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
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414 Responses to “How to fix USB device not recognized in Windows”
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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
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
Thanks, some of my Pen drives gives this type of problems. I will try this method
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!
Having same prob. even after i checked it with a new motherboard
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!
Super!! So simple, just unplug the power cable and it works again. Thnx a lot !!!
Wow! Glad I found this article! Thanks for the tip. It worked for me!
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!
OMG .. I have spent days trawling thru websites and attempting their solutions. THANX so much.. Your suggestion worked. Will remember that for future refrence
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.
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!!!!!
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
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.
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.
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!
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
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!
Thank you very much.
Easy, simple & it worked !!!!
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
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
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
I cant thank you enough!
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 …..
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…
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.
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
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!
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Thank you for this simple and effective solution, I had almost pulled out all my hairs.
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.
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
Great solution! I did it and it worked. Thanks very much!
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!
Hi u r really genius… i think it worked… thanks a ton…
Thank you! Worked like a charm!
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.
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
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!!
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
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
Great! It worked!
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!
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
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!!
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
Fantastic, after a few hours spent trying all the other suggestions, found yours… too easy
Fantastic, usb port stopped recognizing the printer. ext. HD and memory stick disconnecting the power the way you suggest restored it all.
Thanks
Great fix dude, did exactly what it says on the tin, cheers!!
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
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.
this is genius!
thank you soooooo much.
genius solution! so happy!
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!
Thx man, worked! This is easiest way to fix USB Device not recognized!
Thank u very much
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~!
Thanks, you’re awesome =]
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
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!
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)
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
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
Thank you for your useful solution. It is a very easy way, but it really works.
Thanks, finally a solution that worked worked!! Now I can go to bed!!!
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….
You’re the man. Thanks.
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.
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
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
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!
Amazing ….i formatted my Pc ,installed drivers ,but only your solution worked.Thanxs much
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…?
hmmm… yoh lito… same problem here… i dont know how to fix it…
Hi dude.. thanks for that suggestion, it solves my problem.Thanks.
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
)))
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
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.
Wow!! Thank you so much. It worked and you saved me a lot of time, money and hair pulling.
It worked.. Thank you so very much…
Thanks.. I was about to smack my laptop on the wall!
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!
Your my saver. Thank you so much!!!!
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!!! 
Thank you soo much you are amazzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnggg. i frakin lovvvvvvvvve you!!!! thank you sooooooo much
Thanks dude – you’re a genius
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
Great Thanks! It was so simple!
)
WOWWWWWWW. It worked. Had the problem for at least 2 hours. THANKS !!!!!!!
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
Superb advice. Problem solved. A sincere thankyou from a very happy 76 years ‘oldlewy’
Hey I have a laptop and it didn’t work?
Any help please?
Amazing. It worked for me!!! Thanks so much!!!
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!
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!
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….
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!
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,
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?
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!
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!
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.
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?
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.
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!
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?
D’oh – wish I’d found this an hour and a half ago!!!
Thanks Perfect Fix
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!!
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.
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.
Worked thanks, just unplugged for a few minutes and USB back on!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! I’ve tried all other kinds of solutions!!!!!! and NOTHING WORKED. Thanks again
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!
Thanks very much. Skeptical I was; No more.
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.
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!
2 DAYS of deeply involved problem solving! SOLVED so simply THANK YOU!!!
Thanks a lot, it worked 4 me
Thanks a lot. Worked just fine for me. I would have never thought of that by myself… Thanks again.
Brilliant – so simple & it worked. Thanks, M
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!!
Holy sh*t, it worked.
And that’s from a computer service technician.
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!
Thanksssssssssssssssss , so usefull
i have tried that several time and still no go any other suggestions?? please email me if you have any aricserna@yahoo.com
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!
This fully works – you absolute legend! Thanks very much!!
OMG! After tearing out my hair for two days I stumbled on your site. THANK YOU!!!!!!!! Works like a dream!
Thanks! Worked like a charm!
Super!!!! This really worked.Thank you so much
Holy crap, it really worked!!! I’ve been fighting this problem for 2-3 weeks now and couldn’t figure it out. YOU ROCK!!
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.
As many have tried on this post, I did as much research as I could possibly do to fix this same problem. I tried everything and unfortunately nothing worked. What happened was that a small little area on my motherboard burned out which controlled the USB hardware. The burn mark was only discovered after I removed the motherboard from the computer. My motherboard was an ASUS P5NSLI. So try looking for that. The burned out area on mine was close to the the I/O area of the motherboard. Very small, about the size of a match head.
Wow!!! You are a SAVIOUR man!!! My USB ports are working again!
This solution “rocks”?
Er, shouldn’t that read “this solution is a crock”?
Unplug the PC from the power supply!!!??? Are you SERIOUS!?
So what if it “works”? This is the equivalent of thumping the side of your old black & white TV when you lose the sound or the picture.
Windows Vista is a terrible piece of sh1t. A travesty. A fraud. A shoddy product sold to the public on false pretences.
Bill Gates, or whoever is in charge at MicroSh1t these days, should hang his head in shame. Or better still, hang himself.
Incredible… i tried another method, removing “Unknown devices” but it didn´t work, this method should have pagerank 10, man you saved my day!!!!!!!!
Thanks a lot
Legend. One additional tip. I got the wireless mouse working immediately from this tip of unplugging the laptop but the printer would not work. However, I then just unplugged the printer USB (with laptop on) and re-plugged and it worked.
Thank you so very much
Brilliant, so simple – even obvious!! Worked perfectly for my PC after days of frustration – I even re-installed XP. All USB devices now working 100%. Happy family and happy IT administrator (aka me).
Thanks so much for publishing this tip. Worked great for me. I have an Acer laptop and all ports were acting balky for at least a few days, but just unplugging it and taking out the battery for a few minutes fixed the issue. Such a simple cure, yet it’s amazing how many tech sites and so-called tech experts don’t even mention this. They probably are not even aware of this. The simplest methods should always be tried first and this couldn’t be simpler.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
wooooow!!!! thanks very much, it works for me. unplug power source and battery. thanks again very2x much. GOD BLESS!!
Thanks! I ran into this problem earlier today, but it would only not recognize my mouse, so I did all of this— and, because I have a laptop, I had to unplug the batteries as well.
It’s back to working now.
I hope this works for me too. I was at work and decided to google my problem. My issues is the computer not only doesn’t recognize my devices, it doesn’t even charge my devices like my iPods or iPhone. It will work with mouse though, so I’m thinking this may work for me too, would someone out there agree with me on this?
Hey there, I tried that last night , still getting the same error messages on startup, yet if I restart the computer after the initial startup everything works again. I’m wondering if the power to the actual motherboard needs to be desconnected as well. Unplugging it from the wall just did not work for me, is there anything anyone can tell me that I may be missing? I’m wondering if there’s a step I’m not taking. Thanks in advance!
Thanks, thats a really good solution but the error may also occur cos of a driver problem, I had been getting the same device not recognized error until I updated my drivers using driver detective, for those of you saying that you tried the solution above and it did not work, please make sure you update your drivers.
OMG, you are a genuis!!! I absolutely adore you, thank you so much for solving this problem.
Fantastic!! This USB not recognized windows error message was sending me demented!! Did as suggested, turned off laptop and unplugged it from power supply for couple of hours. Bliss! No annoying message and beep!! I even contacted Sony support for a resolution to this problem and they were at a loss. Shall I let them into the secret?? No..don’t think so! Many many thanks!
I uninstalled the usb hubs before switching off my pc and disconnecting the power. This worked first time for me. thanks, much appreciated. I thought I’d fried the usb slots somehow at first.
You are a freekin genius!! I have been having this problem for quite some time and nothing seemed to fix it. I mean, I tried all sorts of things and the answer was so simple! You just don’t turn your computer off at the wall do you? (Although I do know some people who do, maybe they are smarter than I thought?).
Anyway, I’m just amazed that no one else knew about this (countless other web forums, microsoft, hardware manufacturer etc). It has been a frustrating time. Thanks again!!
Thank you very very much, it is a magnificent solution, it really works.
I have been spinning around myself looking for a solution, I have tried alot of sophisticated solutions but only your’s worked.
Again this demonstrates the difference between a true professional and a merely competent amateur. After copying files to a CD and using my laptop to print because the PC wouldn’t recognize the printer in the USB port for 2 weeks, this fix worked. God bless those smart enough to share their knowledge with others.
This happened on my notebook after installing Vista SP2. I uninstalled SP2 and IE8 but no joy. I left the machine at home today but will try remove the battery and see if that works. Hoping …
So simple……..so effective! Can’t thank you enough..have wasted an hour with other failed solutions involving registry and device manager tweaks – Brilliant!
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.
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.
x
If i unplug it, will it actually work ?
How long to I keep it off for ?
A great, simple solution to a very annoying problem. Thanks!!! I also took the battery out as well.
Chris
No, didn’t work. Removed the battery but no joy.
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!
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?
)-:
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
(-:
This is the best advice I’ve seen for this problem.
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.
Excellent!!! awesome… this suggestion really works..Thanks a lot..not getting the USB device not recognized error anymore!
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.
All I can say is wow, Thank You for the easy solution, and your knowledge. Cheers!
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
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.
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!
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
One year later and…still going!
I tried this solution today and what do you know, IT WORKS!
THANKS..
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.
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 =]
This solution of turning off all power for one minute made my USB ports work perfectly! Thank you so much!
If its a printer, try to use a different usb cable!
Thanks for the tip. I was terrified by the thought of reinstalling windows, but this was helpful!
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…
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!
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
you r the man
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.
It works ossom, thanks dude
“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
))
Thanks a lot! I had this problem on my Laptop after my iPod crashed it. None of the usb ports worked after that and my BF spent a good part of the day uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, *#$%ing with settings etc. I can’t believe this actually worked! I can’t wait until he wakes up so I can tell him I fixed it all by myself
“UNPLUG YOUR COMPUTER FROM THE POWER SUPPLY”
i had stopped looking for a solution to this problem for a couple of months now. but then it come up to my mind to give it another try and search on the net and find a solution again. and i found this.
NOW IT WORKS GREAT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You sir, are my hero. Im fairly computer savvy, but this basic problem stumped me. My usb mouse worked in any port, however all my flash drives and external HDD did not, identical error message to yours. After doing everything possible on my own and working through the problem, then trying to research more online (only to find out i knew all that and none of it worked anyway!!) I stumbled upon your simple solution. Thanks so much.
days of stress and complications and having random attempts at fixing it were solved in a minute as you suggested. You’re awesome, i hope others appreciate it too!!
I was having this problem as well. I was getting the USB Device Not Recognized error when trying to plug in my HP Flash drive and my memory card reader. Oddly my MP3 Player would still work. I tried unplugging the computer and this did not work. This week I found the problem. I had to turn off my Epson printer. If anyone else has recently installed a printer, the kind that has ports for flash drives and memory cards, try turning off the power on your printer and see if that works. It did for me!
I just had this problem on a laptop. I preformed a power reset. Corrected the error each time.
powered off, removed the power cord, remove battery.
Hold down the power button for 6 seconds.
Replaced the power cord only and power on.
Replace battery
Can you please tell me any good places where I would be able to get my memory stick fixed and retrieve all the data. I live in NW2 London
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 !
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
Works well, thanks!
YOU ARE A LEGEND!!!!
it was so simple! Thank you!!!!!!
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!!!
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
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!!
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
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.
Worked brilliantly, thanks!
OMGG!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH
NOW I CAN FINALLY FINISH MY SCHOOL HOMEWORK AND MY DAD CAN USE THE PRINTER AS WELL
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
Thanks so much your simple solution worked perfectly for me! Now my USB device is recognized!
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.
I was about to do something stupid to try and fix this but you saved me my friend, so simple but so good.
Wait, so this won’t delete all my files on my computer or make my computer crash, and cause any problems to my computer?
Must add my thanks to this giant list of happy, relieved users. Spent all morning and much of the afternoon trying to get my wacom tablet to work. Just unplugged and removed my battery from my Sony Vaio for a few minutes — now back to normal. No other website offered this simple fix. Thanks!
Hi.. am using nokia 6233..while am connecting my phone to pc via data cable am getting the error message that usb cannot be recognized.. i tried the solution given here but its not wrking!!!!!! i have tried it a number of times…still the same issue..need a solution!
i have struggled with this problem for a long time now and nothing has worked including this. do you have any more suggestions e.g. any patches? btw i use xp sp3
i just loaded my ADSL driver and after this is started to show unknown device for everything like mobile, cam, flash drive. i hav tried the same thing… unplugging the computer but it did not worked in my case, i have also reinstalled xp, my all drivers are up to date, and i have tried all the method which are mentioned above, i don’t know what to do now, any body plz help me………..i will be very thankful to you
Hi
This worked for me!!! I also removed battery in the process.
Details of what computer I have and what I did before trying to sove the problem without success.
I recently bought an HP Pavilion dv4-1465dx. Everything was OK until my daughter attached her MP4/MP3 player to one of the laptop USB ports, to get some songs copied to it.
I previously was playing around with that device connected to the laptop without problems.
Well, the error “usb device not recognized” started appearing after attaching any USB device (mouse, flash memory, etc) to one of the USB ports and none of the USB ports worked at all.
I followed the procedure for USB restacking, detailed here, http://www.ntcompatible.com/De.....32356.html as follows
———
Alternatively, removing all entries relating to USB in Device Manager and all associated USB drivers will force XP into refreshing the USB driver stack.
Begin by unplugging all USB devices, then use Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel to uninstall any USB driver software. Next, boot up into safe mode and go to Device Manager. Once in device manager make sure ‘Show hidden devices’ is checked under the View menu. Uninstall all device entries in this order;
1. USB peripheral devices (printers etc.)
2. HID and/or Composite USB (Human Interface Devices) You’re using PS/2 input devices so you may not have this entry.
3. USB Root Hub(s)
4. USB Host Controller(s) (Universal or Enhanced Host Controllers)
Then boot back into Windows (not safe mode) and it should populate the Root Hubs & Host controllers again. Proceed to plug your USB devices back in, starting with your powered hub. Be aware that most USB printers and scanners need to have their drivers installed first before you plug them in.
———
I also followed an HP procedure to get the computer at a previous state, where the laptop had made a check point, but the problem persisted.
The problem was away after shutting down, removing power cable and battery, and starting again.
Worked a treat! Thanks for saving me a lot of grief.
Cheers Ian.
Awesome! Thank you. You saved my night.
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
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
Thanks man!! I tried and it did work!!!
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
Worked for me too, many thanks!!!
i had already followed your solution about unplugging the computer, but still the USB not recognized problem is unsolved.
hey this solution workd for me…. i had spent more than 3 hours for this issue but after following ur steps, i was able to fix the issue in minutes… thank u so much… i avoided recovery which was my last option
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 :’(
After a week of trying to figure it out this solved the problem straight away! Thank you very much!
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
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.
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!!!!
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!!!!!!!!
Thanks so much for your help. It really works. Just unplug and plug it back again. One more time thanks.
Oh, you are god! It works!
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.
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
.
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
Gosh… an hour& and half of fiddling around… one simple solution fixed all. You are my Guru!!! Thank you SOo Much!!
wow, initially i doubted that it would work, but it actually did! what a simple, elegant solution. thanks alot!
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
First internet computer advice that actually worked.
Thank you.
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 ….
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!
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.
Did this (the unplugging power cord) and it fixed the problem.
Brilliant tip, thanks a million!
I could’ve wrote this post, exact same problem, tried updating BIOS, drivers, everything, nothing worked. It crossed my mind to kill total power after re-installing the BIOS, but didn’t, should have b/c that was the problem. Finally did pull the power cord out after a shut down, waited a few minutes, started it all back up, and, “Wallah!” the USBs are alive again!
Thank you very much for this effective solution. It saved a tremendous amount of time. I was getting ready to find a technician to help. Thank you!
amazing! thank you so much…. my printer wasnt working and i needed to print some papers for homework. It said it wasnt recognized and i did this…..It worked!!!
OMG!!!!! Thank you !!! I was dreading the thought of having to take the laptop to be repaired. I did what you said, and YAY!!! it works !!!! I’m very happy !!!!
I can’t believe how easy that was! Worked perfectly! Thanks for ending weeks of confusion.
I tried to fix my Toshiba Laptop using the above method. Still my three USB ports do not accept any drive.More than a month. Please who can help me to fix the problem.
Couldn’t believe this would work but it did- incredible! I’d wasted many hours doing all sorts of fixes – I knew the device and cable worked as I’d tried it on another PC so it had to be my PC and this was so simple!! Thankyou
Thanks, this tip worked like magic… walla and problem solved!
Surprisingly this worked perfectly well for me on a Toshiba Satellite. Thanks!!
Hi,
for those cases when un-plugging the cord doesn’t help:
As Kallulu said, try disabling the corresponding USB Root Hub in Device manager (you’ll see your “Unknown USB device” under Properties > Power tab). This alone might get your device successfully installed but probably only in USB 1.1 (slower) mode, resulting in “This device can perform faster” msg. So NOW restart, unplug, boot and than try re-enable the USB Root Hub again. With a little bit of luck, everything should work now…
Awsome Dude! Tried it for about 2 mins, but didnt wrk. Then tried for about half hour. Poof! The message is gone! Great man!
Thanks, this tip worked like magic… walla and problem solved!
Ive been having a problem with my USB for a while now. Whenever i plugged a USB in my whole computer would freeze, and have to be restarted to work again. However, recently my house has been painted, and my computer has been unplugged. since ive connected it again the USB ports seem to be working fine, but now i have this problem.
OMG! This really works for me. Using VERY old Acer with 512 memory and 40GB hard. Thanks man!!!
1. Click Start. Click Run. Type cmd and press OK.
2. Type “set DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS=1″ (without quotation marks) and press Enter.
3. Type “set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1″ (without quotation marks) and Press Enter.
4. Type “start devmgmt.msc” (without quotation marks) and click press Enter.
5. Click View. Click Show hidden devices.
6. Click “+” to expand Imaging devices, Unknown devices and USB devices.
7. Are there any USB devices and unknown devices (including grayed out devices)? If so, please right-click it and click Uninstall.
Everyone is saying this method works but it doesnt work for me. I’m using an advent laptop with windows vista and everytime i put in my usb it always says the same thing. usb device not recognized. I have tried takin the battery out and leaving and putting it back in but it doesnt work. i have also trie using different PC’s and laptopts but none of them recognized it. pls tell me if there is any other solution apart from unplugging everything!
I updated to Windows 7 and thought that the USB not working problem to be related. However, I will say that the ports worked after upgrade but when I plugged in my ipod the ports all stopped reading devices. THIS is a GREAT FIX and it worked!
So I found this solution myself, but the problem reoccurs every 10 hours with a USB mouse connected. WHY DOES THE PROBLEM REOCCUR? It is a pain to have to shut down the computer pull and unplug each time it occurs. Seems like there is a defect in software or hardware, WHICH?
This is occurring on a brand new DELL Inspirion. Customer support says to send it back, but is this a MICROSOFT PROBLEM or a DESIGN- problem with the HARDWARE?
What a waste of time! I followed all solutions posted but it would not work! At last i changed the cable and @#$$%%^&…it worked! oh dear…this really drove me crazy la!
Worked like a charm! Thanks! All USB devices now recognized!
OMG, thank you so very much! Never thought this would work, but i’ve been wrong before! All USB ports working fine…
Hi,
Your solution worked wonders. It was AWESOME. In some cases it may not work. Why? Bcoz simply plugging out the power supply wont do. Thus once the power supply is cut off, press and hold the power button on the comp for about 10 seconds. This releases all the static current that might be stored in capacitors on the motherboard, that keep the motherboard charged. This will solve the issue.
Regards
Vikas
OMG….can’t believe it was this easy! I was about to toss my laptop out the window. Thanks so much!
*** THIS TIP DIDNT’T HELP ME ***
powering the laptop off and removing the battery didn’t help. removing all usb devices in device manager didn’t help. installing the latest intel chipset drivers didn’t help.
*** WHAT DID HELP : UPGRADING BIOS ***
What the heck!! I’ve been dealing with this issue for 2 days now and did this and whadduyaknow, it works!! Thank you!
*** UPDATE ***
updating bios wasn’t enough. after half an hour the problem started again. I switched to linux for a day (ubuntu never had a usb problem), and I am now running XP for 8 hours without usb-problems.
*** UPDATE ***
For those that still have the problem, I have figured it out. The usb problem is caused by the external power pack. Updating the BIOS doesn’t fix problem. It’s not the OS because the problem can be duplicated in a dos environment.
That’s why running on battery works. All my USB devices worked except my external USB2.0 Hard Drive. Problem started when I bought a cheap replacement powerpack and it was causing the problem. Booting up using battery worked until I plugged in the cheap Power Pack.
Immediately a Window pop up would say device is capable of running faster on a USB2.0 port. In device manager I could see my HD device literally switch from enhanced controller to basic usb controller. The pop up message is the key…every time I plug in the cheap power pack the system detects my device is capable of 2.0. How does it know this..I don’t know if it’s a voltage level that’s detected or not because I just fixed my pc.
If I unplug the cheap power pack and plug in my original laptop power pack I don’t get that pop up message and my HD automatically moves back to the enhanced controller and everything is fine. I checked the voltage on cheap power pack without a load and it read 19.5v which is normal for a power pack rated at 19v / 4.74amp output. My Compaq laptop specs say I need 18.5v /4.75amp. The cheap 19v power pack normally should be ok. I notice that the cheap pk gets real hot and my good pk doesn’t.
If I find a way to put a 4 amp load on the cheap pk I may be able to see why ehci controller has a problem. I’ll put my scope on it. The reason I bought a replacement powerpack in the first place was because I had static on my external USB audio device. My scope showed I have noise spikes emitting from my good pk and replacing it with the cheap pack fixed the noise problem. By the way it was my second power pack replacement. The first one I got only lasted a week and they sent me a replacement.
The cheap packs are cheap and get real hot. If running on battery doesn’t work you probably will have to reset your mb escd or cmos. CMOS can get corrupted during thunder storms and need to be reset sometimes. The motherboard handles interrupts and remembers devices even after they are gone.
Thanks so much. Was almost desperate. It worked like magic.
Hey thanks. I did not think it was that simple but it works. My USB ports are recognizing my devices!
it didnt work on my desktop. i’ve already tried unplugging the power supply and waiting it for almost 30mins. Can someone help me on this problem?
OH MY GOD !!!!!!!!! Thank you sooooo much, this totally worked perfect on my old compaq w/windows XP. I have been fighting with this for two weeks so I could just charge my MP3 player. I downloaded tons of crap that did not work and gobbled up memory. I’ll be fixing that next! Thanks again!!!!!!!! “Donzter”
This is a very different solution to the USB device not recognized error than other sites, but I will give it a shot!
Thank you it worked now we can get our customers files. We actually unplugged the PC, unplugged the drive, rebooted, waited, then pluged in our external usb to the power, then plugged the usb into the usb port on the PC. waited. and now it works. No more USB Device not Recognized errors.
Thanks again.
I tried the unplug theory and it did not work. What did work was simply un-plugging my external HD from a USB. The error message was received when I plugged in my iPod while the external HD was plugged in. So what I mean is that there were 2 items plugged in at the same time. I simply un-plugged the USB from my external HD and my computer,the computer recognized my iPod.
It may be a USB over-load problem. I have a total of 8 USB in-puts on my computer and only 2 are free but having them all occupied at the same time seemed to be the problem. I only plug in my iPod to update songs and I think it became too much.Now when I plug in my iPod I simply disconnect and external HD or my printer and it works fine.
Seriously man, you just saved my life, and my job. I’ve been working on this problem for a while now, and you seriously just saved it all with the simplest solution ever.
I wish I knew your paypal account, cuz I would seriously throw you AT LEAST twenty bucks for this. Seriously. As a digital DJ with audio interface and two MIDI controllers that are USB powered, I would have lost everything.
I love you. Seriously. I want your babies.
The problem is the USB device. In my case, a cheap mouse brought the USB driver down every few hours. Once down the problem cannot be corrected without pulling the power on the computer with it off. This masks other USB devices as having the same problem when they don’t.
Hence, my suggestion is to look for bad OEM equipment that you have attached to your computer as the True cause. Substitute and see if the problem still occurs.
I’m still getting the “USB device not recognized” error! pls reply with another method to solve my problem.
same problems after unplugging the power cords…etc….then it works, but dies again! When i turn off the pc & on again, same message shown….USB Device not Recognized…really driving me nuts. HELP ANYONE?
I’ve been running my PC for 6 years and never had this USB problem. What a headache! All my peripherals, printers, etc refused to be accepted by my PC. Spent hours doing the usual stuff. Then I check this site, took your advice, turned off my PC and all USB was back up and running as before an hour later. God knows why I never had this problem before over 6 years but so many thanks, saved me a fortune.
Chris
I think Frank’s idea is getting to the right cause. In my case a cheap mouse may have had current spikes.
The newer Windows operating system cannot reset the problem when the device is disconnected! This makes no sense whatsoever. Windows Vista and Windows 7 should be repaired.
Sat, you should definitely not be getting the message if you don’t have any USB devices connected after unplug and power up.
I spent 3 days on this problem. Your solution worked the first time! My next fix will be to replace Vista with XP!
Never saw an OS that made so many things harder. Bling is not the thing!
Thanks Again
I tried the simple formula you provided, but it didn’t work for me. I have Dell Inspiron, with Windows Vist Home edition and still get the “USB device not recognized” error. Help!
Thanks, for help
I tried to reinstall usb controller, turn off and on usb in BIOS, clean registry of usb entries, and finaly “UNPLUG COMPUTER FROM THE POWER SUPPLY”. It works 
I want to say to john the first commenter, I have it and it doesn’t work for me either, but i later read that windows vista is having this problem and many methods for fixing USB Device not recognized, including this one dont work if you have vista!
….unpluging worked great, thanks.
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the tip! I breathed such a huge sigh of relief when the USB ports worked…who knew the fix could be that simple?
I could seriously kiss you right now! Thank you so much! USB device not recognized error killed!
Thanks so much. I had rebooted several times & it didn’t work. You’re right, unplugging it from the wall was the solution and now my mouse is working perfectly. Weird!!
Incredible! My operating system is XP and your solution worked like a charm. I’d spent hours trying other more comples fixes without luck.
I fixed my problem by replacing the motherboard and usb mouse.
Thank you very much !!! I even wanted to buy a new USB ports
Thanks for this great solution. It worked perfectly. Windows 7 suddenly stopped recognizing my external Iomega hard drive today. I spend hours trying to find a solution, including having to download 88MB from Windows Updates, and this still did not solve the problem. Thanks to Google and You my problem was solved in a minute. Windows 7 is still far from perfect!
Hojo just needed to replace mouse. Cheap USB attachments can overload power on USB ports. Pitiful Microsoft operating systems Vista and Windows 7 cannot recover without unplugging.
I did not have this problem with XP. Overall Microsoft sucks.
After downloading update software for my LG phone I found that my USB ports stop working.
Worked for two hours trying the usual fixes from Microsoft and other tech forums and got precisely nowhere.
Found this website with this very simple fix, which I though was too good to be true, pulled out the mains plug and 5 minuets later all USB ports working again.
You deserve a medal for this advice, thank you for saving my sanity
Frustrated beyond belief. Found this post and now I am soooo happy. Always check this site for solutions. Thank you so much for helping those who are not technically savvy.
Hello, everybody. I don’t know if someone of you still read this topic, but I’m kind disperate about this usb problem.
Case:
1 month ago I bought an usb external hdd wd 1 TB, external power. I have W2k sp4 with all win updates, usb 1.0. Everything was ok, pc recognized hdd 931 Gb, ntfs formatted on other wxp pc.
It worked around 2 weeks with no problem, write around 800 Gb and all was ok. Suddenly, it became not recognized, and after that when i plug in just the led is lighting on, switching few times on and off after that – silence. No device, no message, nothing new in device manager, no sign. On other pcs (wxp with usb 2.0 – it’s working without problems)
I tried to connect hdd on a new installed xp – but usb 1.0 – still not working. I tried to uninstall usb drivers and update from internet, w2k kit – nothing. I bought a new pci to usb 2.0 device and still the hdd-usb device not working. I put some back-up 2 years ago – still nothing. Please, someone has an idea how can I solve this issue?
Thanks,Radu
I tried this solution and it works, but now when I transfer files to my USB device, it is slower than before. Any ideas?
Thanks so much. We were getting this message coming up over and over again and nothing else seemed to work – I’m not bad when it comes to solving problems within Windows and tried everything else, then just powered down, unplugged the laptop, waited for 5 mins, turned it back on again and my mouse etc were recognised again and the pop-up disappeared!
Genius.
Wow! Lifesaver (I’m programming mobile devices)! Thank you!!
This fixed my wife’s problem immediately, it was the exact same problem as described and the simple solution worked – thank you so much : )
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.
A simple description like that, and I’m not that good with computers. Saves my life. AWESOME.
Thank you.
Its funny because I stumbled on that bandaide in trying to deal with the various USB ports going out and then the whole system as started to freeze.
I never had this on the exact same set-up with XP. There has got to be an underlying cause that is Windows 7 related. That is what I would really like to know as I have not had this kind of computer instablility in years!
Thanks for your ideas!
Neal
Worked like a charm!!! Just disconnected the power and after that my usb worked again!
thnx a lot for this solution
thank you very much………………4 usb ports died,
your method brought them back to life!! thank you again.
OMG!! It works like a dream!! THANKS!! You’re a life saver!! Thank you very MUCH!
Works! All USB ports are now recognized and working fine. Thanks!
I went through 2 mice and about two hourse following all of the different methods and nothing worked..until I found this solution! It worked!!!!!!! Thanks so very much.
Worked like a charm…. no more USB device not recognized…
Thanks a ton
I’ve tried everything from uninstalling driver, downloading Microsoft mouse, to installing hp software and almost updating BIOS. They all did not help. But after following your suggestion, it works! thank you very much.
YOU ARE TOTALLY AWESOME!! IT REALLY WORKS!
dude! you are the man{ or woman?) really thanks for the post I was just about ready to format my pc i tried everything ! thanks a million
What else can I say simple is smart and beautiful. I was so lucky to see your article as the second hit on the list. So lucky that I saved so much of my time going into various sites. I will be back. Thank you so much.
Can I just say a super huge thank you for this! How simple (and embarassing that I didn’t think that just pulling out the power lead would sort anything)! It’s been driving me crazy all day and all sort of complicated solutions were offered, none of which worked, and some were so far beyone me i thought i was doomed to listed to the beep-beep forever.
Thank you!
Sir,
Whenever I connect my pen drive to the computer, the computer says “USB device not recognized”. I have tried your solution, but it did not work. Please tell me what I need to do to fix this.
I also want to add my thanks to the long list of people helped by this troubleshooting tip. I’m a newly graduated techie and I’ll have to pass it along to all my classmates (and the instructor)! Thanks a lot.
It worked! Thanks for the advice!
I also got that problem today,and I was already planning to restore Vista. Thank god I red this post before doing it. I have unplugged my laptop from electrical supply for the suggested time then plug it again. Now it’s working perfect. Thanks for the tip.
This solution involves an attempt to remove old/unused USB device drivers that may be inadverdently causing conflicts with devices currently plugged in. It’s basically an extreme version of the ‘uninstall usb hubs in device manager’ method. Download the following programs:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/d....._view.html
Run USBDeview and go into the Options menu and check the first three “Display” options. Next, shift click everything on the list, and uninstall via the File menu. Vista/Win 7 should autodetect and reinstall any drivers for USB devices plugged in automatically. If you’re on XP you may need to reboot.
If that doesn’t work, try DevManView and sort by the “Connected” column – ignore anything that says Yes in that column. Only uninstall USB related devices that are “No” in the “Connected” column. Do NOT uninstall any devices like interrupt controllers, ACPI devices, motherboard resources, or ’system’ anything, or you will ruin your windows install.
Wow, I’m totally stunned, all of my USB ports stopped recognizing my optical mouse. Everything else worked fine and the mouse itself worked fine on another computer. After reinstalling drivers and uninstalling the USB Controllers and Hubs, I finally isolated the problem to the motherboard. I tried reinstalling those drivers to no avail. I didn’t know you could reset it by cutting off the power supply! Shut down my Vaio laptop, pulled out the battery for 10 seconds, popped it back in, restarted, and everything works again! Thank you so much!!! I spent 2 hours trying to figure out a solution!
hi there, you are a genius! this worked a treat after I uninstalled all the USB drivers about 10 times with no success. many thanks for sharing this solution with everyone else.
My problem was with Elgato hybrid usb tv tuner on Vista 64 using Hauppauge drivers. Keep getting “USB device not recognized” error whenever i plugged into my Imac running bootcamp. I tried %#@*ing EVERYTHING with no luck. Out of frustration, i almost threw my usb tv tuner away! Decided to give it a last try, disabling my bluetooth Apple keyboard and mouse and plugged in again. It works! No more USB device not recognized error! So apparently some usb devices like Elgato hybrid usb tv tuner does consume lots of energy, just like my bluetooth devices.
Has anyone tried a Ethernet to USB adapter for a temporary fix? They sell them on Ebay for .99. It looks like if all the fixes don’t work it’s probably your motherboard.
Thank you so much! I’ve been getting the error messages for several weeks now but ignored it because my flashdrive still worked. I got a printer for christmas and it didn’t work, so I followed your recommendations by shuting down my toshiba laptop and pulled out the battery. It works fine now! Thank you so much!
Well done. After I got another motherboard it did it again. Now I saw your tip and averything works now. A big thanks from Denmark.
Thanks. First time I’ve seen that error message and your solution worked for me.
Thank you so much for the clear illustrated answer to such an irratating silly problem
Unbelievable results. Many thanks to you. i have tried evrey thing including restoring the whole vaio system but it did not work. then i came across your advice and it worked like magic.
Many thanks again and you saveed me a lot. happy new year
Listen my friend. I had just about thrown my laptop across the room in anger, when my GIRLFRIEND who is absolutely NOT computer savvy, found the answer on ‘Ask.com’ a site I normally would avoid like the plague. But your solution, as easy as it was, worked. I applaud you. If you don’t work in the IT Solutions industry you should. I’d like to hire you for MY department!!!
Thank you very much for this quick and easy solution!
Thanks a lot! You saved my new year night! Owing to you my web-cam is working again!
Hello,
I had this problem today on my hp laptop with windows 7. I tried all the things i thought worth trying and they did not work. Basically, all my usb ports weren’t working. Then, I found your site and I tried your advice, I’ve shut down the laptop, plugged it off and removed the battery and when I started it up, all the usb ports worked !!!
Thank you for sharing with the community your experience and your adivce.
I wish you a Happy New Year
Myke.
USB Device Not Recognized, always is showing in my laptop, can you tell me what is the problem??? because I tried your solution, but it did not work. Please help.
Sir, you are a top of the line tech, such a simple fix but a life saver, nobody else considered this action to fix USB problems. Thanks a lot!
Very simple fix… thank you very much for the suggestion… My HP notebook started acting up with this problem an hour ago… I found this post and followed it properly. I turned the machine off, unplugged the power supply and the removed the battery… and turned everything on few minutes later… and it works!
Again, thank you for all the participants and their suggestions.
Thanks for the article. I reinstalled windows, tried system restore, hours or reinstalling s/w but nothing worked till I red your fix. Sure was a live saver!
when i encountered this problem, i tried to reset the cmos on my mother board. but did not work, and i even reformated my pc, but still did not work, when i tried your solution to the problem, it worked!!!! thanks men. some times, simple things can cure the big problem,very simple,but yet a very good solution. thanks again. happy new year.
Thanks for your tip. I had buit a new computer desk so I had to turn off and disconnect my PC and related h/w. When I was finished setting everything up, the printer didnt work. I tried all the driver-related methods and they didnt work, as many posters have said. I did try your method, and while it didnt fix the problem at first, it tipped me off to unplugging the PC AND unplugging the printer – the actual USB device not being recognized. That did the trick. Thanks again! Saved me lots of time!
Can’t believe how simple that fix was, I was up in arms this morning when I plugged my mobile phone into my laptop running windows 7 and all my USB’s went to pot!
I unplugged my power cable first, then did a standard shutdown, unplugged my battery, waited a few minutes, put back in with the battery and power lead then turned it on. It had to install all my stuff again, portable hard drive mouse etc , but all’s well.
Thanks a lot!
Just wanted to say… I love you
Thank you for this tip! I was ready to throw my laptop out the window 
Amazing tip!! It works. Thanks for saving me HOURS of time trying to figure this out and saved me $’s. Thanks for taking the time to help all of us!!
Man did I get lucky, like everyone else I was ready to jump in with both feet and start tearing things apart but saw your post and it fixed it!!! Thank you (tears welling in my eyes as I speak.) For what it’s worth I had just plugged in my camera and may have unplugged it without shutting it down first like one post suggested. Just HAPPY it worked and so simple hoda thunk it.
I too was having the problem of USB’s not being recognized..thinking I was going to have to format my computer to get whatever nasty bug was in there off, I decided to google the problem. Yours was the first one on the list…Skeptical I tried your solution and IT WORKED!!! I was so excited…THANK YOU!!!
This worked for me to I tried it 3 times without results I have a windows vista gateway 2007 computer (laptop) it kept giving me the same errors over and over as above (device not recognized) but, the trick for me was to unistall all USB drivers then disconnect ALL power sources including the battery. Then I left off for about 5 min then I put only the main power cord to my laptop in computer left battery off and turned the computer on and wha la…it fixed my USB not recognized error and im in good shape now!!!
Thank youuu so much . I had this for three days and it was getting on my nerves . And for a minute I thought I had a virus . But I saw this and it WORKED ! Thank youuuuuu ! (:
You, sir, are a genius. Thank you thank you thank you! USB ports are working again!
I just had this same problem on a notebook PC that is less than 3 weeks old. I was dreading troubleshooting this problem and calling tech support. When I found this web page during a quick Google search, I figured this is too easy, I might as well try it before I try anything else. It worked like a charm and I’m back in business.
I have had the same error 2 or 3 times which on my computer means what it says! USB not recognized, malfuntioned= MOUSE NOT WORKING!! Has every1 else had the same problem, trying to troubleshoot just with your keyboard? Nightmare! I feel silly now because every time it fixed itself was when I had given up on it and unplugged it, Anyway thanks for the fantastic tip which worked straight away 2nite!
THANKYOU!
I have had this problem before with my external hard drive and had tried all the solutions you originally tried to no avail. The situation was only resolved when I had to purchase a new computer after a theft.
I just tried your solution and it worked. I also disconnected the battery.
Thank you again for taking the time to post this solution.
do you mean only usb ports??? what about my usb(flash drive)? when i insert my other flashdrive on the usb ports, its working fine.. but when i tried the other one, it says “windows does not recognize it.”.. need help
I daren’t look. I tried it and now an external hard drive that ‘disappeared’ and one that was starting to disappear both seem to be working again. Currently I am backing up all my Libraries – I’ll be back to post again one way or the other. In the meantime – thanks for posting. Even if it doesn’t work for me it makes a big difference when people try to help by posting solutions that might work without destroying the registry or opening upo the pc to malicious attack or some such. Thx
I plugged my phone (LG env3) into my computer (Dell Inspiron 1545) using the phone’s USB cable, and suddenly my computer kept throwing the dreaded “USB device not recognized” message. I’d previously had my phone connected without any problems, so I’m not sure what happened this time to cause the problem. My USB cordless mouse also stopped working at the same time, so apparently all my USB ports were hosed. I first shut down the computer then turned it back on, but the issue persisted.
I turned to my favorite troubleshooting tool, Google, and came across this page first. After reading the simple (seemingly too simple) solution, I shut down my computer, removed the battery, then waited for a couple of minutes. Inserted the battery, plugged the AC adapter back in, booted it up, and voila! The USB error was gone and my devices now work again. Thanks!
Thank you, you’re the best! This instantly fixed my USB not recognized problem!
THIS IS A BAD BAD BAD… BAD JOKE!
IT WORKED -
I just reloaded the whole computer…. and this worked?
Man, wow…
This worked for my HP laptop, saved me so much trouble, thank you!
WOW…….YOU ARE THE MAN……….WORKED FOR MY P.O.S. HP DESKTOP
Great job MAN! It worked for my sony vaio. THANK U VERY VERY MUCH!!
Worked for me! Unplugged my laptop, removed the battery, then pressed the power button a few times to dissipate any energy.
I put the battery back in, plugged in the power cord, turned everything on, and it works great.
Thank you.
thx my laptop has had this USB device problem for 2 years and now that i found your site it works great it even made my laptop faster because those pesky popups thx
i have being using my pen-drive for months now.i plug it into my computer one day,only to report that “usb device not recognized”i have tried many time,plugging and unplugging,but it still dont work.please what do i do.
Thank you.
I shutdown my laptop and unplugged it waited about 20 seconds then started it on only batter power after it was booted and logged in i then plugged it back to the wall charger and it works just fine. i did have to unplug my Iphone charger and my optical mouse so that it could reinstall the drivers that i had uninstalled from trying to fix it other peoples ways. but my keyboard works fine now along with my other accessories, thank you very much for this awesomely simple fix. =D
You are an ABSOLUTE LEGEND! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Had a HP Laptop hooked up to docking station and this worked like a charm. This was unreal that this fixed what was a very annoying issue. Cannot thank you enough.
Took me two days trying to solve the USB problem until I came across your suggestion. It worked! Thanks much.
Works like a charm, well done. No more USB problems!
Thank you very much for this tip which worked axactly as you have written! You are a life saver!! For what it is worth, I have a feeling the problem was caused when I unplugged a USB hard drive while the laptop was part way through entering sleep mode.
This same problem was happening on my daughters laptop….Windows Vista. She charges her ipod through the usbs. She also uses the Verizon usb 720 modem. When we turned on her laptop this evening we started getting the error “usb device not recognized”. So I started to search the net for fixes and started writing them down.
This is the fourth site I looked at after a google search. At first, I though ya right! It cannot be that easy to fix. But I decided the easiest option is best to start with.
So…. we turned off the laptop using shut down. We unplugged the power cord from the wall and from the laptop. Then we removed the battery and found something else to do for about 15 minutes.
FIXED!! We inserted the battery back into the laptop, plugged the power supply back into the laptop and then into the wall and rebooted the laptop. Once the laptop was finished booting up, we plugged the ipod in and it started charging and then we pluuged in the usb modem and now that is working as well.
Thank you. You saved me money and a hue headache.
Thanks for that. Worked perfectly. My USB devices are all working well.
Thanks dude, You are the man! It was simple and effective!
Another happy reader.
My daughter tried to plug in our camera to download photos of her school project, and we got that dam message. Yesterday was OK, today it’s broken. So google for fixes, yours is the 12th listed, fourth I looked at, first I actually tried. And it worked just as you predicted.
Why can’t the support pages for USB products include this as first step. Sony, Canon, Epson, etc are apparently dumb. But you’re a genius. And, incidentally, my computer was unplugged yesterday because I had to plug in another one to get some old files. So this fault happens sometimes even on systems that haven’t been plugged in continuously. But the fix is the same.
great:) worked like a charm:) thanks for this tip.
Great fix, had the same USB device not recognized issue, worked like a charm. Thanks.
THANK YOU!!! I’ve been having this problem for ages. Thanks again!
Awesome. Your suggestion fixed my USB device problem. Thanks.
Thanks for the hint really we were strugling installing drivers and trying system restore, but your small trick has done wonders Thanks for the help posted on web.
Regards,
shebey
When I saw this solution to the problem I said “uh?” I first unplugged the computer only for a few seconds and restarted it — no difference. I went looking for other answers, but kept seeing people talk about unplugging their computer for a minute or two. I finally cut off the power again to the computer for about 2 minutes, and when I rebooted the computer, the USB devices were once again recognized. It worked for me!
Thank you so much!! This was a great tip and surely saved me HOURS of time. Thank you again.
Your recommendation worked. Thanks for the simple but effective fix.
Great tip. I really didn’t this would work, but it did! All my USB ports are functioning properly now.
Thanks. This fixed my Dell laptop running Vista. My cordless mouse worked sometimes and not others. Now I finally know how to fix it.
Man, I need to tell you that I spent about a day trying to fix it with no luck until I decided to check in the web and I’m so glad I saw this recommendation.
It works for me; thanks a bunch! you’re the man.
OK…this worked for a while but all of a sudden, it did not work. My laptop is in Bestbuy right now and it checked out when they ran a diagnostic and I have no virus. So…what now? Obviously they do not know what to do either. Is there a way to connect USB things without using a USB port…like is there a USB hub thing that connects via some other connection? That is if they don’t find the problem. Even though the fix seems easy, should this be happening at all???
What I mean is…I did this for a while and then it stopped working…as if my computer figured it out and changed the rules…LOL!
Sorry man.. I also spent days looking for solutions.. now i see your blog.. and i was very happy…and I tried your solution to fix the USB not recognized problem, but it didn’t work! What should I do?
Thank you very much. It’s simple and it works! You saved my computer and hours of my life.
HOLY CRAP — This worked on a Sony VAIO Win XP. One day all of my USB 2.0 devices stopped being recognized (printer, ext HD). I suspected something rotten when the very same devices worked fine through a USB 1.0 Hub.
I’ll stick a pin in the voodoo doll of whoever is responsible for this design flaw.
OMG! This was driving me crazy for a week. Thank god I came across this! Have been trying all the reg and inf fixes, etc. With no luck. Just unplugged and VOILLA!
Thanks again….
Brilliant, brilliant. One of the rare times i found a solution to work so fast and easily. Also one of my first posts to a site like this…great. thanks again.
wow, this probably saved me a whole weekend of annoying reinstallations (which possibly still wouldn’t have worked). Now i fixed my problem in 30 mins. Great! Thanks sooooo much.
thanks, it really worked for my usb mouse!
OK… sooo, this is the first time I’ve ever posted a reply to any kind of blog. I have an Iphone and tried to sync today and was confused when I got the USB malfunction message. My first thought was search the Apple site. I followed all of their un/re-install suggestions for itunes and drivers… no dice! Then I realized this might be a windows issue… googled “USB malfunction” and this tip was on the top of the search.
Like almost everyone else, I didn’t believe that it could be this simple. I unplugged the computer for a minute or two and restarted it — no difference. I was going to continue looking for other otions, instead I continued to read other responses to this tip… glad I did!
The second time I shut down my computer, removed the battery, then waited for about 15 minutes. Inserted the battery, booted my computer up, plugged in my Iphone… and like magic… my phone began to sync!! I’m back in business!!!
Thanks so much!!
perfect! works as a charm
))
thanks for the solution!
It worked for me. I tried a lot of things, all of which did not work, but shuting down the computer and uunplugging the power cord indeed did work for me.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thanks for the nice tips.
Actually, Andrew’s reply number 62 helped me solve my problem. For everyone that the fix of PC shutdown does not work with him, here is a fix that works.
In 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, just disable this USB root hub. Then plugin your USB device again, it will work fine.
Hope this helps someone out there.
Thanks again!
Man, I can’t believe it was that easy! I thought I was pretty geeky but was scratching my head on this one. Some of my USB devices were working and some weren’t. I spent all day yesterday messing with this thing: reformatting, moving backup files to a readable location, and pumping in the backup – to get the same problem. Prior to cracking the case and exploring the USB connections, I was about to declare the PC a boat anchor. Incredible! Unplugged it for a minute; plugged it back in and – Voila! Good Lord, I feel like such a moron. Thank you thank you thank you. I’d promise my first-born but, at thirty years old, he’d be pretty pissed.
Thank you!!! This worked perfectly. No more USB not recognized problem!
OMG! Thank you so much. I just spent half the day crying and wanting to pull my hair out (I’m such a girl). I do a lot of graphic work and was working between two monitors using my touch pad because my external mouse and keyboard weren’t being recognized.
Thanks again.
You truely deserve a nobel prize for the peace of mind you have unleashed among those tortured by microsoft Windows!
For those who did not succeed, another option is to switch to Linux!
u are genius! it works! my vaio vgn-aw120j often cannot find USB devices, e.g. bluetooth, fingerprint. It’s a big pain for me, but this worked!
Thanks. I was just about to reinstall Win7 before I tried this. I had no problems with any USB-devices though it was annoying seeing the damn popup after every “sleep”.
I would never have believed it! Toshiba Tecra M4 – Logitech Trackman USB mouse. Stopped working and was no longer recognised in “normal” boot mode. Reinstalled drivers etc., no change. Funnily enough, it worked in “safe” mode…Just unplugged the power supply so it was on battery. Unplugged and re-plugged the mouse.
Now it works! Who’d a thunk it…
Golden article! Works like a charm!
Thank you!
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.
I love you! I even brought my computer to be fixed twice and they didn’t try that.
I CAN NOT THANK YOU ENOUGH…I called Microsoft techs and HP techs and they were taking over the control of my pc…no one could figure out what was wrong with my desktop…why USB was not recognized…you are the man…all i had to do was UNPLUG and every thing is working fine! THANKS AGAIN!!!
WELL…… What can I say?
Just spent quite a while thinking my scanner was broken or the driver was corrupt, but then I tried it on another machine and it worked fine. However then the problem seemed to start spreading around the different usb’s on my machine and with more and more differing pieces of equipment. It would give the error with a flash drive in the first say 4 slots then work in the fifth but then it would start on another piece of equipment… The problem got worse and worse all day and I was just about to start taking drastic…. and I mean drastic action……lol
Then I just happened across your article…
Thank you Just doesn’t cover it…….
But
Thank you.
Great tip – solved the USB problem on Windows 7 on a new laptop! Cheers
I tried all of this, but it wont work
, maybe my psp usb port is bad?
Dude! Your the man!
I dont know how to thank you. This saved me from a big trouble as I was near the deadline to deliver the PC to an exhausted customer!