USB device not recognised - Windows XP

[IanWilson]

I'm not sure whether this really belongs under hardware or under Windows XP, but no doubt it can be moved if this is the wrong place. I'm sorry it's long, but I assumed that the more information the better.

Suddenly yesterday morning, I got a message popping up like this. It has kept popping up since at random intervals.

USB01.png

I've never seen this message before. I wasn't sure whether it was suspicious that it started doing it just when Windows has started installing a large list of updates.
Here is what you get if you click on the message, and what you get if you double click the "unknown device".

USB02+03.png

I have no idea what the "unknown device" might be. USB devices I have attached to the PC are (1) an external HDD, which is working normally and (2) a 4 port powered Belkin USB hub to which are attached (a) a printer and (b) a scanner which are also both working normally. I also sometimes attach to the hub (c) a card reader to read cards from my camera, and that is still working normally too.
I assume that the left hand screenshot above refers to my Belkin hub, but what it shows about it doesn't seem to match the reality of what devices are connected to it and whether those devices are working.
This is what Device Manager shows under USB, though I don't know how to interpret this information.

USB04.png

Does anyone have any ideas what might be going on and what to do about it?

Ian

[Bigaldoc]

Since you report that the attached devices, i.e. scanner, printer, are working properly I would suspect that hub as a possibly guilty party. It may be giving out intermittent signals that Windows doesn't know how to deal with. If you can see your way to do so, I'd first try disconnecting the hub and its devices to see if the popup stops. My experiences with hubs tells me that they can be flaky sometimes.

Have you or can you run a Belarc Advisor scan to see if it shows anything that takes your notice? USB stuff on their report shows up in several places but maybe something will jump out at you.

[IanWilson]

Since you report that the attached devices, i.e. scanner, printer, are working properly I would suspect that hub as a possibly guilty party. It may be giving out intermittent signals that Windows doesn't know how to deal with. If you can see your way to do so, I'd first try disconnecting the hub and its devices to see if the popup stops. My experiences with hubs tells me that they can be flaky sometimes.

Have you or can you run a Belarc Advisor scan to see if it shows anything that takes your notice? USB stuff on their report shows up in several places but maybe something will jump out at you.

I can certainly disconnect the hub and see what happens. I don't even know what a Belarc Advisor scan is!

Ian

[HansV]

Belarc Advisor is a free utility that produces a report of hard- and software on your PC, licence keys etc. See Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit.

[IanWilson]

Belarc Advisor is a free utility that produces a report of hard- and software on your PC, licence keys etc. See Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit.

Thanks - I'll try it later.

Ian

[Argus]

As you have mentioned, your hub has four ports and you usually only use three devices a, b, and c. It could be as Al says that one of them, ports, not in use, is problematic. Have you tried your devices in all ports available on the hub? And does it appear all the time, or only after you have added all devices to the hub?

Does it come back after a restart, even if it was a bit random? Perhaps can take a closer look at the ports on the hub, to see if they are all clean and looking good.

(BTW, it's possible to sort the list in the Device Manager to "by connection", i.e. change the view, instead of devices by type; it can show the relations a bit better than the default view, if needed.)

[IanWilson]

everyone.

I think I may have solved it. I tried switching off the printer and the scanner, but was still getting the message. I tried looking at the "by connection" view in device manager (thanks for that tip, Argus) and that still showed an unknown device. I unplugged the hub, and I still had an unknown device. So I looked round the back of the pc (which involves crawling under the desk) and discovered a USB cable not connected to anything. (I had used it to connect to an old digital camera I had briefly used as a webcam, but when I stopped using it I only unplugged it from the camera end - to avoid crawling under the desk!).

Anyway, Device Manager and Belarc Advisor now don't show an unknown device, so it looks as though all is well. (The lead must have been like that for weeks, but suddenly Windows didn't like it any more.)

Meanwhile, I'm amazed at all the information that Belarc Advisor can provide. I have already downloaded two missing MS Windows updates as a result.

and (or if you prefer) all round!

Ian

[Bigaldoc]

Glad you found the answer, Ian. You're right - it makes you wonder why NOW Windows starts "complaining" about something you did some time ago. The vagaries of MS, huh?

[IanWilson]

Glad you found the answer, Ian. You're right - it makes you wonder why NOW Windows starts "complaining" about something you did some time ago. The vagaries of MS, huh?

Maybe some dirt or dust got into the dangling end of the cable of something.

Ian

[Argus]

Heh, let's hope it's solved. Nothing beats crawling under the desk and checking.

(Not saying that one should have thought about that cable; who would've guessed; if it comes back I guess we'll have to do some more troubleshooting. Thanks for the .)

[IanWilson]

Heh, let's hope it's solved. Nothing beats crawling under the desk and checking.

(Not saying that one should have thought about that cable; who would've guessed; if it comes back I guess we'll have to do some more troubleshooting. Thanks for the .)

Six hours and it hasn't come back yet.

Ian