# [SOLVED] USB Device Not Recognized... Nothing plugged in!



## CatlinPM

There is nothing plugged into any of my USB ports and I'm continually getting this message, "USB Device Not Recognized". It continually pops up until you either click on it or the computer freezes up. I did a search on the web and tried all of the suggestions listed here http://www.hat.net/geeky/node/221 none of which helped. Also thinking there could be some kind of virus involved, I ran several programs including ad aware, avg antispyware, a-squared free, spybot S&D, kaspersky, and super anti spyware. The scans didn't find anything other than tracking cookies and such. I also tried updating the drivers, and deleting and reinstalling the drivers which didn't seem to work either. Here is an image of what is listed in my device manager for USB...


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## dai

*Re: USB Device Not Recognized... Nothing plugged in!*

in the device manager click on view at the top
uninstall all usb listed items
shut down
unplug usb plugs
reboot twice
replug in usb plugs


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## CatlinPM

*Re: USB Device Not Recognized... Nothing plugged in!*

Ok, tried that (just a note I had done this before through the registry), restarted twice and it's still giving me the error message. I also want to reiterate that nothing is plugged in to any of my USB ports, so there is nothing to unplug and plug back in. Strangely enough though I only have 6 USB ports and my device manager is showing 8, 7 unused ports and 1 unknown USB device. Am I missing something? Is it counting something else as a USB port?


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## kinbard

*Re: USB Device Not Recognized... Nothing plugged in!*

What type of pc is this?


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## Terrister

*Re: USB Device Not Recognized... Nothing plugged in!*

I have seen something like this before on a laptop. Take a look at all the usb ports and see if one looks damaged. I have seen a broken usb port think it had something plugged in and keep trying to load it. It was 2 of the pins shorted in the plug that caused it.


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## CatlinPM

*Re: USB Device Not Recognized... Nothing plugged in!*

It's my husband's home build PC, so bear in mind I'm not as familiar with all the specs on his as compared to mine. He has an abit AW9D-MAX Motherboard w/ a core2duo E6400 CPU, 2GB of Corsair XMS2 DDR2 Memory, 2 ATI Radeon X1950Pro Video Cards (Crossfire), a sound blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer sound card, a Western Digital 190GB SATA hard drive, a thermaltake 700W power supply, a Samsung DVD Writer, and a floppy drive.


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## CatlinPM

*Re: USB Device Not Recognized... Nothing plugged in!*

That's it! One of the USB ports on the top of the case had a pin that appeared to have been bent. I turned off the computer and power, and manually tried to fix the pin. Turned the computer back on and no more error message!


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## speedster123

*Re: USB Device Not Recognized... Nothing plugged in!*

fixed by terrister
ray:


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## Terrister

*Re: USB Device Not Recognized... Nothing plugged in!*

Glad we could help. It took me awhile to figure this out when it happened to mine.


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## kinbard

*Re: USB Device Not Recognized... Nothing plugged in!*

Will add that to my bag of tricks! Good info.


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## speedster123

it must happen if the usb cable is forced in upside down.


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## Terrister

Mine at work was when a custodian caught the usb cable with a floor buffer and ripped it out of the socket. Took me awhile to find out what had happened, because he did not tell me about it.


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## kinbard

Terrister said:


> Mine at work was when a custodian caught the usb cable with a floor buffer and ripped it out of the socket.


Ouch!


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## speedster123

you should sabatage his buffer, make it go the wrong way...
:4-scared: :laugh:


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## Terrister

I moved to a room with carpet and now the computer wires are against the wall. Still have one port on my work computer I can not use. 

Oh well. Live and learn.


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## mattglop

I know it's been a while since this thread had a post, but I have a similar problem as Catlin. For the last 6 months, I have not been able to use my USB ports at 2.0 speeds. Nothing is recognized unless I disable the USB2 enhanced controller under device manager. I also have that invisible "unknown device" that is present even when nothing is plugged into my USB ports.

I have tried many things, including reinstalling windows. Nothing seems to work...

How can I tell if my USB port pins are bent? Looking into a port, should I be looking at the metal pins on the top (there are 4) or the ones on the bottom (there are 2)?

Thanks,
Matt


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