USB devices are only recognized if connected at boot (Win 8.1 x64)

I have a Clevo P170HM laptop running Windows 8.1 Pro x64 edition with Media Center. I have observed peculiar behavior in the form of USB devices usually not being recognized unless they are plugged in at boot.

A shutdown --> power on cycle doesn't cause devices to work (presumably because of Win 8's fast boot feature), but a full reboot does. All USB devices that are connected when the computer reboots work correctly; devices plugged in after boot usually don't.

Some of the time "simple" devices like mice and flashdrives work if plugged in after boot, but this behavior is intermittent. "Complex" devices like USB headsets and USB WiFi Cards never work unless plugged in during boot.

In device manager the non-functional devices usually show up as "no appropriate driver found". I can fix them individually by going through

Update Device Driver -> Let me pick from a list of drivers installed on my computer

and selecting the appropriate driver that is in fact installed on the computer. When I go to do this I get the

Installing this device driver is not recommended because Windows cannot verify that it is compatible with your hardware. If the driver is not compatible, your hardware will not work correctly and your computer might become unstable or stop working completely. Do you want to continue installing this driver?

message. When I hit yes the device functions though as many plugs and unplugs as I want until the next reboot, where it must either start plugged in or be fixed manually in this fashion.

What could cause this issue, and what might I do to fix it (short of a reinstall, if possible)?

One additional note: I was messing with the usbhub.sys and usbport.sys files a while back to attempt to get fastboot on a Kindle Fire Gen 1 working, but I reverted the files and checked their hashes against a known good 8.1 install. The files were altered for a period a while ago, but have since been restored to their exact stock form.

Techrocket9

Posted 2014-04-12T08:54:07.507

Reputation: 285

1Why are you ignoring the warning message that the device driver your attempting to install does not support the device? Any problems you have are likely for that reason. – Ramhound – 2014-04-12T09:20:06.393

It is the correct driver for the device, down to the model number. The problem is that unless the device is plugged in at boot the driver does not get activated for the device.

It works correctly after bypassing the warning. There is only one driver on the system that comes close to matching the device; these are the correct drivers. – Techrocket9 – 2014-04-12T17:48:26.723

1The message you provided would indicate otherwise. I have never encountered that message for a device driver unless it actually was the wrong driver. Have you tried doing a system restore from before you modified those system files? – Ramhound – 2014-04-12T17:52:01.420

Your laptop doesn't officially support anything past Windows 7. Are you using the standard drivers bundled with the operating system? Have you tried disabling the fast startup feature?

– and31415 – 2014-04-13T10:26:24.833

I have tried both the drivers automatically installed through Windows update and the drivers on disk that came with the laptop.

Rebooting, which bypasses the fast startup feature, causes all connected devices to be properly recognized. – Techrocket9 – 2014-04-13T18:42:35.390

1Please give an example of such a device and the driver you use and where you got it from. Have also a look in the Event Viewer for suspicious error messages. – harrymc – 2014-06-16T07:32:45.607

@harrymc Update (not committed by stupid idiot peer reviewer): also Windows 7 on HP 6530b. Using many Black Viper custom "safe" services. – Wolfpack'08 – 2014-06-16T09:45:50.577

Answers

You are apparently using a Windows version where system drivers were physically modified and some system services had their startup mode changed.

Hopefully, all system drivers were returned to the vanilla state. Just in case, run sfc /scannow to ensure system correctness.

As regarding USB devices not being recognized, that is probably because the system service that detects such changes was turned off.

My suggestion is to undo all the modifications that you did per the Black Viper custom "safe" services list. These are only useful for memory-starved computers (which with Windows 8.1 yours is most probably not), or to very slightly improve security (which any decent antivirus does much better).

In case you wish me to guess at the services that causes the problem, I would point to the UPnP Device Host service, the Plug and Play service and their dependencies.

My best advice is not to change the installed Windows configuration, unless you totally understand why and what.

harrymc

Posted 2014-04-12T08:54:07.507

Reputation: 306 093

@Wolfpack'08 can you make sure PnP service is running? Open Task Manager -> Services and find there PlugPlay service. Is it running? Also check if upnphost service (as harry mentioned) is running. – Jet – 2014-06-21T06:43:20.567

@Jet The issue resolved, but I'm not sure how. Those services were set to manual. I changed them to automatic and rest my system, and the issue did not resolve. I believe the issue was either resolved by a firewall update or by a change to the power settings. – Wolfpack'08 – 2014-06-21T09:13:39.687

Sometimes it takes a couple of reboots to get things rolling again. – harrymc – 2014-06-21T09:40:36.797

@Wolfpack'08 maybe you changed it to automatic, and restart and it worked? – Jet – 2014-06-21T13:14:02.813

@Jet Well, like I said, I had tested the changes with a restart. I really believe it was the power-settings change or the firewall update. But it's possible that the first few restarts didn't work. Again, I was needing to restart my PC every time I plugged something in for a couple days, and I had never had the problem in the past. I did change the upnp for the first time in a couple years.... It's possible, you know? And it makes sense. I just feel it may have been something else. Anyway, great stuff. Thanks for all the help. I'd like to know about 'Repair Install' for 7. :) – Wolfpack'08 – 2014-06-23T05:53:06.910

The only reason I'm delaying the award to the last day is due to the initial resets not having taken effect. I'm not sure why that was, and I'm curious about whether or not the OP's issue was resolved. – Wolfpack'08 – 2014-06-23T05:53:50.893

My experience is that sometimes several reboots are required, perhaps because Windows makes small changes at each reboot and only finally corrects the main problem. – harrymc – 2014-06-23T09:31:15.373

Are you sure about the U in UPNP? – EliadTech – 2014-06-16T11:15:02.883

@harrymc So far, this appears to be the correct answer; however, I will need to run some test over the next several days to be certain. – Wolfpack'08 – 2014-06-16T11:40:27.307

@EliadTech: Yes - have a look in your Services applet. – harrymc – 2014-06-16T12:31:49.043

@harrymc I'm sorry, but that hasn't worked. Other suspicious behavior: the DVD burner doesn't want to burn anything. It hangs after a few seconds. Nothing in the event viewer matches the time. My phone says it's connected, but my PC says it's not. – Wolfpack'08 – 2014-06-17T00:00:56.183

I hope that you have: (1) returned all services to default settings, (2) did "sfc /scannow" that found no problems, (3) fully patched Windows Update including optional items (except Bing). If you did and the problem persists, then I believe that some change that you did wasn't undone. I hesitate to recommend a heavy solution like Repair Install.

– harrymc – 2014-06-17T06:52:30.097

Go to device manager and instead of updating the drivers: 1)disable that device under device manager. 2)remove the device from the usb port 3)re-insert the device on the same usb port. 4)Right click the device and select enable.

Paulera

Posted 2014-04-12T08:54:07.507

Reputation: 1