Lost all USB recognition!

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Magnum4c

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Sorry about the length of this question, but I don't know how to be any more concise and still get my problem across so it'll make sense.

My daughter's homebuilt PC is about 6 months old, running Windows XP Home w/service pack 2. This computer is NOT hooked up to the internet in any way, shape or form. We've had no problems with it UNTIL:

We got her a Sony Network Walkman Portable IC Audio Player for Christmas. It came with the SonicStage software which we installed. We copied several CD's worth of music to the player/recorder that is part of SonicStage, and then to her Walkman. Still no problems.

The SonicStage software has a couple PDF files on it. One is for instructions on using the software, the other for using the Walkman. I tried to read the PDF's, but found they required a newer version of Acrobat Reader than she had, so I copied the setup file from my computer to hers, and installed Adobe Reader version 7.0. I was now able to read the PDF files from SonicStage. Yay! (Still no problems...)

I got to a page of instructions that I wanted to print, so I hit the print button, and..........FREEZE!!!! Locked up tighter than, well, you know what. Couldn't reboot, couldn't do nothin'! Couldn't even shut it down. Had to turn the power off at the surge protector. Waited a few minutes and tried to start up again, but all I got was a black screen staring me in the face. I could tell the computer was going through some motions, but I couldn't tell what.

Tried to restart several times, no difference. So I went and got MY monitor and hooked it up, tried to reboot, still nothing but a black screen. So I tried to restart in safe mode (F8 button), and got a screen now, but all it asked me was what I wanted to use for the boot drive (ie: cd drive, hard drive, floppy), and no matter which I chose (tried 'em all!), all it ever did was boot normally to Windows, but not safe mode. Reinstalled her monitor, and tried again...boots just fine and I've got a normal screen. Whatever, I can now at least use the computer as it boots normally and everything seems to function...

........Well, almost everything! As the title to this question implies, NONE of her USB peripherals are any longer recognized by Windows. Not the printer (HP PhotoSmart 7550), not her Lexar JumpDrive, nor the Walkman. I can move them from port to port and Windows will indicate there is new hardware, install it and say it's ready for use, but when I try to use any one of them, I get a message that says "USB Device Not Recognized". Clicking on this message shows the USB Root Hub with an "Unknown Device".

I tried restoring the OS to an earlier restore point (prior to loading any of these new programs), but that didn't resolve anything either.

A friend who is more computer savvy than I asked if any of the CD's we loaded into the SonicStage were older Sony music CD's, and it turns out at least one was. He knew about the problems that Sony had created with the rootkit software (malware/spyware) files they had imbedded on a lot of their CD's to try and prevent piracy, and suggested I try removing it (if I had it) with Microsoft's AntiSpyWare program, which is supposed to be able to detect this malware and get rid of it.

So, back to my computer to download the AS program, burn it to a CD, and install it on hers. Ran the AS and it found....nothing.

To make a long story short, I'm at a loss as to how to get her USB ports working again, short of reformatting the HD and reinstalling the OS. Any ideas?
 
you could try a windows repair

XP Repair install

Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.
When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.
Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, read this Warning#2!
Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.
 
Thanks for the quick reply!

I believe I'll try this but, why? Do you think the OS was corrupted somehow? If so, what might have caused it? If this fixes it, I'd like to try to prevent it from happening again.

Cheers!
 
the same thing happened last night with my brother but he got an extra problem...no usb works and he started to get the blue screen. This all hapened when he hooked his ipod to it...after that it was all screwed up, windows repair fixed it thou
 
Warez Monster,

I did a little more reading and came across several posts on other forums regarding "USB Device Not Recognized" error messages. A few people, like yourself, suggested the Windows Repair, while others had luck by shutting down and disconnecting the power cord for a few (up to 30) minutes. This apparently ensures that CMOS is cleared, right? Anyway, I tried this first, and all her peripherals now worked but the printer!

With that in mind, I went ahead and uninstalled the printer and its software, then reinstalled everything. It now works, too. I did find out in the process, however, that one of her USB ports isn't functioning correctly, even though Windows (device manager) says it is. I'll get into that some other time.

Anyway, thought you'd like to know how this turned out. From now on when glitches like this turn up, the first thing I'm gonna try is the total power down thing.

Cheers!
 
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