USB external hard disk problem

Had several 2.5 and 3.5 external hard disks plus a memory stick that plugged
into the USB ports on my laptop. They have all now come up as unknown
devices. I think XP does not need drivers for these but I cant get it to
recognise them. Fairly sure it is not a hardware problem (happens on all
ports). Re-installed Service Pack 2 - no change. Went to re-install
manufactureres recovery disk for XP Home which said that my existing version
is newer than that on the recovery disk - I assume because of subsequent
iinstallation of SP 2. Do I have to re-install XP Home regardless ? Does
anyone know how I can get XP to recognise these drives please, as I am slowly
going mad with frustration ? Thanks

Rick wrote:
> Had several 2.5 and 3.5 external hard disks plus a memory stick that plugged
> into the USB ports on my laptop. They have all now come up as unknown
> devices. I think XP does not need drivers for these but I cant get it to
> recognise them. Fairly sure it is not a hardware problem (happens on all
> ports). Re-installed Service Pack 2 - no change. Went to re-install
> manufactureres recovery disk for XP Home which said that my existing version
> is newer than that on the recovery disk - I assume because of subsequent
> iinstallation of SP 2. Do I have to re-install XP Home regardless ? Does
> anyone know how I can get XP to recognise these drives please, as I am slowly
> going mad with frustration ? Thanks
>

Do you have any USB devices that work since you have started having this
problem? If not, your USB may have died or the USB driver could be
corrupted. If nothing works on USB, I would go into device manager and
delete the usb entry. Then reboot and XP should reinstall the drivers.
It may ask for your disk during the process.

Rick wrote:
> Had several 2.5 and 3.5 external hard disks plus a memory stick that plugged
> into the USB ports on my laptop. They have all now come up as unknown
> devices. I think XP does not need drivers for these but I cant get it to
> recognise them. Fairly sure it is not a hardware problem (happens on all
> ports). Re-installed Service Pack 2 - no change. Went to re-install
> manufactureres recovery disk for XP Home which said that my existing version
> is newer than that on the recovery disk - I assume because of subsequent
> iinstallation of SP 2. Do I have to re-install XP Home regardless ? Does
> anyone know how I can get XP to recognise these drives please, as I am slowly
> going mad with frustration ? Thanks

You can try a complete USB cleanup by means of
Rob van der Woude's RenewUSB script:
http://www.robvanderwoude.com/devcon.html


Uwe