My printer and external hard drive (both USB) now come up as “Unknown Device” in Device Manager. I have used them both for months in the past with no problem on my Windows XP desktop machine. When I check “Properties” it says that “No drivers are installed for this device.” I have tried turning the devices off, unplugging them and plugging them in again (in the USB ports both in front and in back of my computer), to no avail. A few more notes:
-I have uninstalled and reinstalled the printer software, and nothing changes.
-I started up the computer in safe mode, and both “Unknown Devices” still showed up in the Device Manger.
-The devices start up fine when plugged into my other computer (a laptop, also XP), so I’m pretty certain that the problem is not with them.
-Several flash drives also are “Unknown” when plugged in. Oddly, I have one flash drive that is identified properly.
-I have performed a “System Restore” to roll back to a state where the drivers worked, but the devices still show up as “Unknown”.
Does anyone have any suggestions on solving this vexing problem?
