usb device not recognized in windows 7

Anonymous
2010-07-02T18:28:37+00:00

So it seems MS has a problem with " usb device not recognized in windows 7 ". A Google search will find no real solutions to the problem. I haven't found one hear ether. How can I have a handful of flash drives and external hard drives that will not work on only 2 Win7 systems that I know of ,yet work on others ? I never needed to download drivers from anyone to make them work on any other OS . I just plug them in and the work ... THE 1st TIME... not after trying all things that don't.  This is something that needs a REAL FIX. I should not have to pay Tech Support to find out why. This is clearly an OS Win7 problem. Thanks     This is real FRUSTRATING

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2010-07-03T13:29:23+00:00

Hi DJBigBang,


1. Have any USB or external drives worked on your computer? 2. What is the make and model of your computer?

As all the hardware devices have drivers associated similarly USB devices also have it. Sometimes proper drivers do not get detected after the initial installation so reinstallation of the drivers helps resolve the issues.

You may check after uninstalling and reinstalling the USB drivers if you are able to connect. You may disconnect all USB devices and then perform the following steps:

1.     ClickStart, and then click Control Panel.

2.     ClickSystem and Maintenance, click System, and then clickDevice Manager.

Note If Control Panel is in Classic View, double-clickSystem, and then click Device Manager.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or clickAllow.

**3.**In Device Manager, double click to expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers", right click on the Host Controller, click "Uninstall" and click "OK".

Check if at all there is an exclamation mark along the driver, it suggests issues with the driver installed.

4.     Repeat the step 2 to uninstall all items under "Universal Serial Bus controllers".

Then, restart your computer and Windows 7 will reinstall all USB controllers automatically.

If you still face the same issue then you may check for the updated USB device drivers using windows update. Refer to the below link for assistance–

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Update-a-driver-for-hardware-that-isnt-working-properly

If the issue sill persists I would request you to check for chipset driver updates which you can get at the manufacturer website. The chipset drivers normally incorporate USB controller drivers as well.


Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Meghmala – Microsoft Support

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Anonymous
2011-11-07T15:46:59+00:00

Hello DJBigBang,

There is an old Windows XP KB article that was recently updated with multiple steps to resolve these types of issues. The KB covers Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 with step by step methods. See if this helps.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330140

Bobby

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125 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-06-12T23:29:09+00:00

    My specific solution is so simple (for my specific conditions) it is almost embarrassing.

    Bear with the diversion - I almost lost my mind today attempting to perform a maps update on my Garmin nuvi gps unit. I finally called Garmin, waited almost a half hour, and handed over the control of my keyboard. Long story short, my Garmin-provided USB cable (used maybe 3 times) was BAD! Swapped the Garmin USB cable with the USB camera cable, problem solved. This bad Garmin cable had been plugged into the back of my CPU when I was receiving the "USB device not recognized" error message. I thought I was so clever leaving the cable plugged into the back of the CPU to save me the effort of crawling around when the Garmin needed to be updated. What a painful way to determine I had a bad USB cable. But in fairness to Windows7, the error message was correct. I did have USB device that Windows could not recognize.

    AND, I disconnected the USB cable from my hp Photosmart Plus e-printer.  All printing is performed via wireless network. I no longer leave extra cables connected to the back of my CPU.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-06-12T21:37:29+00:00

    WOW! I've been searching for a solution to this problem for YEARS, and it has started to work! It may stop again, but thanks!!!

    My solution will follow my quick background.

    I, like many others, had problems with Windows 7 recognizing and/or finding/installing drivers for numerous USB devices (keyboard, flash drives, webcam). I searched, read, and tried numerous solutions, NONE worked. Until this.

    So, since I FINALLY found a solution (for me), I wanted to 'give back' and share it with others in hopes that it will help some to resolve their issues.

    I found some .pnf files that did not have the same named .inf file in my C:\Windows\inf folder. I found a site that had the text for the .inf files. So I just tried something in hopes it would work, and thankfully it did.

    Here was what I did (very simple), and what you can try:

    1 - Go to your C:\Windows\inf folder

    2 - Make sure these files (at a minimum, there might be others) are listed in that folder:

    • usb.inf
    • usb2.inf
    • usbport.inf
    • usbprint.inf
    • usbstor.inf
    • usbvideo.inf

    3 - If any of the above files are missing, you'll need to create it. Even if they are there, it might be worth a shot to rename them (something like usb_original.inf), then replace each file with what follows.

    4 - Go to the website: http://www.infdump.com/ where you can find the text each file should contain by clicking on the top right Alphabet to find the specific file.

    Or you can use these quick links for your convenience:

    5 - For each of those pages you'll need to do this:

    A - [Ctrl-A] to copy all the text on the page, then [Ctrl-C] to copy

    B - Open Notepad, then [Ctrl-V] to paste

    C - Do a File>Save, click the File Type drop-down and select 'All Files', then name it the appropriate name (example: usb.inf, and it MUST have the extension .inf when you name the file) and save it in your C:\Windows\inf folder

    6 - I don't think there's a need to reboot, but unplug all of your connected USB devices, then plug them back in and Windows will start to recognize and install drivers, and if all goes well, everything should be working.

    Best of luck!

    On Win 7 x64, you don't really need usb2.inf to fix it, at least in my case it was true. But this is very helpful, thanks!

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-06-12T21:21:43+00:00

    My solution will follow my quick background.

    I, like many others, had problems with Windows 7 recognizing and/or finding/installing drivers for numerous USB devices (keyboard, flash drives, webcam). I searched, read, and tried numerous solutions, NONE worked. Until this.

    So, since I FINALLY found a solution (for me), I wanted to 'give back' and share it with others in hopes that it will help some to resolve their issues.

    I found some .pnf files that did not have the same named .inf file in my C:\Windows\inf folder. I found a site that had the text for the .inf files. So I just tried something in hopes it would work, and thankfully it did.

    Here was what I did (very simple), and what you can try:

    1 - Go to your C:\Windows\inf folder

    2 - Make sure these files (at a minimum, there might be others) are listed in that folder:

    • usb.inf
    • usb2.inf
    • usbport.inf
    • usbprint.inf
    • usbstor.inf
    • usbvideo.inf

    3 - If any of the above files are missing, you'll need to create it. Even if they are there, it might be worth a shot to rename them (something like usb_original.inf), then replace each file with what follows.

    4 - Go to the website: http://www.infdump.com/ where you can find the text each file should contain by clicking on the top right Alphabet to find the specific file.

    Or you can use these quick links for your convenience:

    5 - For each of those pages you'll need to do this:

    A - [Ctrl-A] to copy all the text on the page, then [Ctrl-C] to copy

    B - Open Notepad, then [Ctrl-V] to paste

    C - Do a File>Save, click the File Type drop-down and select 'All Files', then name it the appropriate name (example: usb.inf, and it MUST have the extension .inf when you name the file) and save it in your C:\Windows\inf folder

    6 - I don't think there's a need to reboot, but unplug all of your connected USB devices, then plug them back in and Windows will start to recognize and install drivers, and if all goes well, everything should be working.

    Best of luck!

    On Win 7 x64, you don't really need usb2.inf to fix it, at least in my case it was true. But this is very helpful, thanks!

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