Problem recognizing external hard drive

Hi,

Can anyone help me with following issue? I have spent a major part of the weekend trying to find the solution, but to no success.

I bought a new external harddrive (Maxtor Onetouch 4, 500GB, USB 2.0). I plugged it in on my PC (Windows XP, SP3 with all necessary updates), but it is not recognized correctly. What happens when I connect the drive is that I get a balloon saying a new device is connected, it even mentions the name 'Onetouch', but the drive ends up under 'unknown' in the configuration management. It asks for drives, which it should not need and therefor will not find.

I tried one of the solution found: i.e. removing the infcache.1 file from c:\windows\inf. But that does not do anything. In fact the file is not even regenerated as should be.
I also found something about lower/upper filters in the registry, but the specific filters do not exist in my registry.

On the official web site is mentioned to get the windows install CD and reinstall the USB drivers. Well, I have Home Edition installed (no install CD). Is there another way to completey reset/install the USB? I would very much like to get the drive working...

Thanx,
Roy

PS. I plugged the drive into my laptop at work --> works fine.

 

Presumably you have tried plugging the external into another usb2 port (preferrably one located at the back), if so what happened.

To reinstall the usb drivers go to Device Manager and expand the + adjacent to Universal Serial Bus controllers. Uninstall (right click) all the entries found and reboot you pc. When windows boots it will redetect all the usb ports and re-install the drivers for them. Note that any peripherals which had been connected will have to be re-installed.

Prior to doing this, you could try connecting the drive to your pc by way of a usb2 powered hub. This may also work.

The unknow device is something common. I had it recently with an ipod and an external 2.5" drive which failed on one pc but not another. Just for your guide using a powered usb2 hub cured the ipod problem and using another cable (!!!!!) fixed the issue on the 2.5" external hd. Go figure.

Good Luck

 

Hi,

In fact I did have an USB hub lying around. I connected it to one of the USB connections in the back of my PC: hub is not recognized correctly. Then I connected it to the front of my PC (I had used it once before, also connected to the front): it is recognized and works (although I do get a warning about connecting it to one of the faster USB 2.0 ports, which probably means the ones in the back?).

I attached the harddrive to the hub: same problem :-(
I tried a memory stick also: works fine.

Then I decided to be bold and uninstall all the USB controllers. Now my USB is not working at all. Windows is searching for drivers, but can not find it. As a result I have all yellow question marks. What can I do to restore the USB? I did make a system backup, which I restored, but apparently the device configuration is not part of it. Bummer.

Hope you can help me restore the USB...

Regards,
Roy

 

You can try and reinstall your chipset drivers and see if that gives you usb functionality back.

 

Hi,

How do I update the chipset drivers?

And if that fails? I'm starting to get a bit scared now.

Thanx,
Roy

PS. My chipset: MSI K8MM-V DDR400 AGP8x M-ATX S-ATA AGP

 

here's the drivers for the board listed. Try the 4 in 1
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=driver&maincat_no=1&prod_no=173

 

Hi,

Thank you for the link. However it does not fix the USB. I do see following note under USB 2.0 drivers: 'For WinXP, please use Microsoft Windows Update to download driver from Microsoft or aquire the latest service pack'.

I am currently trying to install the drivers from the Microsoft site. No success yet. I think I found a good set of instructions, but they do not match the Microsoft update site. Strange that their own help does not match the available buttons...

Anyway, any help (e.g. a direct link to the drivers under Microsoft) would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Roy

 

If you have SP3, you have the drivers.
Why not try system file checker? This might take whatever is missing from your system folder and put it back in place.

If none of that works, from my searching people seem to think that the motherboard is going. I know little about motherboards so I can't tell if that's an accurate assessment.

You might try purchasing a PCI card with USB ports and see if that works.

 

Hi,

Other than my external harddrive not being recognized I had no problems with my USB (used it for several devices).

What I did was uninstall all the USB devices (3 types if I remember correctly: controllers, hubs + another?). These should be detected by my system again (according to risk_reversal). My system only detects five times an 'USB controller', which are not installed correctly (code 28). There must be some way to tell my system what USB devices are present, right? The problem is indeed not in the drivers, but in my hardware not being detected correctly. I can't believe this would imply I have to get new hardware.

Regards,
Roy

 

Hi,

Got the USB up and running after manually searching for the drivers in /windows/inf. The system suddenly came up with the drivers and new USB devices for which I also had to search in /windows/inf. Now all USB devices present again.

HD still does not work though :confused

Regards,
Roy

 

Hi,

Same trick applied to the HD. Searching for drivers in /windows/inf woke up windows. It suddenly recognized the HD.

Well. Allright then. Case closed, although I don't understand why windows won't find the drivers itself via the recommended automatic search.

Roy

 

It sounds like plug and play isn't working correctly. You plug something in and then have to tell windows where to look for the driver or you have to sift through until you find the correct driver and point windows to "see" it.

Maybe there is a fix to correct plug and play?