How to fix USB device not recognized in Windows

Posted on July 14, 2008 at 5:34 am

Are you getting a “USB device not recognized” error whenever you plug in a USB mouse, keyboard, or other USB device? I love USB and have 5 ports on my computer so that I can connect my mouse, keyboard, camera, phone, and printer to it all at once!

However, last weekend, my computer stopped recognizing my USB devices! The strange thing about it was that the USB ports were not bad because all of my devices were still getting power to them. I could still charge my cell phone without a problem!

So I started with the normal fixing methods, including uninstalling the drivers for my devices and reinstalling them. That didn’t work! Next I tried System Restore thinking that maybe I had installed something and it caused a conflict with the USB system drivers. That didn’t work!

I read online that in order to fix this problem I should go to Device Manager and uninstall all of the devices under USB Controllers. Restarted the computer, reinstalled the USB drivers, but the problem STILL did not go away!

You may also see in Device Manager that the device shows up as an “Unknown Device”.

So how did I finally fix the problem? Well, apparently it’s a super simple solution! No need to edit the registry, uninstall drivers, or anything of that sort.

Simply UNPLUG YOUR COMPUTER FROM THE POWER SUPPLY. Yes that’s it! Note that this does not mean just turning off your computer because modern computers don’t really turn off when you press the power button as the motherboard still gets power.

First to explain, the motherboard is where all of hardware of the computer is connected to, including the USB ports. Sometimes the motherboard needs to be “rebooted” also because something can go wrong, i.e. all your USB ports suddenly stop working. The small microprocessor on the motherboard will reload the drivers and your USB ports should be back to recognizing all devices!

So first turn off your computer using Shut Down or pressing the power button and then UNPLUG it from the wall outlet. Let it sit for about a minute and then plug it back in.

Hope this helps someone fix that pesky “USB device not recognized” Windows error!

» Filed Under Computer Tips

Comments

213 Responses to “How to fix USB device not recognized in Windows”

John said on : July 14th, 2008 at 7:55 am

I have been having this problem with my laptop for several months. One of my two USB ports stopped working. I tried your suggestion and it did not work. I did also remove the battery.
John

Madhur Kapoor said on : July 15th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

Thanks, some of my Pen drives gives this type of problems. I will try this method

nelson said on : July 15th, 2008 at 4:43 pm

cool find. I’ll remember this next time users show up complaining their USB drives don’t get recognized. is a simple solution indeed. unplug it, babe!

Mayur said on : July 16th, 2008 at 9:55 pm

Having same prob. even after i checked it with a new motherboard

DeAndre said on : July 17th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

Had this same problem minus the error messages and works fine for desktops and laptops (remove power supply from replicator to wall or power supply) works great! Thanks!

Vlad said on : July 24th, 2008 at 4:54 am

Super!! So simple, just unplug the power cable and it works again. Thnx a lot !!!

Rod said on : July 24th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

Wow! Glad I found this article! Thanks for the tip. It worked for me!

Jordan said on : July 27th, 2008 at 2:58 pm

I read this article thinking “It can’t be that easy, it must be a driver problem or something”… but I tried it for novelty value.. and it worked.. I love you!

Courtz said on : July 28th, 2008 at 1:14 am

OMG .. I have spent days trawling thru websites and attempting their solutions. THANX so much.. Your suggestion worked. Will remember that for future refrence

Henry in Melbourne, Oz said on : July 29th, 2008 at 2:12 am

You are an absolute whiz, my friend! I tried so many recommendations from so many websites ….. nothing worked. Then I found your solution and I thought no, that’s just TOO simple, it can’t work. Unplug the computer from the wall?? Surely that can’t make any difference. But it absolutely did! All my USB devices now work in all ports. You’re a lifesaver ….. THANX SO MUCH!! I’ll try to remember you in my will.

Dan said on : July 31st, 2008 at 3:40 am

I couldn’t believe how simple the fix was!!! I use a laptop and having this balloon come up was not only annoying, but it also made the computer glitch. I tried other fixes that ranged from re-installing a driver to using the run command, but this one definitely takes the cake. Thank you for such a simple solution!!!!!

butthead2001 said on : August 1st, 2008 at 12:05 am

WOW!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU….
I LEFT MINE OUT OF POWER FOR 30 MINUTES WHILE I PLAYED WII…WHEN I PUT THE POWER BACK ON…VOILA…YEAH BABY..

THANK YOU AGAIN
BUTTHEAD2001

Corporatetrainer said on : August 4th, 2008 at 10:14 pm

I’m blown away. After spending the better part of the day on this, I unplug my laptop and usb suddenly works. I’m still confused since the problem has gone on for days and it has been unplugged several times with out the usb’s working. But this time I start my laptop on battery only and the usb’s are back. ???!!!???
Hail to the poster.

Grateful Kiwi said on : August 11th, 2008 at 4:18 am

You’re a saint. We think problem was caused because we plugged camera into USB while PC was in sleep mode and moved mouse to wake computer up. Tried a range of fixes and was about to start uninstalling drivers etc. but not feeling good about that as we’e sooo not techies. So we read a few more Google results, found yours and thought this is us. Worked a treat. And to think we were ready to send this 2 week old PC to fixer the next day, loss of income, self employed etc. Oh such a grey sky was instantly turned blue. Thanks again.

bocser said on : August 11th, 2008 at 8:18 pm

wow….thanks!!! Seriously, I did everything from the registry to drivers to switching ports to almost intentionally breaking my mouse and all I had to do was unplug my pc. DUH!

Aeron said on : August 19th, 2008 at 5:40 pm

Im running Windows Vista in laptop and the same problem occured to me.Can any1 temm how can i fix this bug.I tried to shut down the computer but it didnt work
THNX

Matt said on : August 28th, 2008 at 6:02 pm

The most useful tip I have received in a long while–becuse it worked! I had the same exasperating problem with my USB storage devices, went through all of the same “trouleshooting” procedures (probably causing more harm than good) with no luck. Unplug the *&%# thing for a couple minutes (while I poured myself a drink), turned it back on and now it works…go figure.

Thanks!

Anne said on : September 4th, 2008 at 2:19 am

Thank you very much.

Easy, simple & it worked !!!!

Dev said on : September 6th, 2008 at 10:32 am

OMG !!! its so nice to know theres so many of you going through the same problem ! i spent 6 hours trying to figure this out,uninstaling ,rebooting ,re-install , system restore ! surfing forums !!! i was so angry with my pc i just shut down from the switch on the wall plug ! now im at work ..and i thought ill just google the problem one more time..so glad to know that this might be a way to go ..will get home in 8 hours and check ,looking at the success rate from every1’s response ! i should be positive that it might be solved anyways wish i found this site much earlier ! Thanks a bil

Ghazwan Naser said on : September 6th, 2008 at 5:23 pm

Dear Sir
you are the best of the best
I didn’t belive it firstly …
how simple and easy….this solution is..
three days of trying ..
please Sir …accept my best regards

vineet said on : September 17th, 2008 at 9:58 am

Mine is still not working, when i first start my desktop in the morning then my microsoft USB mouse hangs, but as soon as i re start my pc then its works fine. then again after 5-6 hours i switch on my pc it hangs again and i have to repeat the same process again .
pls guys help me i m bugged up ,pls give any solution.
thanks in advance

pls mail me suggestion at bullish@in.com

mohammad said on : September 18th, 2008 at 6:06 pm

I cant thank you enough!

USBHELL said on : September 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm

Isnt there any other fix than switch it off, That solution doesnt work for me … its been 2 weeks now – with one week of that the machine was unplugged,

After the week off , It did work for about 5 mins then stopped again (usb device not recognized – malfunctioned)

I wouldnt mind .. but its my wireless network card thats not recognized

Ive tried absolutley everything i have read online… even rebuilt my pc and formatted, it has to be a mobo problem, it works in every other machine …..

janasheen said on : September 25th, 2008 at 2:27 am

Usb device not recognised.

I have installed xp sp3 and vista ultimate both on different paritions but when i connect the extend cable of 3 metres which is silver coloured cable.
i get a popup menu”usb device not recognised”"one of the usb devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and windows cannot recognise it.”

But if i use the cable of 1 metre it works fine.But the same cable of 3 metres works on my friend PC.
.
Pc Specifications.

Intel(r) Pentium(r) 4 CPU 3.40Ghz(2CPu’s) 3.42Ghz
Memory 1023 MB
System Type 32 Bit
Graphic Card :Nvidia GeForce 6200 Turbo Cache (256mb)
Sound :High Defination Realtek
T.V Tuner :Lifeview Dvb-S
Wireless Adapter :Tp Link Wireless TL/wn620g 108mbps
Modem :Creative
Built In Lan :Broadband Netlink Gigabit Ethernet

Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-81945PL-G

UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS CONTROLLER :

INTEL 82801GB USB UNIVERSAL HOST CONTROLLER-27C8-27C9-27CA-27CB-27CC

THE THINGS I HAVE TRIED FROM MY SIDE:

1.INSTALLED AND REINSTALLED THE USB DRIVERS
2.IN USB ROOT HUB I HAVE UNTICK THE (allow the computer to turn off this device to save power)
3.UPDATED THE OPERATING SYSTEM.

well if anyone knows how to solve this problem kindly help me out.The reason for using 3metre cable i get a free wifi at some height
network in which i connect wifi device to catch signals.

Now the question is to remove the power cord from the motherboard or from the powersupply…

USB-troubled said on : September 30th, 2008 at 11:22 am

Wow, that’s incredible… after a computer crash not only did my USB devices not work, but the sound was playing all weird! I thought the computer was doomed and even suspected hardware damage.

But lo and behold, unplugging the computer for a minute fixed everything! I still can’t believe it.

MAvi said on : October 1st, 2008 at 2:35 pm

Thank you so so much,
i was having the same problem USB not recognized whenever i connect any USB,
search on internet saw this page, nd tried it,
it really worked, thanx so much,
Hatts of to u

Chris said on : October 7th, 2008 at 3:42 am

Ok, I give, you are a genious, .. I just spent 45 minutes uninstalling drivers, getting all technical on it’s ass.. and then came across your article.. Unplugged the power.. rebooted.. and whola. It worked.

THANKS!

USBHELL said on : October 8th, 2008 at 11:38 am

Hardly a genius .. Microsoft help and support tells you to do that with everything that has a problem …That should be your first port of call ..

Ive tried everything .. When I delete every registry key with the name belkin on it (the problem device) It recognises it but still doesnt work,

There has to be a major problem somewhere, Its just that random a proper solution cannot be found

Peter said on : October 10th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

I have tried this method of fixing my problem. Definitely not working for me. I had a Canon EOS400D dslr camera modified in Korea for astronomical work. This is the problem child. I also have an identical unmodified 400D which works fine on the usb ports. The problem also exists on my desktop machine. Possibly the usb on the Camera is faulty. Any ideas on this one?

Rgds

Peter

USBHELL said on : October 13th, 2008 at 8:35 am

Mine is slightly different as the problem device works on every other machine i have tried .. including both a desktop pc and a laptop

…Im going to buy a new device – see if that makes a difference

stgarivs said on : October 13th, 2008 at 8:13 pm

I didn’t even have to turn my lap top off. I unplugged it, put my USB in and it worked. I’m flabbergasted. Thank you

Baldvin said on : October 14th, 2008 at 3:51 pm

I have done all of these things uninstall drivers uninstall all kind of software, edit registry and also unplug the computer, but nothing works. I am justing waiting for someone to tell me “you need walk on water pal.”

Have nice day.
Baldvin

John said on : October 17th, 2008 at 8:11 am

Remarkable, it worked. So far so good. (It was a USB port with an unrecognized memory stick in it that was my problem.) Very grateful. I looked at all sorts of complicated solutions, but decided to shy away from them. The only tweak I’d suggest is going through the procedure of turn the power supply off, but putting the memory stick back in BEFORE you turn it on again. Then the computer boots up with it in. This cleared up a glitch I had copying stuff onto the stick (it said a file was corrupted and could not be copied – and it then just stopped copying).

I had what I suspect is related problem with a laptop. The computer booted up (you could hear it) but the screen did not come on. Someone suggested similarly to the procedure above, disconnecting it from the mains AND taking the battery out. I put the battery back in and turned it on, the computer when through some longish rebooting process, and hey presto, the screen came back on. I suspect the same thing is going on here as with the USB port. It needs to reboot properly every so often.

Ghazi said on : October 28th, 2008 at 2:54 am

Thank you for this simple and effective solution, I had almost pulled out all my hairs.

Norman Speight said on : October 30th, 2008 at 7:28 am

Doesn’t always work does it?
What is REALLY required is a programme which ‘re-establishes’ (searches for and connects) all USB connected devices whilst the system is running i.e. an icon to click on.
I too have umpteen USB devices on an otherwise perfectly working system. Several of my external discs (HDDs) will only show up if the USB cable is un-plugged, then plugged in again – then they work perfectly. USB does not search continuously for connected devices, what it does is to wait for a signal from a device being connected. Plug and Play.
Anyone know of such a programme? I certainly don’t. Is such a utility THAT difficult to write? Again, I don’t know.

phil said on : November 6th, 2008 at 7:19 am

I have had this problem for bout six months now, tried everything, so thought what the heck. I tried your suggestion. Now it working again. thanks thnaks thanks

Marciano said on : November 13th, 2008 at 3:01 pm

Great solution! I did it and it worked. Thanks very much!

Russell said on : November 14th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

Thanks!!!
spent all afternoon trying to fix this. Vista wouldn’t recognise any of my mice – webcams were fine. Tried everything – System Restores, cleaning C:/Windows/Inf – uninstalling software.

So found this page and unplugged. Removed my laptop battery and went and had a cuppa.

FIXED!
Thanks again!

Shyam said on : November 16th, 2008 at 7:10 am

Hi u r really genius… i think it worked… thanks a ton…

Henri said on : November 17th, 2008 at 5:06 am

Thank you! Worked like a charm!

Brenmoor said on : November 18th, 2008 at 7:08 pm

Could not believe it was so simple, however, I have tried for 5 hours to fix this and so I went the whole way, unplugged it, removed battery and had a cup of tea, then plugged it all back in after 15 mins and crossed my fingers…and then…. IT WORKED!!!!

Thank you.

Greg said on : November 19th, 2008 at 12:41 pm

Wow, I read this and thought, I wondered if I unplug the mains on my laptop and replug my usb camera whether it would work, And it did! Thanks for the post

Jerry Humphreys said on : November 20th, 2008 at 10:45 am

Was up half the night with this one trying to get my printer to work (just repaired under warranty) discovered that half my devices would not work unless plugged in via usb 1.1 cheapo mouse mat/hub. Tried deleting devices registry entries, re-installing software, changing the stand-by 5v usb jumper on the motherboard etc etc, all to no avail. I can’t believe that it was so difficult to find this fix, you have my most heartfelt gratitude. Cheers!!

max kent said on : November 22nd, 2008 at 8:27 am

pls tell me what to do . i have my coursework stuck on the USB memory stick. i hav tried the following methods :
1. taking the usb out and plugging it back in.
2. editing the registry.
3. taking the battery out and leaving it out for 5 hours.

but it still comes up with the warning USB Device Not recognised. i looked at this post and read the comments and thought that i might be able to solve the problem but no. pls help me if possible. by the way i have an acer laptop travel mate 2310

Norman Speight said on : November 25th, 2008 at 4:48 am

Max Kent,
Can I start by telling you that my suggestions may not help you at all.
Firstly, Do not ever, ever, ever have a backup on only one type of device NOTE ‘TYPE’ of device. By this I mean a memory stick. These things are far from infallible.
I am deeply involved in backups professionally, my areas being medical records (including Cancer records and heart surgery/treatment records) and legal records (lawyer actions court procedures etc). So. My backups are just about as crucial as you can get, Lives depend on them. I too have memory sticks. As soon as I can I transfer these to hard drives (which are not permanently connected). Far more reliable are mini hard drives (2.5.inch – particularly Fujitsu drives which have a special low friction bearing therefore low current demand from the USB port, therefore even quite dodgy USB ports i.e. incapable of providing sufficient current, can see them when other drive makes cannot be seen).
In respect of your particular problem. I would firstly try the stick on other computers to see if it can be read. If it can, the problem is your laptop USB, laptop USB ports are notoriously flaky. If it can’t be read on any USB port (on another computer) then, the problem is with the memory stick. Check whether your laptop USB port can read other devices. What you are doing is trying to pinpoint the problem area, once pinned down then, you decided on actions open to you.
If you take my advice and use a 2.5 inch (Fujitsu remember, I do have other makes but they are nowhere near as reliable, nor do they necessarily work everywhere unlike the Fujitsu)make absolutely certain that you buy an enclosure to put the drive in which has two USB connectors going into one USB for the enclosure. Also try this in the shop if you can to ensure that it works, there are many rotten cable makers in China, I have a boxful of these which are highly resistant, so you get a voltage drop along the cable, hence lower current, and then the bloody drive can’t get enough current to spin up and it starts ‘hunting’ you can hear this if you press your ear against the drive when its plugged in. So test in the shop, or, get an absolute guarantee that you will get a full refund (establish this before you hand any money over) should the device not work for you. Whether it works on another computer or for another person (ANY person) is immaterial, you are buying for it to work for YOU.
Anyway. These are just some thoughts based on my experience over the last 45 years-or-so in computing (I actually started, believe it or not, in 1958 on one of the only two mainframes in London, so I’m coming up for recycling).
Best wishes for a success.
Norman Speight

Erik said on : November 27th, 2008 at 3:51 am

Great! It worked!

Robert said on : November 28th, 2008 at 9:59 pm

Thanks so much. Disconnecting the power supply power cord for 5 minutes fixed the problem with my new 5 port USB 2.0 PCI card. It’s a generic card, has the label “For Best Ports Connection”. It installed in WinXP just fine, but everything I connected to it came up as device not recognized. After the disconnect trick, it worked great!

Joyce in Connecticut said on : November 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am

Hi and God bless you for the solution! You stopped me from snatching my hair out and running down my street screaming… Thought I was going to have to buy a new computer. (:)

Happy Holidays,
Joyce

Mike said on : November 30th, 2008 at 5:37 pm

I tried everything before this. It seemed too simple…But…it worked! My USB2.0 was gone, only 1.1 was working (mouse). After unplugging for a few minutes and rebooting, everything worked again!

Thanks!!

Barry said on : December 3rd, 2008 at 11:46 am

Great tip. My problem happened after I grabbed the end of my iPhone cable and felt a little zap. Phone was not recognized, printer lost connection, usb devices would lose connection, world was coming to an end. Found this jewel, world no longer coming to an end. Works great. Thanks

tom in Sydney said on : December 6th, 2008 at 6:27 pm

Fantastic, after a few hours spent trying all the other suggestions, found yours… too easy

Frank said on : December 8th, 2008 at 3:21 pm

Fantastic, usb port stopped recognizing the printer. ext. HD and memory stick disconnecting the power the way you suggest restored it all.
Thanks

Ron Knee said on : December 13th, 2008 at 11:17 am

Great fix dude, did exactly what it says on the tin, cheers!!

Ms.thandar said on : December 14th, 2008 at 9:06 am

Dear sir / Madam,

I have acer laptop. On this laptop, 3 usb ports have. 2 ports are not recognized , one is OK. Also re-installed windows and that is finished.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

with rgds
ms.thandar

akishore said on : December 14th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

Ms. Thandar, looks like your problem is with the hardware on the laptop. The USB port must be defective, especially if you reinstalled Windows and the USB port is still not being recognized and the other two are OK.

michelle said on : December 23rd, 2008 at 2:33 am

this is genius!
thank you soooooo much.
genius solution! so happy!

Myrha said on : December 23rd, 2008 at 3:35 pm

Many months and many sleepness nights, not including the frustrations and wanting to smack my pc with a hammer.

What a simple solution! You’re a genius! Seasons Greetings!

Joseph said on : December 24th, 2008 at 10:51 pm

Thx man, worked! This is easiest way to fix USB Device not recognized!
Thank u very much

Same Spade said on : December 25th, 2008 at 5:51 pm

Excellent solution~! I’ve been trying to fix a “USB Malfunction” message on my Versa s3500 laptop on Windows Vista Home Basic for hours and came across your page.

I followed your directions; shutdown, unplugged the power source AND disconnected the battery. SUCCESS on the first try~!

Thank you for posting this logical, elegant simple solution to a potential wild goose chase~!

Merry Christmas~!

Patrick Ly said on : December 26th, 2008 at 1:10 am

Thanks, you’re awesome =]

Kim said on : December 26th, 2008 at 4:37 am

This is about the third site I have tried. It was so good to see that the errors you showed were exactly the same as I was getting. I cant believe something as simple as turning of the comp at the power point worked. I did uninstall and shut down windows and none of this worked. Thanks for the weel explained simple fix. Now my printer is back to working and so is the NEW usb that seemed to cause the problem in the first place
CHEERS

Andrew said on : December 26th, 2008 at 2:12 pm

As for anyone else who is having this problem, give this a try. I had the exact same issue and I believe that it was due to a USB port overload from a defective device and a powered USB1.1 hub.

I would plug the USB memory stick into the port and the light on the stick would never turn on. That led me to believe that it was a power issue and if you check device manager, look under the USB root hubs and check the power tabs it will list the devices and the amount of current they are using. If you have an unknown device listed and it says 0mA this will probably work.

I spent 2 days of digging through the registry, downloading hotfixes, reading MS tech bulletins, uninstalling/reinstalling the USB ports and even with tons of reboots it never fixed it. Unplugged the power supply for 2 minutes, rebooted and its like new again. It is probably a protection measure at the hardware level and this reset it for me.

Thanks a million!

ben said on : December 27th, 2008 at 1:33 am

this proplem is caused by unpluging a usb device while it is transfering data so just click the safely remove hardware (looks kinda like a keyboard with an arrow pointing left on xp)

Hannes said on : December 27th, 2008 at 11:54 am

I had the same problem. My XP SP3 PC did not recognize new usb devices, but it recognized all devices, which I had connected a few weeks ago. So I could not use my new external hdd and dvd writer. Unfortunately the here provided solution did not work for me.
But finaly I found my solution which I’d like to share:
my system lost two important files: usbstor.inf and usbstor.pnf. I just copied both files from another XP SP3 PC to the \%systemroot%\inf directory and both new devices are working as expected.
Regards Hannes

LL said on : December 28th, 2008 at 3:04 am

OMG I LOVE YOU. previosuly i have had this problem twice but left it for months… and then miracles happed and it would work again. i happened again today when i plugged in my iPod and i freaked out when i got the message. i unplugged the comp – turned it on and =O IT WORKS

two thumbs up and hi-5

Peelarp said on : December 28th, 2008 at 8:53 am

Thank you for your useful solution. It is a very easy way, but it really works.

David said on : December 30th, 2008 at 4:26 am

Thanks, finally a solution that worked worked!! Now I can go to bed!!!

Joe Alva said on : December 30th, 2008 at 8:51 pm

Great! I should find this article before I clean up my pc, I had to put a fresh copy of windows XP (anyway I needed to do it, a lot of crap in it) and nothing happenned,, until I found this forum, we shoudl spread this information to help a lot of people with this situation, I was frustrated because I could not use my external hard drives (4) even when i have another pc in home thanks a lot guys, microsoft need to learn some easy tricks like this….

Mothupi said on : January 1st, 2009 at 7:47 am

You’re the man. Thanks.

Joe Takwish said on : January 1st, 2009 at 6:56 pm

I am really shocked!!

I wish I would have seen this a week ago. Thank you very much.

My mouse, card reader and modem were all becoming unrecognizable, so I ended up re-formatting my PC and restoring from a backup I created back in June. The backup helped me for about 2 days until it started happening again. Now I read this, unplugged my power cord, and it fixed everything.

Steve Nichols said on : January 3rd, 2009 at 1:25 pm

i don’t even HAVE anything plugged into the usb ports. I disabled it, in Bios, and STILL have this problem.
XP Pro.

frustrated in iowa

Martin said on : January 4th, 2009 at 7:22 am

Many many thanks, also spent hours trying to fix this problem and was about to call for help. Tried as you suggested and worked straight away, was having problem with the usb not recognizing a Sony camera memorystick.
Happy New Year to you

Carrie said on : January 9th, 2009 at 2:32 pm

After pretty much thinking a windows update broke all my USB ports (I am not very computer savy) I came upon this suggestion. Since unplugging, my printer, cam, portable memory sticks, all are working again. Thanks so much!

Patrick said on : January 10th, 2009 at 10:38 am

Amazing ….i formatted my Pc ,installed drivers ,but only your solution worked.Thanxs much

Lito said on : January 13th, 2009 at 6:43 am

hey guys…ive just read all ur comments and suggestions about “USB not recognized…” of which i have the same problem…however I don’t seem to have read about someone who has the exact problem as mine…well here’s my exact problem: I have bought a 1 GIG Apacer USB, and it worked in any computer. After a few days, it stopped working.. everytime i insert my USB in any computer, all i got is USB Device Not Recognized (Malfunction)take note its not only in one computer but in all computer i could rent, use or borrow. That’s my exact problem indeed… how can it be…? can any one help me…? does it mean my USB is really the problem..? do i have to replace it..? i cant replace it yet, not until i have recoverd my most important files… Please! Please! HELP ME! anyone.. please…

P.S. Could this be the worst to happen to any memory flash drive? or could this be a caused by some VIRUS…?

Berlts said on : January 13th, 2009 at 6:49 am

hmmm… yoh lito… same problem here… i dont know how to fix it…

Wilson said on : January 18th, 2009 at 9:14 pm

Hi dude.. thanks for that suggestion, it solves my problem.Thanks.

Nick said on : January 19th, 2009 at 7:49 am

Hahahahahahaha! Genius!!!

I’ve had this problem for MONTHS!!

Done all the usual tricks with drivers, checked registry entries, updated Motherboard Bios and drivers to no avail.

Had come to the conclusion Motherboard was Fooked many months ago.

Finally got sooooooo annoyed with slow ipod connection (usb1.1 hub was the only way I could connect) I thought I’d have a last ditch google for an answer and stumbled across this page…………………..

Was very sceptical when I first read it but……………

IT FOOOKING WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!

GENIUS!

I now have 480Mbits/second connection with my ipod for the 1st time )

This is without a doubt the single most useful nugget of information I have found on the net in a long time.

Many Thanks )))

Alex said on : January 19th, 2009 at 1:27 pm

Thanks for the adice, i tried it but it did not work. I am on Windows Vista. And it is my Logitech QuickCam for Notebook Pro that i am trying to plug into my laptop. Im sooooo stuck! I NEED some help! Please someone! Im literally crying here! Pleasee someone help me if you know what to do or you have experianced this problem before.

Well if anyone knows, please contact me on rockgirlalex@aol.com thanks x

Web Design said on : January 19th, 2009 at 5:17 pm

Wow. I had tried everything to get my USB flash device working. Uninstalls, re-installs, deleting files, registry edits. This worked a treat. Good work.

Amy said on : January 20th, 2009 at 5:17 pm

Wow!! Thank you so much. It worked and you saved me a lot of time, money and hair pulling.

dp said on : January 23rd, 2009 at 12:04 am

It worked.. Thank you so very much…

dp said on : January 23rd, 2009 at 12:06 am

Thanks.. I was about to smack my laptop on the wall!

Barni said on : January 25th, 2009 at 3:24 pm

You are like a Jesus – thanks a lot! It’s working on my laptop. I had to unplug the AC Adaptor and the battery for the while and now its ok! Thank’s a lot!

gotov said on : January 30th, 2009 at 10:26 am

Your my saver. Thank you so much!!!!

Pieter said on : January 30th, 2009 at 8:36 pm

And every time I ask myself: why do I first start this trial and error search for the fix by myself… a smart google search for the error message will so often do the trick, and if the solution is so simple it seems extra rewarding Thanks ever so much!!!

Shubh said on : January 31st, 2009 at 11:17 pm

Thank you soo much you are amazzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnggg. i frakin lovvvvvvvvve you!!!! thank you sooooooo much

simon b said on : February 1st, 2009 at 11:07 am

Thanks dude – you’re a genius

tabish said on : February 1st, 2009 at 11:52 am

Hi everybody, I have a Kingston 4GB USB disk, last day when i finished my work, i tried to safely remove my USB but computer prompted that USB cannot be removed at this time. I thought it would be a virus or something in PC that is doing this and i pulled out my 4GB Kingston usb from USB port at back of my PC.

I already have done this many times, but this time I was very unfortunate, when today i put my USB in port at back of my computer, the bubble at system tray appears saying:”USB device not recognized………..” and I have tried nealy all the possible solutions….upgrading USB drivers, power cord-off method, uninstalling and reinstalling all USB devices,changing registry and even formating my C drive and installing windows……all was of no use…

My 4GB Kingston USB still shows the same problem. I also have tried it on several other computers, every computer gives the same problem. No icon of USB is displayed in My Computer.

I am so desperate and I am so helpless…what to do, i had all very very important data in it and i cant even recover it.

If some body can help me find out the solution, I would be very thankx to him/her.

Please mail me at: s.tabish@gmail.com

myAnyName said on : February 2nd, 2009 at 3:25 am

Great Thanks! It was so simple! )

Diams said on : February 2nd, 2009 at 11:51 am

WOWWWWWWW. It worked. Had the problem for at least 2 hours. THANKS !!!!!!!

Johnnythefox said on : February 3rd, 2009 at 9:04 pm

Tried unplugging, reinstalling etc, etc,etc… All to no avail…Went into device manager (to get to device manager in XP right click on “My Computer”, select “Properties”, select “Hardware” then select “Device Manager” and double click on “Universal Serial Bus Controllers”) uninstall “Enhanced USB controller”.. This is USB 2.0..as soon as this was uninstalled the PC recognised the USB device which was in my case a wireless network card and it was working again. Something to note though, when you reboot Windows “Enhanced USB controller” should automatically reinstall itself unless you disable it in Device Manager and the problems may reoccur…However going through the uninstall process of the Enhanced USB Controller again should render the USB device operable again. Must be some kind of conflict between USB 2.0 and USB 1.0…Hope this tip works for you guys where all other methods may fail

Ken Lewis said on : February 4th, 2009 at 6:06 am

Superb advice. Problem solved. A sincere thankyou from a very happy 76 years ‘oldlewy’

chapapa said on : February 4th, 2009 at 5:12 pm

Hey I have a laptop and it didn’t work?
Any help please?

kkebero said on : February 6th, 2009 at 12:24 pm

Amazing. It worked for me!!! Thanks so much!!!

Suzanne said on : February 11th, 2009 at 9:47 am

Hey I tried this but the message still comes up! Its my J Drive it doesn’t seem to recognise anything whether its my digital camera, my mobile phone or my usb pen! Have you any other suggestions because I’m at the end of my tether!

uptight said on : February 12th, 2009 at 3:57 pm

Amazing! My mother’s PC had all its USB’s down like that and she was getting desperate, ready to take it to a store and have it examined, the motherboard checked, maybe they’d even tell her to change the motherboard. But thanks to your advice, it all works perfectly now. A million thanks!

Peter Pike said on : February 17th, 2009 at 7:52 am

Brilliant…makes you think though how many times you take your PC to the techs and pay $$$$ to have a problem fixed…when in actual fact the act of unplugging it and taking it there actually fixed the problem!

Thanks again….

Sharon said on : February 18th, 2009 at 6:21 pm

You’re an Einstein!!! I’ve been at my wits end with all seven of my usb ports not working on my 2005 HP desktop for the last two weeks. I’ve tried most all of the suggestions (the least techy ones) I found on the web and not one of them worked. And to complicate matters, I had to get rid of 11 trojans — ugh it’s been a nightmare.

Your suggestion seemed way too simple but I tried it anyway. It was my last attempt AND IT WORKED on six of the ports!! (The 7th one stopped working a long time ago.) I’m so excited that you’d think I just won the lottery. Thanks a million. Thanks a bunch. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You’re my hero!

Raspal said on : February 18th, 2009 at 9:23 pm

For all of you who are unable to make USB drives work or still are getting the “USB Device not recognized”, try this method. It worked for me.

I have two Windows XP SP2 on same PC.
I had a Kingston 4GB DataTraveller that worked on one XP and “USB Device not revognized” error on other.

I had tried the advice mentioned here but it did not work. I read all the comments and the one made by Hannes made me think to try it. I downloaded usbstor.inf and usbstor.pnf files and copied them to my windows\inf folder. (Had to overwrite)

Removed it from the Device Manager – Other Devices,
inserted my USB stick and lo and behold! It was recognized in a jify!

usbstor.inf and usbstor.pnf can be downloaded from here:

http://www.infdump.com/downloa.....nload.html

http://www.pnfdump.com/downloa.....nload.html

Hope this helps for everyone whose USB drives aer still not recognized.

In case there is really some problem with the USB drive (like if it gets corrupted due to any reason), I can try helping with recovering the data without any fee. Since I know how it is to lose important data, I would love to help anyone who needs it.

But you need to email me at this address:

rsletters-downloadyahoo.com

I have some remote data recovery softwares that can recover data.

Regards,

alicia said on : February 20th, 2009 at 7:07 pm

Oh thank god. This is exactly my problem for the last freaking week. i WAS ABOUT TO LOSE MY MIND, UNPLUG STUPID MOUSE, PLUG IT BACK IN, SAME WINDOWS YOU SHOWED above, I had,i WILL BE DOING EXACTLY WHAT YOU saID tonight.

if i still have issues, can I contact someone here?

kim said on : February 21st, 2009 at 11:08 am

I’ve had this problem for weeks and have been unable to use my printer, memory sticks, or charge my i-pod. I know next to nothing about computers, so I thought, this can’t hurt to try! And it worked like a charm on my old hp pavilion. Thank you so much for posting it!

Josh Johnson said on : February 25th, 2009 at 6:55 pm

Luckily I found your website before I tore my computer apart. I want to buy you a beer by friend, actually I want to buy you a keg!

Bobby said on : February 27th, 2009 at 12:49 am

I was soooo skeptical about this, but IT WORKED!!!!! Thank you for taking the time to post it. I REALLY appreciate it. I’ve been looking for a solution for so long.

Volotao said on : March 3rd, 2009 at 7:08 pm

My system was working well until the message mentioned above popped up saying I had an USB device not recognized. My HP multifunction printer (PSC 1510 All-in-one) cannot communicate anymore with my computer. I can just use it as a copier. I tried several approaches but nothing made it work.

I ask someone for help me find what may be happening. Should be caused by electrical instability? I´m afraid the hardware became damaged and this happens again when I replace the device. What makes the USB peripheral to stop communicating?

HisBrownSuga said on : March 4th, 2009 at 3:53 pm

Oh my God I was so distraught and something told me to just google in the problem and yours was the first answer to come up. You are an angel for sharing this valuable priceless information. Thank you so very much.

Rebecca said on : March 5th, 2009 at 12:31 am

Absolutely brilliant, thank you so much I have been trying to figure this out for a week now without spending hundreds of dollars to get it fixed. Such a life/sanity saver, thank you!

Ron Hodge said on : March 6th, 2009 at 2:24 am

Thanks , removing the power cord did the trick and was able to use all my USB Devices again. Only problem is I continually have to pull the power cord out as they come back in use and may last a day or so and then go unrecognized again. Pulling the power chord brings them back each time but there must be some other failure associated with it. I am thinking more along the lines of Power supply maybe getting a bit wobbly?

PB said on : March 11th, 2009 at 12:56 pm

D’oh – wish I’d found this an hour and a half ago!!!
Thanks Perfect Fix

Gautam said on : March 14th, 2009 at 2:56 am

Thanks a lot!! Never believed that the solution could be so simple..had lived with the same problem on my last laptop. Should have saved me lot of trouble back then!!

Valerie said on : March 14th, 2009 at 4:00 pm

Thank you so much!!! I tried your suggestion and it worked!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was about to return the Microphone, but it’s working now.

Rakesh said on : March 17th, 2009 at 4:05 pm

Disable power management of the USB hub
Note If you perform the following procedure, you may also reduce the battery life on a portable computer.

To disable power management of the USB hub, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type Devmgmt.msc, and then click OK. The Device Manager window opens.
Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.

Right-click a USB Root Hub in the list, and then click Properties. The USB Root Hub Properties dialog box is displayed.

Click the Power Management tab.

Click to clear the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power check box, and then click OK.

Repeat steps 3 through 6 for each USB Root Hub in the list.
On the Action menu, click Scan for hardware changes.

Windows XP recognizes the new device.
Close the Device Manager window.

Natalie said on : March 18th, 2009 at 4:12 pm

Worked thanks, just unplugged for a few minutes and USB back on!

Paully said on : March 21st, 2009 at 3:17 pm

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! I’ve tried all other kinds of solutions!!!!!! and NOTHING WORKED. Thanks again

Mark said on : March 22nd, 2009 at 10:44 am

It worked! I have an HP Pavilion dv7 that was getting this exact error due to an issue with my HP Laser Mini Mouse. Seems like I tried everything but unplugging (and removing the battery) was the only thing that worked. Finally I can go and do something else today. Thank you for the help!

Jason said on : March 24th, 2009 at 6:20 pm

Thanks very much. Skeptical I was; No more.

rabunyak said on : March 25th, 2009 at 9:04 pm

I’m sure you’ve heard it hundreds of times…but, Thank you! I called the computer store where I purchased my laptop a couple months ago. They said I might have to do a restore. I wasn’t liking that idea at all.
I turned off, unplugged, and took the battery out for good measure.
Put it back together…perfect! ; )
Now I’m going to call the computer store and tell them.

Mary said on : March 28th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

Thank you, was thinking I would have to purchase a new CPU, as the USB’s were all bad! Found this page after about 10 hours of wasteing time with command promps etc. (everything I could find, I tried, with no luck).
Perfect and easiest, couldn’t be better.
Thanks again!

Owatarelief said on : April 2nd, 2009 at 12:59 am

2 DAYS of deeply involved problem solving! SOLVED so simply THANK YOU!!!

Santosh said on : April 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 am

Thanks a lot, it worked 4 me

Broth3R said on : April 3rd, 2009 at 1:46 pm

Turned off the computer and unplugged the plug on the wall. Did not work for me. Any help? Did it 2 times already

Emo said on : April 8th, 2009 at 9:20 am

Thanks a lot. Worked just fine for me. I would have never thought of that by myself… Thanks again.

Mike said on : April 10th, 2009 at 5:51 am

Brilliant – so simple & it worked. Thanks, M

Kelly said on : April 12th, 2009 at 12:27 am

WOW, sometimes the solution is so stinken easy it’s impossible to find. I tried all the same things you did before finding your post then did just what you suggested and unplugged my computer. Sure enough it worked.
thanks!!

Drew said on : April 14th, 2009 at 3:59 pm

Holy sh*t, it worked.
And that’s from a computer service technician.

Slim said on : April 17th, 2009 at 4:51 pm

Amazing. I tried everything too, was about to do system restore. Did a web search and found this site. Tried it on my laptop – nothing. Then I thought to take out the battery on the laptop, shut down and unplugged the power. Left it for about 30 mins. Rebooted and everything was fine…all USB connectors worked. Not sure how this problem occured but glad to know how to solve it if it happens again.

Remember – if you are on a lappy to take the battery out for this to work!

armaghan said on : April 19th, 2009 at 3:55 am

Thanksssssssssssssssss , so usefull

Aric said on : April 20th, 2009 at 3:04 am

i have tried that several time and still no go any other suggestions?? please email me if you have any aricserna@yahoo.com

Gem/Karin said on : April 20th, 2009 at 5:57 am

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Tried everything possible and the most simple thing to do was turn the bloody power switch off!! We got so excited when it worked! Will know to do that all the time now. Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thnx again!

Mark B said on : April 23rd, 2009 at 10:18 am

This fully works – you absolute legend! Thanks very much!!

Chester Lee said on : April 23rd, 2009 at 7:32 pm

OMG! After tearing out my hair for two days I stumbled on your site. THANK YOU!!!!!!!! Works like a dream!

DB said on : May 1st, 2009 at 6:08 am

Thanks! Worked like a charm!

street said on : May 2nd, 2009 at 4:23 am

Super!!!! This really worked.Thank you so much

Gregory said on : May 4th, 2009 at 3:22 am

Holy crap, it really worked!!! I’ve been fighting this problem for 2-3 weeks now and couldn’t figure it out. YOU ROCK!!

Norman Speight said on : May 5th, 2009 at 3:03 am

What is REALLY wanted is a little utility which, when run, re-reads all the USB ports to, effectively, run the plug and play element which identifies that something new has been plugged in.

Anyone out there knowledgeable enough to write one?
Although your solution works in – probably – the majority of cases, there are still far too many cases where it doesn’t work, for unknown reasons.
That of course, is not to denegrate this really excellent tip.

Tyler said on : May 26th, 2009 at 10:58 pm

Thanks! It worked! My mom was on the phone for 2 hours with customer support, and they couldn’t fix the problem. I did what you said. Unplugged the cord for around 1-2 minutes. I started the computer, then plugged in my usb device, no longer unknown device, now recognized, but asking for a driver. Found the driver, installed, back to normal! Thanks!

Damián said on : May 27th, 2009 at 1:59 pm

My genius graphic tablet is not being recognized by windows and I keep getting that damned “usb malfunctioned” message every time I plug it in any of the usb ports on my computer.
I’ve been using it for about 5 month, and I don’t understand why it’s giving me so much trouble now.
I’ve tried pretty much any solution I’ve read out there…I even reinstalled every usb driver on my computer, and I’ve tried unplugging every device from their power supplies. But nothing worked…
I guess I need to go get a new one.

Chuck said on : May 29th, 2009 at 9:48 pm

The solution to REMOVE power from the PC absolutely worked! Wish I had read it before I shelled out money for a new USB hub. Anyway, this fix saved hours of anguish on all the pseudo “solutions” out there. THANKS.

Aaron said on : May 30th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

There ya go – THE PROPER FIX. I knew it wasn’t in the registry after reinstalling the operating system. You sir are a gentleman. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

theFATangel said on : May 30th, 2009 at 4:48 pm

Genius of a solution. I spent several weeks trying to find a solution and came across this post. Worked like a charm! Much easier to try first than the other solutions of unplugging the device, uninstalling the drivers, rebooting, rebooting again, removing the remaining instances of the usb device in device manager, rebooting more, re-installing the drivers and the device. Thanks a million!

joerams said on : May 31st, 2009 at 9:04 am

wooooow!!!! thanks very much, it works for me. unplug power source and battery. thanks again very2x much. GOD BLESS!!

Steve said on : June 18th, 2009 at 10:09 am

So simple……..so effective! Can’t thank you enough..have wasted an hour with other failed solutions involving registry and device manager tweaks – Brilliant!

k said on : June 18th, 2009 at 11:01 am

I use XP Pro on Macbook Bootcamp and this worked! I use my laptop on continual power as a desktop at home, so unplugging it was something I never even considered when troubleshooting. The USB alert showed up even when all the hubs were removed, leading me to believe I needed to take the laptop in for service on the USB ports! MACbook repairs aren’t cheap!

This solution saved time, trouble and money. Thanks for sharing it with us.

I also removed the battery, but will put it back in as backup for power failure.

Elizabeth said on : June 18th, 2009 at 11:14 am

I’ve had this problem for absolutely ages, and I even bought a new webcam to see if it worked but the device is still not recognized.
If i unplug it, will it actually work ?
How long to I keep it off for ?
x

Chris said on : June 18th, 2009 at 12:16 pm

A great, simple solution to a very annoying problem. Thanks!!! I also took the battery out as well.

Chris

barry said on : June 19th, 2009 at 3:57 am

No, didn’t work. Removed the battery but no joy.

Donna said on : June 19th, 2009 at 9:32 pm

Ok I think I seriously love you! I tried everything the lovely Windows troubleshooting program had me do and nothing worked. So I ended up on Google and found your solution to the USB device not recognized problem which WORKED!!! YOU ROCK!

OD said on : June 20th, 2009 at 9:49 am

All of those not working for me.
I have a Gigabyte motherboard :
ga-m61vme-s2

I am trying to connect a usb remote control:
vrc-1100

its simply recognizes the remote on every other computer except the one I actually need the remote to be plugged to.

when I connect the remote IR receiver its shows me the “USB device not recognized”

I tried installing :
win XP SP2
win XP SP3
windows 7 RC

all the same…
I tried the solution of unplugging the power and removing the board battery and wait 9 hours, and still same shit…

I also tried to upgrade the BIOS , nothing there too…

Should I give up about this machine?
)-:

OD said on : June 20th, 2009 at 3:00 pm

Hi again,

I solved my problem in the end!
I connected my remote control using a simple USB hub,
and Windows recognized it and all ends well
(-:

John said on : June 21st, 2009 at 6:37 am

This is the best advice I’ve seen for this problem.

Roberto said on : June 22nd, 2009 at 8:44 am

This is simply unbelievable!

I spent all this morning , trying to fix this problem, disable the usb on the BIOS, change my USB mouse and in the end yell outloud all bad words that i know…

A deep, deep thanks to you.

zuddin said on : June 24th, 2009 at 7:05 am

Excellent!!! awesome… this suggestion really works..Thanks a lot..not getting the USB device not recognized error anymore!

Larry said on : June 25th, 2009 at 1:14 am

speechless…. if laptop, you have to remove the battery for a while. Great idea. I wonder how come those manufacturers do not give this kind of advise. When you call their support they tell you nothing except non-sense. Thanks a lot.

Kevin S said on : July 1st, 2009 at 9:35 am

All I can say is wow, Thank You for the easy solution, and your knowledge. Cheers!

Manish said on : July 4th, 2009 at 11:12 am

Pls give me solution for this error : bluetooth device has malfunctioned and windows does not recognize it . I format my computer but the error are coming again

RJ said on : July 4th, 2009 at 1:15 pm

I tried this and it initially worked (recharging my Sony walkman). A happy chappy.

Next time it didn’t however. So tried

Changing security settings for devises in Kaspersky. This didn’t work.

Updating the system Bios to the latest update. It’s now charging again.

I also deleted and reinstalled the driver. Unsure whether it was one or more of these but it’s now working.

judgepax said on : July 10th, 2009 at 10:40 am

I was having this problem with just a single flash drive. Took a couple tries (inserting the stick in the drive between the “safe mode” startup prompt and true OS launch helped) but got all my files. Gotta love the KISS fixes. THANK YOU!

bt said on : July 12th, 2009 at 2:42 am

its really unbeleivable……after trying all the recommendations from different site……i was vexed and thought to call professionals to solve this problem….but your’s worked like a magic…..i am really thankful to you

coosbaytv said on : July 14th, 2009 at 11:59 am

One year later and…still going!

I tried this solution today and what do you know, IT WORKS!

THANKS..

Chris said on : July 17th, 2009 at 1:27 am

Just want to thank the guy (or girl) that posted this fix – it worked and I am eternally grateful. Damn lost about three hours – and bought a new USB hub. Should have done my homework first.

Dave said on : July 19th, 2009 at 1:14 am

YAY it worked!! the problem was originally caused in Linux (Ubuntu) when attaching a camcorder (under webcam mode). this stopped all USB (2.0 devices) working but funnily enough my small capacity (256mb) USB stick was the only thing that worked. I have no idea why?? yet my sony 4GB USB stick would not work, neither would my USB DVB-T device or printer etc. But i did have power to all ports which was tested by using my USB powered light.

Thanks heaps mate, problem solved =]

J. said on : July 26th, 2009 at 8:33 pm

This solution of turning off all power for one minute made my USB ports work perfectly! Thank you so much!

springbok said on : July 27th, 2009 at 8:05 am

If its a printer, try to use a different usb cable!

bomo said on : July 30th, 2009 at 6:12 am

Thanks for the tip. I was terrified by the thought of reinstalling windows, but this was helpful!

Alvester said on : July 31st, 2009 at 8:57 am

Unplugging the computer from the wall worked for me! I also disconnected all the USB devices. I did all the unplugging and disconnecting before going to bed. I even cycled the switch on my computer’s power supply just for good measure. The next morning I only plugged in my USB keyboard to get going for the Vista login and VOILA, it worked! All my USB devices are functioning properly again.

Too bad after a week of trying to figure this out I had already done a complete Vista reinstall. Oh well, at least I have a fresh install…

Kallulu said on : August 1st, 2009 at 3:08 pm

If that doesn’t work, here is another option you can try:

Disable power management of the USB hub. To disable the power management on the USB hub, follow these steps:

* Click Start, and then click Run.
* Type devmgmt.msc in the Open box, and then click OK.
* Expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers’ node, and then follow these steps for each USB Root Hub that is listed:
* Right-click the USB Root Hub and then click Properties.
* Click the Power Management tab.
* Click to clear the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power check box, and then click OK.

Note: If you perform the following procedure on a laptop computer, you may reduce the battery life.

Sometimes, simply unplugging the USB device and turning off the computer for twenty minutes and then restarting may solve the issue. If none of the above options have solved the problem, check the manufacturer’s website for new driver information. It is possible that your drivers need to be updated.

If the above doesn’t work for you, go to the properties of USB Root Hub of that particular device, click on the Driver tab and disable driver. I did this and it worked for me like magic!

Daryl said on : August 3rd, 2009 at 2:57 am

How easy was that, for a novice like me it is very frustrating when stuff does’nt work on my computer, so thank you very much, your on my best friend list now. Thank you again . Regards Daryl

morad said on : August 3rd, 2009 at 7:53 am

you r the man

kaosteori said on : August 5th, 2009 at 8:55 am

thx man.It works flawlessly. I have Ubuntu and Win 7 on dual boot, and both went bananas because of this issue.I tend to put my laptop to sleep instead of turning it off completely, maybe that’s the cause fo this problem.

Justin said on : August 9th, 2009 at 11:52 pm

It works ossom, thanks dude

Kazandjol said on : August 12th, 2009 at 10:31 am

“Simply UNPLUG YOUR COMPUTER FROM THE POWER SUPPLY.”

MAGIC!!!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I have tried all possible and impossible solution with “running”, blah, blah, blah… This is the perfection! Windows ))

Al said on : August 31st, 2009 at 2:01 am

Cheers to JohnnytheFox (reply 92)

In my case, I’d bought a Kingston USB stick, to take my files from one computer to another. No problem in my home computer, as it was … but,on trying to plug into this older machine at college, … well, the body was just a bit to wide on the stick to allow COMPLETE insertion. SEEMED like it was fully in, but not so, on closer inspection. Hence not working. Teacher told us this was common, that students usb sticks would need an extension to work. Bought one, tried it on my home computer … message: ‘USB device NOT recognised !’

Read the solutions here .. unplugging power seemed too long winded /hit and miss for some, didn’t try. Went into device manager (see reply 92), in MY case it was called ‘Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller’. Well, instead of uninstalling as Johnny said to do, I simply chose ‘disable’, which means as long as I keep that tab open, I can re-enable it easily enough once I’m done. Anyway, ‘hey presto’ …I notice some pop up about my device running slower as a result (stick was already plugged in, but not working) … but that matters not, since I’m now in business … usb stick now seen !

I expect the extension connector is USB 1.0, whereas the stick is USB 2.0 (incompatible?). Perhaps this solution is the way to go for some others here ?

Good luck !

Shani said on : August 31st, 2009 at 4:54 am

thank you SO much… so simple I found your tip after of hours of frustration… you saved me an expensive trip to the PC doctor…. LOVE your work and thanks again for sharing your tip

Tank said on : August 31st, 2009 at 2:46 pm

Works well, thanks!

Tom said on : September 3rd, 2009 at 8:46 am

YOU ARE A LEGEND!!!!
it was so simple! Thank you!!!!!!

Juan said on : September 4th, 2009 at 10:06 am

I tried to fix this problem disconnecting 1-5 minutes in several times, but it does not work; then i disconnect approximately 12 hours and WORKS!! SUPERB!!!

Bob said on : September 6th, 2009 at 5:50 pm

Unplugging the PC did not work to establish my Palm TX sync, but posts #112 / #166 did. I really thought I had a bad cable.

Thanks

David said on : September 8th, 2009 at 9:10 pm

I must thank you! I have been reinstalling the device drivers and yet my mouse or other usb devices still did not work. Your fix was so simple! THANK YOU!!

danny said on : September 9th, 2009 at 5:19 am

I’ve been trying to sync my ipod now for about 2 months, now its finally working. its the most simple solution, i cant believe it worked.

thanks for the tips, im truly grateful.

THANK YOU

KP said on : September 11th, 2009 at 3:44 pm

I’d like to join the chorus. Not all of my USB devices stopped working, but there were several. I did like others… researched. I couldn’t believe that it could be this simple, but it is and it was for me. Kudos and thank you.

K said on : September 13th, 2009 at 4:55 pm

Worked brilliantly, thanks!

double aey said on : September 14th, 2009 at 12:43 am

OMGG!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH

NOW I CAN FINALLY FINISH MY SCHOOL HOMEWORK AND MY DAD CAN USE THE PRINTER AS WELL

john said on : September 16th, 2009 at 2:38 am

i can connect my cellphone before through usb to the computer but now nothing appears on the computer.. im pretty sure that my usb cable and cellphone are ok.. there a messege on my cellphone “USB mode: Data storage” but nothing appears on the computer.. what should be the problem? please help

Van Denny said on : September 16th, 2009 at 5:42 am

Thanks so much your simple solution worked perfectly for me! Now my USB device is recognized!

Duncan Martin said on : September 20th, 2009 at 2:48 am

Worked for me after spending 1 hour uninstalling etc. Great – thanks. We are all told that ’switching it on and off solves 90% of IT problems’ but I certainly didn’t think of turning the computer off at the supply. Thanks again.

DAVE THE NOVICE said on : September 21st, 2009 at 8:45 am

I was about to do something stupid to try and fix this but you saved me my friend, so simple but so good.

Ian said on : October 7th, 2009 at 2:53 am

Worked a treat! Thanks for saving me a lot of grief.

Cheers Ian.

R.A. Lager said on : October 7th, 2009 at 8:48 pm

Awesome! Thank you. You saved my night.

Robin Lozeau,Harlow,England said on : October 10th, 2009 at 6:07 pm

I spent 45 mins trying to solve this very problem (turned off PC, pulled out plugs, etc., etc.), but this method worked within 5 mins.
Thank-you so much,
Robin

jason meyer said on : October 11th, 2009 at 8:08 am

omg im stumped it actually worked i did not expect that!
wel if your ever around nijmegen tell me i’ll buy you a beer

MJAB said on : October 12th, 2009 at 5:55 am

Thanks man!! I tried and it did work!!!

bbbobbbo said on : October 13th, 2009 at 6:16 am

credit goes to the original poster, I can confirm too, after unplugging my laptop and removing the battery out of it, it all came back to normal and now all my USBs are listed nicely in the device manager, all errors gone.

Oh, and this is for all those laptop users: unplug the laptop, take the battery out, and leave it AT LEAST 30 mins to 1 hour to do the trick, 5-10 mins is not enough in most cases – I left mine just a little over an hour, good luck

Peter14 said on : October 14th, 2009 at 10:48 am

Worked for me too, many thanks!!!

Pralad said on : October 16th, 2009 at 5:26 am

i had already followed your solution about unplugging the computer, but still the USB not recognized problem is unsolved.

stella said on : October 21st, 2009 at 11:01 am

tried this several times, and doesn’t work for me

I have this Maxtor external hard disk which Ive plugged into another computer and it wasnt recognized either. and when i plug in another device on my laptop, other devices can work except for my Maxtor hard disk that is never being recognized.

Help.. please :’(

Sherry said on : October 22nd, 2009 at 4:29 am

After a week of trying to figure it out this solved the problem straight away! Thank you very much!

LD said on : October 24th, 2009 at 12:16 pm

This works and solved my problems. I had tried all the above mentioned procedures to uninstall the usb drivers and reboot but none of that worked. Thanks for the post.

LD

KenI said on : October 25th, 2009 at 10:16 pm

UNBELIEVABLE. I literally spent an entire Sunday reading and trying everything available to correct my unrecognized divice issue for my Garmin GPS. In the process, I even started getting unrecognized USB device on my Canon scanner. I also didn’t believe the solution could be as simple as unplugging my PC. But it WORKED. Thank you!! Sure wish I’d seen your suggestion sooner.

Julian said on : October 27th, 2009 at 8:19 pm

I was so skeptical but it did actually work, thank you so much! I had done everything you tried before (system back up, deleted the USB drivers, uninstalled drivers, restarted my computer) and this simple trick worked. I googled everywhere and there was so much rubbish advice, but THIS WORKED. AMAZING, THANK YOU!!!!

Faith said on : October 28th, 2009 at 8:47 am

Shocked!! Did not expect it to work, but it did. Such a simple fix. My daughter will be thrilled to have her computer working right again. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!!!!

Romek said on : October 29th, 2009 at 10:21 pm

Thanks so much for your help. It really works. Just unplug and plug it back again. One more time thanks.

Chenghui said on : October 30th, 2009 at 2:51 am

Oh, you are god! It works!

cory blazer said on : October 30th, 2009 at 1:49 pm

I just have to thank you for this fix. I had tried everthing just as you did and was about to take my computer in for service.
Great job.

Jim said on : October 30th, 2009 at 9:29 pm

Thank You! I am a novice and cannot begin to describe the frustration of trying to fix this problem. I have spent hours going through all the prescribed suggestions by the on-line support techs and attempting a system restore, all with no luck. Thank goodness for Google and your “kiss” advise. It worked the first time. For those with laptops, I would suggest removing the battery as well. Thank you again. My hair should be growing back shortly .

Greg said on : October 31st, 2009 at 5:11 am

A client gave me their PC saying it was broken. I plugged it in the wall and it worked as you said.

Yay, thanks for this post

Mw said on : October 31st, 2009 at 8:18 am

Gosh… an hour& and half of fiddling around… one simple solution fixed all. You are my Guru!!! Thank you SOo Much!!

HF said on : November 1st, 2009 at 10:40 pm

wow, initially i doubted that it would work, but it actually did! what a simple, elegant solution. thanks alot!

Aries said on : November 4th, 2009 at 6:55 am

So simple but very effective!!! I’ve been installing and uninstalling everything from the drivers to windows itself until I’ve read your post.

Thanks so much, It worked perfectly

OT & JR said on : November 4th, 2009 at 9:06 am

First internet computer advice that actually worked.

Thank you.

hfrmobile said on : November 5th, 2009 at 2:49 am

Nice idea but didn’t work for me (similar problem).

USB is working for keyboard, mouse, smartcard reader etc. but does not work for “MDA Compact IV” … (it already worked and I established a ActiveSync (WMDC) partnership but then it stopped working) – older devices like “MDA Compact III” worked …

Windows 7 Enterprise (64bit)
IE8
Windows Mobile 6.1

Really annoying that I am not able to sync the \My Documents folder at the moment ….

hfrmobile said on : November 5th, 2009 at 11:14 am

Solution (for me) was very simple: The USB cable had a defect (sometime it worked sometime/often not). Replaced with a new USB cable and now it works fine!

Josh said on : November 5th, 2009 at 12:48 pm

GENIUS !

Thank you so much. My external HDD had this problem, and i thought i’d lost all my data (1000’s of pics and 100000’s mp3s!)

Worked first time.

Brian @ Wongside » Blog Archive » Simple USB Fix Says:

[...] So I went to everyone’s favorite troubleshooting tool: Google. I searched for the error message I was receiving, and I came up with the following article: http://www.online-tech-tips.co.....ecognized/ [...]
February 10th, 2009 at 5:55 pm