problem but it didn't do anything to fix my problem and now I'm out 30 bucks and the site doesn't have a contract link, if I had noticed that I wouldn't have gotten it, but I'm getting somewhat desperate with this plug n play problem.

Does anyone know if reinstall will fix it?

you could have downloaded crap cleaner for FREE. It would have done the same thing.

 

[neosolipsism]

Having somewhat the same problem myself. Only I think I have narrowed mine down to USB 2.0 issues (the last 1.0 device I used worked just fine). My comp (nForce4 Intel SLI, XP Pro SP2, custom built) recognizes new 2.0 devices such as wireless input, all-in-ones, cameras, etc, but they won't function properly, and the drivers for the devices themselves won't install.

My mobo driver CD included specific instructions for USB 2.0 which said to d/l SP1 or higher then install the USB 2.0 drivers then delete any unrecognized controllers from the device manager. Only problem is there are no USB 2.0 drivers on the CD. To make matters worse I believe the controllers are nVidia-based (listed as "Standard Enhanced" or "OpenHCD"), but I've scoured the internet for hours and have yet to find an nVidia USB driver other than those for older Windows 95/98/ME OS's.

If I simply delete all the controllers from Device Manager, XP immediately reassigns them. Its finding the original MS drivers just fine, but they don't seem to work properly.

I've tried all sorts of fixes: driver updates, BIOS flashing, IRQ reassignments, you name it. I even cut the built-in USB out of the loop by purchasing a seperate hub in hopes of fixing it. Hell no, same problem on those ports too. The PCI/USB card came with a CD as well with ALi USB 2.0 drivers (rather than MS's drivers, which still don't work).

I too am disturbed by the frequency of this problem. It also disturbs me that a large majority of the problems are coming from Dells, as the copy of XP on this computer also happens to be the same copy that came with my Dell laptop, though I don't believe its relevant to the problem. I've had this board for 8 months now, and I assure you I've been to every corner of the internet in hopes of a cure only to find dozens of similar posts with no positive results other than a clean XP install. Obviously I'm reluctant for that option. I have installed and reinstalled this copy of XP at least 2 dozen times now. On top of that I recently discovered the wonderful world of Torrents and now I've got over 100 gigs of **** on my comp that I really don't want to have to back-up. Not to mention I would be extremely pissed if I reinstalled only to have the same problem.

Or is that the only option? Any suggestions?

 

[Tmagic650]

Fresh installs may work in correcting stubborn USB issues, but I have found that upgrading a motherboard may be your only option in some cases

 

[DelJo63]

Fresh installs may work in correcting stubborn USB issues, but I have found that upgrading a motherboard may be your only option in some cases

which may relate to the specific vendor (Dell, eMachines, ...)

If someone could correlate USB hardware failures to brand named systems, this
might be insightful.

 

[Tmagic650]

This is a good idea Jobeard, although it is the nature of many of the posters in our Forums to never give us much system info ever. It's like pulling teeth to get them to tell us any details at all. it is amost like there is only one computer in the World... their computer

In my experience, the older Dell's, HP's/Compaq's, respond to external or additional internal PCI USB ports very well. These older systems weren't made with more than 1 or 2 USB ports anyway. I have had occasional problems with USB, drive lettering assignment, and driver issues like everyone has. A motherboard upgrade has always cured them. I stay away from the lesser notorious brand motherboards (we all have our favorites), but I do use MSI and Gigabyte boards in the $60-$130 price ranges, often

 

[neosolipsism]

Well I tried the electrical charge option last night (found a post somewhere relating USB failures to electrical problems that were solved by simply unplugging the PSU for a few minutes) with no luck.

For those who haven't tried common fixes like drivers and IRQ reassignment, USBMan.com has a detailed troubleshooter. They also have a list of common compatability issues relative to factory machines, motherboards, and devices known to have USB problems. I also have a micro-tower (MSI P4M89OM-L mobo, XP-SP2) and laptop (Dell Inspiron 5100), and neither has demonstrated the same USB problems. I've had to resort to using my LAN in order to print off this computer, even though File Sharing doesn't excite me.

 

[Tmagic650]

Well I tried the electrical charge option last night (found a post somewhere relating USB failures to electrical problems that were solved by simply unplugging the PSU for a few minutes) with no luck.

This really sounds bogus to me. Motherboards have their own voltage regulators, and these circuits work better in some boards, and poorer in others. A failing power supply may contribute to USB problems, but a powered external USB hub would overcome this cause, and maybe even poor motherboard regulation USB causes too

 

[neosolipsism]

Well I thought I'd give it a try anyway, so I unplugged the PSU and every power strip I have while I was sleeping. Didn't help. It's not a PSU issue contributing to my USB problems, as this is my second PSU -- both have yielded the problem.

 

[Tmagic650]

"Windows XP Won't Install New USB Drivers"...

This thread title bothers me... New USB drivers shouldn't be needed for XP ever! It's most always a hardware issue not related to XP

 

[DelJo63]

New USB drivers shouldn't be needed for XP ever!

that's a bit strong .. it is not possible that XP has every possible USB
driver pre-shipped. There are some generic classes available, but to support all
features of a giving device, SOMETIMES the vendor provided driver is actually
useful and necessary.

 

[Tmagic650]

I have plugged in all sorts of USB devices, including cameras, mics, keyboards, MP3 players, memory sticks, UPS's, modems and external hard drives... and I have only seen power issues and incompatibilities between USB and USB2 ports to cause problems with detection and operation. I suppose if a driver or firmware is supplied, it can be installed

 

[Loquacious1]

Success At Last...

3rd party drivers can be installed when Windows doesn't provide them, and it's sometimes necessary as found with the new Belkin USB 2.0 PCI card I'd recently installed. Got that working after reinstalling the driver from CD, but these old Buslink USB 1 drives won't work no matter what. Driver installs, but XP fails to recognize it, and this only happened after I stupidly removed the driver to re-install after it failed to fire up. Before, the driver installed automatically without need of the manufacturer supplied driver. This should have been the first red flag that all was not well. Had I daisy chained these drives, or not tried to switch between the two (hot swappable) drives to search for a file, one of the two drives would still be working.

None of the external Buslink firewire, firewire/USB combo, (or SATA/firewire/USB combo) drives are having a problem, and so far HP printer is holding tight, as is HP Scanjet, APC Back-UPS, external Sony combo burner, keyboard, mouse, and these old USB 1 drives were working fine up until lately. I begin to wonder if it isn't as you say, conflict between USB 1 & 2, so may give Belkin a call on Monday to ask. What makes this hard is that the old USB drives aren't nearly as valuable to me right now as is my Wacom tablet, so between the two, the Belkin USB card is going to win precedence.

This is a Dell Dimension 8200, around 5? years old... and while slightly outdated, is still enough of what is needed to make most things work relatively well. Until recently everything did, and the biggest change made to this system is that Belkin 2.0 card.

UPDATE: After speaking with Buslink support and taking advise to purchase 3.5" USB 2.0 enclosures to update these outdated USB 1.1 drives, all is well again with my hard drives. No more driver conflicts, and these new enclosures are beautiful by comparison to their yellow mustard faced ones, and only cost $15 each at XPCGear.com.

I might add that original suspicion about Windows updates was most likely what caused system instability. After reading this most recent patch information, I'm convinced of it:

"Update for Windows XP (KB929338)
Typical download size: 725 KB , less than 1 minute
This is a reliability update. Install this update to improve the stability of computers running Windows XP. This update prevents some Stop 0x1a or Stop 0x0a errors. After you install this item, you will have to restart your computer."

This is precisely the problem I was starting to have and nearly cost a fresh install. So far I've managed to salvage this OS and nothing so far has failed to work since upgrading to USB 2.0 and chucking USB 1.1 devices. I'm thinking Windows XP Home does not handle them well anymore with all the changes that have been made to it in the name of improved security.

 

[glassceiling]

hello All
I first posted with this problem, tried everything suggested except reinstall. No luck until I did reinstalled. As I posted on 3/3 it worked and had not had any further problems with the wizard launching in place of plug and play loading.

sky319
asked if I lost any data. I restored with the system recovery on the hard drive. It left the My Document folder in tack but everything else was wiped out. Lost outlook address book and I think I lost my favorites. But I had backed them up before so I only lost the most resent additions.

No problems with usb sense. But I did have a freeze issue. Last week when I brought my computer out of sleep mode the compaq splash screen froze. Nothing would work. power kill and power up did no good, the splash screen came back. With no mouse or keyboard I was screwed. I had remembered reading some where when I was looking for the usb fix some one having a similar problem and was suggested to unplug the power cord. I did, waited a few minutes, pluged it back in and it booted up like it should. No problems so far.

but now, I hold my breath everytime I boot and everytime I plug a usb device in.

The only solution is to reinstall. Forget trying anything else, been there, done that, nothing worked. If you have reinstall on the hard drive it will be a piece of cake.

Good luck.

 

[Loquacious1]

The only solution is to reinstall. Forget trying anything else, been there, done that, nothing worked. If you have reinstall on the hard drive it will be a piece of cake.

Painfully I'm inclined to agree, a fresh install cures nearly anything... so I'm looking around for bargains to buy a larger HD for when the time comes and there is no choice. May as well make the best of it and upgrade at the same time.

Am not anxious to reinstall all my software again as it will take forever. Fortunately this system isn't quite that unstable, and I'm holding on for long as it can last. Have discovered when Creative Zen isn't removed from a port, there is no BSOD error lately. It's as if Windows XP looks for it, can't find the device, snaps, reboots and is fine again. Otherwise, she runs fine. I'm still testing this theory, but this seems a constant in the equation lately.

Some think it's possible there is a hardware failure involved such as graphics card, hard drive, motherboard, and yet others say driver conflicts, hardware incompatibilities. Whatever it is, Windows XP is not happy about it.

 

[taberh]

Manual driver selection works

Following the previously mentioned advice to manually select a C:\I386 folder to install new USB devices, a directory of which I don't have, using C:\WINDOWS\inf worked. The inf directory is hidden, so depending on folder options it may not be visible in explorer. Also, the install wizard appears twice when installing a device, once for the hardware type, and then again for the driver. (Each time I just manually select the same inf folder.)

I can now successfully install any USB devices that I didn't already have installed before this problem appeared. The specific USB devices I was trying to use were storage devices (flash and hard disk based) and a mouse. To fix the problem of having to manually install new USB devices I will still probably have to reinstall the OS. (I was trying to avoid this as I'm expecting a free Vista upgrade, so I don't mind manually configuring USB devices until I get Vista.)

 

[Loquacious1]

Following the previously mentioned advice to manually select a C:\I386 folder to install new USB devices, a directory of which I don't have, using C:\WINDOWS\inf worked. The inf directory is hidden, so depending on folder options it may not be visible in explorer. Also, the install wizard appears twice when installing a device, once for the hardware type, and then again for the driver. (Each time I just manually select the same inf folder.)

I can now successfully install any USB devices that I didn't already have installed before this problem appeared. The specific USB devices I was trying to use were storage devices (flash and hard disk based) and a mouse. To fix the problem of having to manually install new USB devices I will still probably have to reinstall the OS. (I was trying to avoid this as I'm expecting a free Vista upgrade, so I don't mind manually configuring USB devices until I get Vista.)

Interesting you should mention this as I recall using a similar procedure to reinstall system restore when it mysteriously vanished once. Had the same problem as you in finding \I386 folder on my system only to discover it residing on the XP installation CD. This made it a matter of changing the command path to it. Using this folder worked at that time and reinstalled system restore again, but it never worked quite right until I did a fresh install. Hope your results are better.

Also wish you well in your Vista install, however if a system is shaky from the start, an upgrade will not resolve it without a fresh install. I've been told by a friend who does computer consulting that upgrade installs of Vista aren't nearly as good as full software installs, and I'll quote him. Not sure if you meant an 'upgrade install' or upgrade to full install CD, but just in case I'll share his thoughts.

With Vista you cannot just stick in your previous OS CD, etc. for authentication for the upgrade disk to start! If you installed Vista from an upgrade and want to "redo" your system with the same disk, you need to format, INSTALL YOUR PREVIOUS OS, and THEN install the Vista Upgrade! (In other words, just make sure you get the FULL VERSION!)

Sounds like a pain... but at least you'll know this going in. So far he's never wrong about these things and is running both Vista Ultimate RC2 on two computers and Vista Business on another, yet won't install Vista on his main computers being as there are no drivers for it to use with some of his previous hardware.

~ I digress in going off topic, but being as you mentioned it... ~ ;^D Anyway, good luck with your upgrade install, whichever may be the case!

 

[nick carntowan]

Hi, I wonder how you have all got on since Feb. I eventually tried Driver Magic and paid $25 for the download. After using that hardly anything still worked so I went to a computer shop and had them to install Windows on a new C drive and leave the old drive in place (as my F drive. I only had the OEM recovery disc by the way. Then I copied what I could of my data files (not everything could be seen on F but most things could be. I wiped the F drive after a couple of weeks and use it to store backups every week. I think my problems were a symptom of Windows starting to fall apart.
Not only did Driver Magic not work for me (it made things worse) but the company would not respond to my requests for help (via their support page or direct to their email address). I tried several times. They offer a money-back guarantee on their website but I can't reach them. They are either dishonest or incompetent.

 

[Tmagic650]

nick carntowan,
an OS reinstall would have saved you a lot of grief and money wouldn't it. Some motherboards are just better at USB than others

 

[nick carntowan]

Too right Tmagic any relation to DMagic by the way?
I would like as many people as possible to know about Driver Magic's poor supporet though

 

[Tmagic650]

Tmagic stands for technical magic, like being able to fix things... 650 is my birth month and year. I don't know DMagic.

Any of the so called driver "magic" programs are crap. A good Google search is more useful than any driver program