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usb mass storage devices not recognized

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6 replies

by tracker77

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Dell Optiplex 160 was working fine then Win XP no longer recognises USB mass storage devices. All 4 USB ports give same "unknown device" message. I currently have SP3 installed. I have tried most MS and other suggested fixes to no avail, including re-installation of hardware drivers from Dell. I have tried several brands of USB thumb drives with same result. These devices work fine in a laptop that also has Win XP SP3. I am pretty knowledgeable about computers but this is completely baffling to me. I ran into some posts suggesting that SP2 may have triggered the problem.

6 replies

by computercookie

but I would uninstall the device and restart the computer, XP should then reinstall upon restart.

Post back if you have other queries.

Jeff

Edit spelling!

by w2ktechman

if you didnt update the chipset drivers, it likely wouldnt make a difference.

Try blowing away all USB in device manager, then install the chipset drivers and reboot.

The other things would be more HW related. I have had a power spike kill USB ports before. And a bad power supply may be the ulprit too (not powering properly to USB).
Try a USB hub (powered), see if it id's things with that.

by tracker77

The problem appears to be caused by my Canon MX310 printer which is plugged into one of the USB ports. When I disconnect the printer, the thumb drives work fine. I just discovered this accidentally.

I hope someone can explain this.

by the scummy one

the printer driver SW likely alters the ports connections to make the printer perform better. If it is in a USB hub, then other things would not be able to use the port properly, because the port settings were altered

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