usb drives won't load

Hi owenx,

Please let me know if you are able to see USB devices in 'Disk Management' console.

If you are able to see in  'Disk Management', there is a possibility that the drive letter is already used by another device, but it still will show up under diskmgmt.msc console, so changing the drive letter to something that is not being used by any other device the thumb drive may work. 

You can also Uninstall and re-install USB Root Hubs by following the steps below::

1. Expand ‘Universal Serial Bus controllers’
2. From the list, look for ‘USB Root Hub’
3. Right click, choose ‘Uninstall’, choose ‘Ok’
4. Uninstall all ‘USB Root Hub’ listed
5. Wait for all the drivers to get uninstalled
6. Restarted the computer
7. Restarting the computer will install ‘USB Root Hub’s automatically on the computer. 

You can also try Microsoft Hot Fix from link: http://bit.ly/ZGbhCz and see if it works.

If the issue still persists, you can also delete the USB upper lower filters on your computer. This step is going to alter the registry settings of the computer. Before you proceed, you can either back up the registry settings or can create a restore point. You can get detailed information on creating the restore point from link: http://bit.ly/RrpN1Q 

To delete Upper – Lower filters in registry, you can follow the steps below:

• Click Start -- > Run -- > Type "regedit" -- > Hit Enter.
• Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}

  (Click on image for enlarged view)

• If you see 'UpperFilters' in the pane on the right side, right-click 'UpperFilters', and then click 'Delete'.
• Click 'Yes' to confirm the removal of the 'UpperFilters' registry entry.
• If you see 'LowerFilters' in the pane on the right side, right-click 'LowerFilters', and then click 'Delete'.
• Click 'Yes' to confirm the removal of the 'LowerFilters' registry entry.
• Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer. 

Please share the findings. 

First one didn't work,the upperfilters and lowerfilters don't appear.The ms hot fix is for xp,will it work w vista?thamks.

Hi owenx,

You can try that hot fix and see if it works. You can try to use USB devices it on a different USB port and see if it exhibits the same behavior. If it does, It is an issue with the USB drive. Another step you can try is to power off the computer connect the USB device, then power on the computer and let it the computer load the drivers automatically. Then see if it exhibits the same behavior. While researching on this issue, I also found an article, that might be of some help to you. You can check it from link: http://bit.ly/10wFJVW 

If the issue still persists, you can try a system restore and restore it to the date prior this issue occurred. All the data on computer will be safe but the applications that you have installed after that restore point, you might need to re-install it. 

Open System Restore by clicking the Start button . In the search box, type System Restore --> Click it. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. Follow the prompts to choose a restore point and restore your computer. 

Please share the findings.

I tried the hotfix but get error "not enough storage is avalable to process this command" I have 18 gigs of free space on my HDD.I already deleted the INFCACHE.1 file,on the C drive,thanks.

Hi owenx,

Did you try restoring the computer to previous date to see if that works?

Try using your computer in safe mode and see if it exhibits the same behavior. Also check the Device manager if there is any yellow exclamation mark (When the USB device is plugged in/ When USB device is not plugged in)

You can also refer to the thread: http://bit.ly/13HDLQr and see if things work out.

If the issue still persists, we might need to restore computer to default factory settings. Before you proceed, I will advise you to take a complete backup of your data (pictures, music, applications, videos, documents) as this step leads to complete data loss. Remove all the external peripherals (like printers, scanners, any USB device except keyboard and mouse) connected to your computer. For more information on PC restore, you can refer to link: http://dell.to/10BDOzg

Please share the findings. 

nothings working,don't want to restore.COuld i replace the usbstor.PNF and usbstor vista files with xp ones?

Change the drive letter and path from Disk Management of the attached flash drive.

It should work.

Hi owenx,

You may try a step suggested by 'JiniOnline' and replacing 'usbstor.PNF' , 'usbstor.pnf' vista files with xp ones.

If the issue still persists, you can try a system restore as mentioned in previous post. 

@JiniOnline: Thank you for assisting the customer. 

Please reply for further clarifications.

I replaced both Vista usbstor.PNF and usbstor.inf with XP ones in both the C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\usbstor.inf_8416e98e and C\Windows\inf files with no success.Would deleting the USB Universal Serial Bus controllers help,thanks.

Hi owenx,

You can try the steps given in previous post.

You can also try running 'System File Checker' tool to check and verify the system corrupted or missing files. For more information on this, you can refer to link: http://bit.ly/WF3Yue

If the issue still persists, after deleting USB root hubs and running SFC scan, you might need to restore the computer to default factory settings as we have exhausted almost all the troubleshooting steps. Restoring computer to factory image will lead to data (pictures, documents, programs, music) loss. Please perform a data backup prior to this step. Please disconnect any external peripherals (printer, scanner or any USB device) as well. 

Please reply in case you have any further questions. 

I thought it was uninstalling the USB Universal Serial Bus controllers was what started all this.My flash shows up under disk drive and as unnamed drive under devices,reinstalling driver gets "parameter is incorrect" error.I give up,Big thanks for your help.

Hi owenx,

Sorry for the inconvenience. 

Please feel free to get in touch in case you have any further questions.