XP Pro doesnt recognize USB flash drive

[rubberman]

XP pro doesnt recognize my USB flash drive. neither the front or rear ports. My work computer and the PS3 both find it and works fine. POrts are fine cause my mouse and printer and scanner work on them. any ideas?

[aedipuss]

might need sp1 and/or sp2?

[johns0]

Windows might have recognized the usb device as an unknown device,check in control panel/system/hardware/device manager and check in view/show hidden devices for any errors.

[rubberman]

in device manager it shows 'unknown device' and shows no driver installed for this device but if i go to install device it says it cant find a better driver than the one its using.

[Ai Haibara]

Check the manufacturer's website. They may have drivers for the drive, there. Did the drive come with any discs?

[johns0]

Usb flash drives dont require extra drivers,windows should install generic hdd drivers for it,being unknown device means windows has screwed up and wont properly assign drivers,try and uninstall from device manager and unplug and replug,might have to do it a few times.

[Ai Haibara]

I've heard of rare cases where USB flash drives might require drivers under XP, for some of the more rare or 'exotic' types. It depends on the device, really. rubberman, what flash drive are you trying to use?

[gll99]

In most cases removing all usb drivers in the device manager and rebooting and then letting xp find them again works well.

If this is a p3 as in your specs then you may have a usb 1.1 onboard controller and the usb drive is probably 2.0. It still might work but more slowly. Some have reported problems with the SIS 7001 pci to usb drivers. If those are the ones showing in your device manager then you may have to override them by right clicking on the entry and saying you want to update the drivers, choose "no not this time" to windows searching, then select "install from list or specific location", then "don't search I'll choose the driver", then choose the standard usb host controller.

If you are using a pci 2.0 add on card, even though it may say there are no conflicts, check to see which io interrupts are being used. In the device manager use "view" and "resources by type" then check the interrupt request (IRQ) and see if anything else is using the same IRQ. If so you may have to move the card to another slot. In xp IRQ are shared between some pci slots and even the video even if it's agp.

A snapshot of the usb controllers showing in the device manager would be helpful.

[kimco52]

I have a similar problem. I don't know what is going on. I have two rear USB connectors and two in the front. I leave the two rear ones plugged in all the time to a scanner and a webcam. I change the front ones to what I want to use, whether it is a film (slide) scanner, USB disk drive card, HP photo printer, etc.

The problem is that a given device will work on one connector but not the other. I would think it should recognize a device on either connector but it does not. I don't know why.

Edit....
To further clarify, some devices work on one connector (1) and some work on the other connector (2). Moving them to the other connector comes up with a device not recognized. In other words, it appears that a given device will only be recognized on only one of the four connectors but not the others. All connectors work for some devices. It is as if the driver is loaded for only one connectore for a given device.

I know. It sounds strange.

[johns0]

The problem with swapping out connectors to front usb a lot causes loose contacts in the usb housing after awhile,i have the same problem and tightening the contacts helps.

[oldandinthe way]

How big is the flash drive?

I remember some issues may exist with 4gb and larger flash drives.

[MyMoneypit]

When other devices are recognized using the same usb port but your flash drives list as unknown devices, believe it or not, a big fix is usually not needed. Most of the time the drive is detected as unknown device because of a misalignment of the contacts when inserted. This is pretty common for flash drives but not many other devices. Try it fully inserted and at various positions partially inserted. This usually does the trick.

[El Heggunte]

^

OP's name = rubberman  
Member 

Join Date:
13th Oct 2002

Last Activity:
12th Feb 2011 00:55 GMT

[jman98]

Thanks for digging up this almost 6 year old thread and telling us. I can assure you that not only every person ever on the thread, but every former and current and future member here truly had no idea this problem even had a solution and we were all hoping that one day some guy would be bored and find a post on an internet search and grave rob an ancient thread so he could post the answer we have all been waiting for. So thank you so much for this.

[jman98]

It doesn't matter, El Heggunte. We all needed to know what he said because we've all been waiting 6 years for that information.

Not really (for the sarcasm impaired).

[bendixG15]

Digging up ancient threads seems to be very common these days. Has me checking the dates before I read the post.

[kennywally]

well, since it is up......I found that I needed to reboot, defrag, run crap cleaner and or equivalent, besides check the properties of the hub and other usb controllers. possibly uninstall and upon reboot the system recognizes it is missing and reinstalls for you.
that's about it....

[Mephesto]

If it's 3.0 USB and you're running XP then you definitely need drivers and it will be a pain in the ass to find them.

[Cornucopia]

All USBs that I have seen will fall back to the highest supported protocol available, so if USB 3.0 doesn't work (no drivers, isn't recognized) it should support USB 2.0, or even 1.1. It should not state "unknown device".

Scott

[Mephesto]

USB 3.0 ports do not act like 2.0 ports without drivers. They don't work at all.

[Cornucopia]

Who told you that?! USB 3.0 was built with backward/forward compatibility in mind.

Scott

[pandy]

Go to device properties and provide details (idVendor: and idProduct: ).
You use http://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Utilities/usbview.zip or http://flashdrive-repair.tumblr.com/post/70594203779/download-the-best-flash-drive-tool-chip-genius

[cornemuse]

The problem is that a given device will work on one connector but not the other. I would think it should recognize a device on either connector but it does not. I don't know why.


I know. It sounds strange.

This is exactly what happens to me, some flash drvs work on only the connector I first plugged it in to.

Just live with it, I guess,

-c-

(w/XP Pro sp3)

[hello_hello]

Who told you that?! USB 3.0 was built with backward/forward compatibility in mind.

Scott

If (for example) you install a USB3 PCI express card and you're running XP, is it going to appear as an unknown device in Device Manager until the USB3 drivers are installed?

I have a USB3 PCI Express card and I'm running XP, and I honestly can't remember for sure, but the "unknown device" theory seems kinda familiar. I don't recall it appearing as a USB2 device, but I could be remembering incorrectly.

The problem is that a given device will work on one connector but not the other. I would think it should recognize a device on either connector but it does not. I don't know why.

I know. It sounds strange.

This is exactly what happens to me, some flash drvs work on only the connector I first plugged it in to.

Just live with it, I guess

XP (and maybe newer versions of Windows too) for some reason see the same device as a different device when it's connected to a different USB controller. I'm fairly sure that's why (mentioned in an older post) sometimes you can install a device such as a scanner while it's connected to a USB port at the back, but connected to a front USB port it mightn't work until it's installed again (multiple USB ports can be connected to a single controller, or USB hub, however it works, so it doesn't always happen when plugging something into a different USB port).

When it comes to devices such as flash drives, the first time you plug one in it's "installed" automatically (the same generic Windows drivers are used for most USB flash drives). You'll see a "found new device" message, Windows installs it and then tells you it's ready to use, or something along those lines. Unplug it and plug it in again and it'll generally just appear as a removable device, unless you use a different USB port connected to a different controller, in which case you'll probably go through the "found new hardware", "installing", "ready to use" cycle again. I'm certain I've seen that many, many times. Even connecting a drive to a USB hub that's in turn connected to the original USB port can cause it to be seen as new hardware. I can probably test it later. I have a USB2 flash drive I've only ever connected to the front USB ports as it's USB2. The USB3 ports are on the rear. If I plug it into one of them, I fairly sure Windows will install the drive again. I'd test it now, but I can't find it.....

Anyway, if my above theory has anything to do with it, maybe Windows is failing to assign the flash drive a new drive letter for some reason and therefore it's not showing up in Windows Explorer. Or maybe Windows is being stubborn about re-installing it. If you look in Device Manager while the flash drive is connected (to the USB port where it fails to work) is there any sign of an unknown device?
What about the infamous Windows "ding" sound when you connect it. Anything like that still happen, even if it doesn't work?

[Mephesto]

Who told you that?! USB 3.0 was built with backward/forward compatibility in mind.

Scott

3.0 devices were built with backwards compatibility in mind, not 3.0 ports. Who told me? Personal experience did. In 2013 I was sick of slow-ass 2.0 usb sticks so I went to buy myself a PCI card with two ports that I could plug 3.0 usb sticks into. It didn't work without drivers and it was a pain in the ass to get any to work for XP because they were all for 7/8.

[Cornucopia]

The OP is complaining about a DEVICE not a PORT.

Scott

[hello_hello]

The OP asked for help seven years ago.

[Cornucopia]

Valid point but then I wasn't the first to respond to a graverobber.

Scott

[pandy]

The OP asked for help seven years ago.

[Mephesto]

*facepalm* I'm telling a guy from 2007 to get drivers for USB 3.0 ports....
I didn't even notice the date of the post until now.