Strange USB problem

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10 Mar 2004
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Whenever i plug in a USB device into my comp ie USB memory stick, ipod it knocks out my mouse and keyboard and i get an error message saying "a USB device attached to this computer has malfunctioned and windows does not recognise it"

I can take the USB stick back out and and replug in my mouse/keyboard and everything kicks in again working normally

As you can imagine this is a real pain in the arse as i cant charge our ipods or use my USB stick :/

Running XP pro fully up to date, no problems anywhere else apart from this grief

Help me pleash :o
 
Is it just the front USB ports that you are plugging into? Have you tried the USB ports at the back of the mobo. If only the front ports have the problem then it's most likely their connection to the mobo USB header that is wrong and needs correcting.
 
Yes its all the USB ports front and back :/

ipod and the USB stick work fine in other pc's ive got a laptop and everythings AOK
 
try re-installing the usb drives

what board is it and what settings on bios have u got the usb set too?
 
Right the only USB settings i can find in the bios are as follows

USB Controller - Enabled
USB 2.0 Support - Enabled
USB Device Legacy Support - Disabled

Means nowt to me boys :confused:
 
You might as well try enabling the Device Legacy support apparantly it is meant to be enabled for keyboards/mice (while in DOS etc) so that might be the problem. If it doesn't make it work then you are no worse off. :)
 
Ill shall give it a whirl, cheers ears

Edit: Nope knocked themout as soon as i put the pen drive in :mad:
 
Last edited:
May not help but it's worth a shot, also helps tidy up windows a bit...

Start
Run
CMD
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
devmgmt.msc
View
Show hidden devices

Go to the USB section at the bottom and anything relating to the device that is faded out, delete. Also delete any faded ones if they relate to any normal ones that you currently have plugged in.

You can also have a look at the other devices in devmgmt to see if there's any further up that relate to the problem devices.

As an aside if you upgrade your GFX drivers a lot have a look under monitors as well as you may have a monitor entry or two for each upgrade. Before you go off deleting every faded out item in devmgmt, be very carefull as some are meant to be faded out. Rule of thumb is if you don't know what it is, haven't removed the h/w previously or it doesn't have a corresponding solid item then leave it.

If you want to post a pic of what devmgmt shows I'll have a quick look.

Like I say it might not help but it does help you get back to clean start as windows tends to have a habit of keeping a record of every device you plug in and multiple versions of it if you plug it into more than one port.
 
Very helpful of you cheers fella

Her ya go

clipboard01zd0.jpg



LoL, great aint it? :o

Let me know which ones i can get rid of then :)
 
O_O yowsers!

tbh I'd delete all the faded ones. It may mean that when you plug things like your phone back in you need to redo the drivers for it but stripping it back to basics may help with the problem you are having.

But if you want to be a bit safer just get rid of the..

Generic USB Hub
Unknown device
USB mass storage device

faded entries and maybe the 'USB composite device' ones as well.

Also look in devmgmt further up to see if anything up there relates, especially under the disk drives section and check for duplicate faded entries for your k/b+m under their relevant sections and any H.I.D stuff.
 
also, to save time in the future you can add that set command to your environment variables so it's always set when you boot windows.

right click 'my computer'
'Advanced' tab
Environment Variables
New
and then just put the name (no need for the set at the beginning)
and then 1 for the value.

You can either set it as as a system variable so it sets it for the system no matter who logs in, or as a user variable so it only sets when you log in.
 
Did what you said and went for the safe option :o

Still the same plugged in the mem stick and bang mouse and keyboard went again :/

Gave it a reboot after i deleted them dunno if that helps :confused:
 
Strange i can plug my Bluetooth adaptor in and windows picks it up and installs everything :/

Im going to bed ill kick the **** out of it in the morning, cheers for your help chaosophy :)
 
np, shame it didn't fix the problem but at least windows is a bit tidier now :D

The only other thing is maybe it's drawing too much power over the USB or using to much bandwidth?

You can check the power by looking at the properties of the USB root hubs, and the bandwidth by checking the USB host controllers.

Maybe try unplugging the mouse/all usb devices other than the k/b and trying it again.
 
Ive got some PS2 adaptors i might try plugging the mouse/kb in with those then try it

Seems it may be a power issue but im running a 650 watt PSU so it shouldnt be that

Thanks again anyway :)
 
G|mp said:
Whenever i plug in a USB device into my comp ie USB memory stick, ipod it knocks out my mouse and keyboard and i get an error message saying "a USB device attached to this computer has malfunctioned and windows does not recognise it"

I can take the USB stick back out and and replug in my mouse/keyboard and everything kicks in again working normally

As you can imagine this is a real pain in the arse as i cant charge our ipods or use my USB stick :/

Running XP pro fully up to date, no problems anywhere else apart from this grief

Help me pleash :o

if you have a 360/ps2 (dunno about ps3) you can charge your ipod from them, i had to do it when my computer broke over Christmas, dunno how to resolve our original problem
 
I can charge them through my lappy, its a pain in the arse cuz all mine and the Mrs's itunes stuff is all on my main pc
 
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