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USB problem within XP

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MrBass

Technical User
Dec 21, 2000
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Whenever I plug in a USB device my PC just locks up and the only thing I can do is reset it. I've tried uninstalling all the USB devices from within Device Manager and have Windows re-install them but it still hasn't resolved the problem. I think the problem may have arisen because I installed XP with a 4 port hub connected. Any ideas how I can resolve this?
 
Were you plugging the device into the PC directly or into the hub?

Some USB hubs provide power for the connected devices and others don't, so this is something to check.

John
 
Initially I was plugging it into the hub but I've also tried directly to the PC. I've tried two devices - a Compaq iPaq and a Sony Digital Camera. The iPaq works if I plug it in before powering up the PC, the Camera doesn't work at all. To add to the confusion, the camera may be down to incorrect drivers!
 
XP is very fussy about USB. If these are USB 2.0 devices you should be certain that SP1 is installed. It sometimes helps to remove under Device Manager the USB root controllers, reboot, and let XP rediscover them.

There are some root devices XP just will not support. Driver issues are also a key issue. Finally, depending on the manufacturer and model, there are known incompatibilities, although sometimes there are chipset level driver patches.

Usually this site will answer a USB problem I have, although it often takes some searching:
Selecting "Groups" instead of "Web" with Google has yielded for me the answer to the odd USB problem. Use Google with a Group setting to search for your specific devices by name and model.
 
Thanks to those that replied - the fault is now no more! Unfortunately I'm not 100% sure what the resolution was as I made a couple of amendments. Firstly I disabled the Power Management for both USB ports (I'm 99.999% sure that this resolved the issue). I then installed the Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard USB driver, plugged in the Bluetooth USB dongle and voila, no lockups and new hardware detected. I then tried the iPaq - new hardware detected and finally the digital camera - new hardware detected. So alls well that ends well. Hopefully this post will end up helping some other poor soul!
 
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