10 Possible Reasons why your USB device is not recognized

Sometimes when you connect a USB device to your system it shows a nasty error message “USB device not recognized” or "Unknown device". I bet you know what I mean and everyone, at least once, experienced this problem on their computers.

There might be multiple reasons for the failure to recognize the USB device. We will review some of them:

1. Windows XP-based computer resumes from standby or hibernation

When you plug a USB device into a Windows XP-based computer immediately after the computer resumes from standby or hibernation, the computer does not recognize the USB device. There is a five-to-ten-second period when the selective suspend feature of the USB driver interferes with detection of the new USB device.

Resolution is simple. Unplug the USB device, and then plug the device back into the computer or hub.

2. USB Type

Your USB drivers are part of your main chipset drivers. The first time you install Windows, or if you have re-installed Windows from scratch since, you must load the motherboard main chipset drivers in order for Windows to have the proper info about your USB controllers, among other information.

If all your ports are USB 2.0 type only, and you try to plug the USB 1.1 device, you might have a permanent or intermittent recognition problem. If you have an older motherboard, with all or some ports being exclusively USB 1.1, your USB 2.0 will not be recognized as well. Newer motherboards are usually USB 2.0 for all ports, but they also should support any USB 1.1 devices.

3. Cold Reboot

This is my favorite troubleshooting approach, as it resolves about 40% of all the issues my customers are having with their computers. Shut down the computer regular way and patiently wait for it to power down completely. Remove power plug from the computer case. Some of the modern computers still keep the motherboard under residual power, even when computer is OFF. And we want to cut off all the power to PC in order to clear out any electronic glitches sitting in the electronic elements memory. Wait couple of minutes, and turn on computer in the reversed order.

4. USB port connections
Check if the device you try to connect is indeed connected properly. Note that it is possible to insert the USB connector upside down, forcing it inside. Be sure, that it is not the case.

If you notice that any device plugging will result in the same recognition failure, check the connector to insure that the pins are not bent or damaged. Note that the built-in (usually ftont) USB ports in your computer case might have a poor connection inside the computer itself. It's good to check the wire connections of USB port. The correct order of connection is Red, White, Green, and Black.

5. Power for USB devices
Some USB devices require extra power to work properly. A single USB connection, providing both data and power, might be insufficient to assure the proper device operation. If you can plug-in power cable, do that and you will decrease load on the device. You may also try choosing a different USB port. If you attempted to connect to USB hub, check if connection directly to USB port in computer makes any difference. You may also try a shorter (or more expensive) USB cable to improve the data transfer quality.

6. Device drivers
If windows is unable to recognize the device, the reason might be in missing or corrupted USB drivers. You can forcefully attempt to recognize the USB Device through Device manager.

Just follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type Devmgmt.msc, and then click OK. The Device Manager window opens.
2. Click to select your computer as the location for the scan.
3. On the Action menu, click Scan for hardware changes.
   Windows XP recognizes the new device.
4. Close the Device Manager window.

If this method does not resolve the issue, you may try to disable power management of the USB hub:

1. Click Start, click Run, type Devmgmt.msc, and then click OK. The Device Manager window opens.
2. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
3. Right-click a USB Root Hub in the list, and then click Properties. The USB Root Hub Properties dialog box is displayed.
4. Click the Power Management tab.
5. Click to clear the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power check box, and then click OK.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 6 for each USB Root Hub in the list.
7. On the Action menu, click Scan for hardware changes.
   Windows XP recognizes the new device.
8. Close the Device Manager window.

If this approach does not help either, you might uninstall all the USB related drivers through the Device Manager and let system find and recognize them again after computer cold reboot (unplug from power as was advised as well).

7. Removing Hidden Devices

If you plug the bad or incompatible USB device, the system will try to recognize it anyway and will attempt to fit the related drivers. However, if the process is not successful, it might corrupt your USB drivers, causing recognition problems for good USB devices. The following procedure will allow you to see ALL the drivers installed on your computer and remove all problematic from the configuration.

1. Click Start. Click Run. Type cmd and press OK.
2. Type set DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS=1 and press Enter.
3. Type set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1 and Press Enter.
4. Type Devmgmt.msc and click press Enter.
5. Click View. Click Show hidden devices.
6. Click “+” to expand Imaging devices, Unknown devices and USB devices.
7. Are there any USB devices and unknown devices (including grayed out devices)? If so, please right click it and click Uninstall.

8. Removing Device Drivers

If all the attempts to uninstall the USB devices using the stored standard USB drivers failed, you drivers files might be corrupted. Follow the steps:

1. Remove all oem*.inf files =

·        Click start and click run then under the run line type in the command cmd.

·        In the command line, type in the following and press enter after each command:
cd \windows\inf
ren infcache.1 *.old
ren oem*.inf *.old
del C:\windows\setupapi.log

2.      Removing all entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Enum/USB that start with VID ==

Removing the VID entries from the registry will cause them to be redetected at restart.
CAUTION: If you have a USB keyboard or mouse, do not remove the VID entry for these devices, otherwise, Windows may not restart correctly.

·        Click Start and click Run. Type regedit and click OK. The Registry Editor window will open.

·        Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB.

·        Highlight and delete all the VID_…. entries.

3.      Note that you will need the account permissions to delete the VID_entries. Follow the steps below:

• Right-click the key to be deleted, and then click Permissions. The VID_… Permissions window will open.
• With Everyone highlighted in the Group or User name section, select Full Control in the Permissions section.
• Click Apply, and then click OK.
  

4.      Turn off the computer.

Reconnect the USB device to the computer system: ==

• With the computer system turned off, reconnect the USB hub to the USB port.
• Restart the computer.
• A New Hardware Detected window should open and reload the drivers.

9. Virus/Trojan Infection
Since virus infection can be a real source for the USB device recognition failure, check your system for potential infection with virus/spyware/malware/adware. Note that some malware utilities intentionally hit the USB connection to decrease the user ability for the computer recovery.

10. Defective USB device
The last, but not the least, reason might be in the USB device itself. To verify its performance, check its recognition on another computer. 

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Images (Click to Enlarge):

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Video Presentation:

FindABetterBank.Com

Buxfer: Free Online Personal Financial Adviser

The World Economy not in the great shape at the moment. But what can you actually do to fix the state budget? You can not also help the states, counties, and cities to improve the financial situation, jeopardized with the thinning stream of the tax money coming to the budgets due to the unfortunate economic situation. But you can definitely work on your personal budget to prevent and avoid personal financial crisis. At least, you can try, and the free financial services, proposed by Buxfer will be able to help you with this not very easy task.

Overview

If you do not have a program you use to track your accounts and cash flow and are looking to get started, a service you might want to look at is Buxfer. This free service combines all your account information into a single view you can use to track your entire financial picture without having to log into each different site. Buxfer automatically categories your purchases so you track what is going where. Additionally, Buxfer offers the ability to track group spending and IOU’s. This is ideal for roommate situations or where you are commonly sharing the cost of different services over time.

Buxfer is Verisign and McAfee secured so this service appears to be safe to use.

What can you use the application for?

Buxfer is a wonderful site that helps its users taking good care of their personal finances, including financial relationship among their friends and groups in a very easy manner. The concept of keeping track of one's money online has been coupled with creative and innovative methods to give the users a comprehensive overview of their monetary status. Buxfer lets it users set up budgets, know where and with whom they spent the money, who they owe how much, split bills, assign tags to transactions, settle accounts online, synchronize with different banks and credit card companies and access the service while on move via their iPhones, Twitter or a simple SMS. The users can not only get to read the detailed analysis of their expenses but also it is represented beautifully using graphs and charts. All these features make the service more attractive and interesting to use.

What is the history and popularity of the application?

Buxfer is something that originated out of need. The originator of the idea, Ashwin Bharambe badly wanted some kind of an application that could help him keep track of his enormous list of expenses and bills. As a result of all this frustration, he ended up writing up a program for him and his friends to manage the monetary affairs among them. The concept was a hit among the group and this prompted him to co-partner with his another classmate, Shashank Pandit, to build a website. It was launched in December, 2006 and that is how Buxfer came into existence. It is actually an amalgamation of two words- 'bucks' and 'transfer' (xfer, for short). The creators were desirous of giving shape to a concept which would make tracking monetary transfers easy, effortless and fun.

What are the differences to other applications?

As far as other services on the net are concerned, Buxfer stands out owing to its highly creative and visually attractive design. The graphs and charts of all kinds which are used to represent and categorize the money transfers are a sheer treat for the users. It has a large number of useful features and the interface is easy to understand and work with. Perhaps Buxfer stands midway, ahead of some and behind of a few.

How does the application look and feel to use?

Buxfer has a white background that helps in enhancing the color of graphs and charts displayed on it. The entire set up seems to be simple and elegant. Instructions are written in simple words and working on the site is fun. It provides a subtle and calm environment and the site does not seem to be crowded. Pie charts, bar graphs etc. make the appearance nice.

How does the registration process work?

Registering with Buxfer is simple. One only needs to provide his/ her email address and a password. The email address has to be verified within 24 hours. It takes a few seconds to move on to the next page wherein the new user is asked to set up the account by providing the name of his/ her financial institution and account nickname. Instead, one has the option to go directly to tracking finances with friends. Once there, the user can add friends, tag transfers, use analytics or view the summary of his account. However, registration is not mandatory here if one already has a valid id on Facebook, Open ID, Google, AOL, Yahoo or Windows Live.

What does it cost to use the application?

The gamut of services offered by Buxfer is free of any charge. They have a tie- up with Amazon to facilitate online money transfers. As of now, the site does not generate any revenue but it has plans in store to come up with a lead generation system for marketing purposes and adding special features for individuals and groups. There are no annoying advertisements to pop- up and neither are users bothered with marketing messages.

Who would you recommend the application to?

The site is highly useful and functional for students. It can be used by those who are still in college or by fresh graduates. It is specifically recommended to the younger section of the society. It makes splitting, managing, tracking the money easier and lot more fun for its young users. However, it restricts itself to somewhat simpler tasks. High- end financial planning and advices can not be expected here.

Buxfer Features

• Detailed analysis using colorful graphs and charts and comfort to add tags, allowing for better visualizing where the money is spent.
• Auto- synchronization with banks or credit cards accounts.
• Creation of groups to make shared expenses simplified.
• Spending controls by setting up budgets and mobile alerts.
• An iPhone interface, an SMS-based mobile system, and widgets on Google Inc.'s iGoogle and NetVibes Inc.'s homepages
• Online money payments using Amazon.com.
• Easy accessibility while on the move via iPhone, Twitter or an SMS.

PROS:

• Simple to setup new accounts.
• Simple Gmail-like design: No overpowering colors or over the top Web 2.0 schemes.
• Simple yet effective tabs structure: They keep it simple, but the options they give you are very useful.
• Useful graphs and charts: Charts that give you good, useful information.
• Balance and spending alerts: keeps you up to date on what money is coming in, or out.
• Budgets: Ability to track and stay within a budget in one or multiple areas.
• Ability to track spending for groups: track what you owe, or what others owe you. Also gives you ways to pay them.
• Users don't have to provide login information for their accounts.
• Provides mobile access in a variety of ways.

CONS:

• Problems in setting up accounts with some banks.
• Limited options for investment and savings accounts: No simple way to setup 401k accounts or some other more advance savings options.
• Clunky importing of data: Some data imports re-imported the same data as new transactions.
• Free membership is limited to 5 accounts.

Video Presentation (Web Interface):

Buxfer Free Financial Assistance

Video Presentation (iPhone Interface):

Buxfer Free Financial Assistance

Website: http://www.buxfer.com/

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.appappeal.com/app/buxfer/

http://www.biblemoneymatters.com/2008/03/3-weeks-with-buxfercom-review.html

http://www.consumersearch.com/personal-finance-sites/buxfer