Solution to “USB device not recognized” problem

Recently my colleague approached me with a problem that his 2GB Pen Drive (Transcend JetFlash V30) is not getting recognized by his Windows XP PC. Whenever the pen drive is plugged into the PC, an error occurs: "USB Device not Recognized". Upon checking I found that all of his USB ports were okay, and the same pen drive was working fine with other PCs in our office.

This problem occurs due to any of the following reasons.

• Virus infection
• Device driver problem
• Windows registry problem

It is always recommended to fully scan your PC with an updated antivirus software.

It may be the case that you need to re-install drivers for

• Chipset
• USB device
• USB add-on card (if you are using one)

If virus-scanning of your PC and driver re-installation does not solve your problem, then chances are that problem lies with Windows registry. So follow step-by-step procedures.

Step 1: Disconnect USB device that is not being recognized.

Step 2: Remove Hidden Devices

1. Open a command prompt window.
2. Type set DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS=1 and press <enter> key.
3. Type set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1 and press <enter> key.
4. Type start devmgmt.msc and press <enter> key.
5. Click View > Show hidden devices.
6. Click "+" to expand devices, Unknown devices and USB devices. If there are any devices and unknown devices (including grayed out devices)? If so, please right click it and click Uninstall them.

Step 3: Remove all oem*.inf files

1. Open a command prompt window
2. In the command line, execute following commands in that order.

• cd \windows\inf
• ren infcache.1 *.old
• ren oem*.inf *.old
• del C:\windows\setupapi.log
• exit

Step 4: Remove all entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/.../Enum/USB that start with VID using Registry editor (Regedit.exe).

Warning: Do not remove VID entries pertaining to USB keyboard, mouse, scanners, and other USB devices which may be installed on your machine and working fine.

1. Launch Registry Editor (Regedit.exe)
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB
3. Delete all VID_.... entries for USB devices that you cannot identify.
4. If you are faced with permission denied problem, then 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 on Apply button, and then click on OK button.
5. Restart your PC.

Step 5: Reconnect the USB device that was not previously working. Windows should automatically reinstall the drivers.

If following the above-mentioned procedures does not solve your problem, then

1. Shutdown your PC.
2. Disconnect all cables including PS2, Serial, USB, Parallel, Power cables from your CPU unit. It will stop supply of even minor current supply to motherboard. This will help purge the motherboard cache.
3. Start your PC after 30 minutes.

Technorati Tags: USB device not recognized

Blat, the mass mailer

Often you need to send large number of solicited emails to recipients on individual basis. Instead of sending emails one-by-one to every recipient, there are mass mailers which can save your valuable time. Blat v2.6.2 is one such Win32 console utility which is useful for sending large number of emails. It can also be used in scripts so that emails are send automatically. In order to use Blat you must have access to a SMTP server via TCP-IP protocol. Some of the features Blat offers are as follows.

• Various profiles can be created.
• Default settings can be stored in the registry.
• Input can be provided from the disk file as well as from the console (STDIN).
• Carbon Copy and Blind Carbon Copy are supported.
• Binary and Text attachments are supported

blat262.full.zip file available for download contains program documentation and binaries. The program is very easy to use.

Technorati Tags: Blat,Mass mailer,Email

System Information for Windows

System Information for Windows 2010 freeware version, aka, SIW by Gabriel Topala is very good tool to gather information about your Windows based machine. The SIW freeware version cannot be used for commercial purpose.

SIW classifies system information into Software, Hardware, and Network. In each of these categories, the information is further classified into number of sub-categories.

1. Software
   • Operating System
   • System Directories
   • System Files
   • Installed Programs
   • Applications
   • Security
   • Licenses
   • Accessibility
   • Environment
   • Regional Settings
   • File Associations
   • Running Processes
   • Loaded DLLs
   • Drivers
   • NT Services
   • NT Pipes
   • Autorun
   • Browser Helper Objects
   • Scheduled Tasks
   • Databases
   • Audio and Video Codecs
   • Shared DLLs
   • ActiveX
   • Shell Extensions
   • Open Files
   • Group and Users
   • Protected Files
   • Event Viewer
   • Passwords
2. Hardware
   • System Summary
   • Motherboard
   • BIOS
   • CPU Info
   • Memory
   • Sensors
   • Devices
   • PCI
   • System Slots
   • Network Adapters
   • Video
   • Sound Device
   • Storage Devices
   • Logical Disks
   • Ports
   • Power Policy
   • Battery
   • Printers
   • Resources
3. Network
   • Network Information
   • Neighborhood Scan
   • Open Ports
   • Shares
   • RAS Connections
   • Network
   • Search Network Neighborhood

Macrium Reflect – Free disk imaging solution

Macrium Reflect Free Edition from Paramount Software UK Ltd. is a tool which can be used to create an exact image of partitions on your hard disk for easy hard disk upgrade or complete/partial system recovery.  The image can be used to restore the entire disk, partition or select files/folders in the event of system loss. Images can be stored on local or network drives, CD/DVD, and removable drives connected using USB/Firewire.

For example, if you want to create image of C: partition, then select it in the list of partitions.

Right click and select Create Image of ‘1 - <NO NAME> (C:)’

Select the backup destination, then click on Next button.

Click on Advanced button.

Select High as compression level to save disk space.

Click on File Size in the left pane and select Automatic. Click on OK button.

Check on Run this backup now and click on OK button.

This creates a disk partition image of C: partition.It is better to move this disk partition image on another disk/media and keep it at safe place.

In the event of catastrophe, the system can be recovered using the Reflect recovery CD, which is either a compact version of the Linux operating system or a BartPE CD prepared using PE-Builder*. It is highly recommended that you create  the Reflect recovery CD immediately after installing the Macrium Reflect software.

* PE-Builder from Bart Lagerweij is a free software that is used to create BartPE CD which is a Windows live CD.

Technorati Tags: Macrium Reflect,Disk imaging,Disk cloning

EjectUSB

EjectUSB by William Hedrick can be used to close all programs running from a specified removable drive or folder and then attempt ejection if a drive is specified. Extended functionality includes flushing the file cache, closing Explorer windows and removing registry entries and Recent Document shortcuts referencing the specified drive or folder. EjectUSB reads its settings from EjectUSB.ini which resides in the same folder as EjectUSB.exe. If EjectUSB.ini does not exist, EjectUSB will run with default settings.

Once launched EjectUSB sits in System Tray and can be used to eject USB media. It supports following 6 command line arguments:

• drive letter or folder path
• /eject
• /force
• /ini
• /nobat
• /settings

Technorati Tags: EjectUSB

HJSplit – Free file splitting program for Windows

HJSplit 2.4 is a file splitting program for Windows XP, Vista, 2000, NT, 95, 98, ME. HJSplit is able to split files of any type and any size. It can be used freely for commercial and non commercial purpose.

Click on Split button and select Input File and Output location. Select split file size and click on Start button. HJSplit splits input file into multiple files and stores these in selected output folder. Click on Close button once finished.

Click on Join button on main screen. Select first part of split file (file extension .001) and select output folder. Click on Start button and HJSplit joins all parts to create original file. Click on Close button once finished.

HJSplit can also be used to compare 2 files. Select File 1 and File 2 and click on Start button to start comparison. Click on Close button once finished.

HJSplit can also be used to calculate checksum of a file. Select file and click on Start button. The calculated checksum value is shown under file path.

Technorati Tags: HJSplit,File split,File join,File compare,File checksum

USB Safeguard – Portable application for data protection

USB Safeguard is a portable tool to encrypt and protect data with a password on your removable pen drive using the AES 256 bits encryption algorithm (Rijndael). This is helpful in securing your data in case drive is lost or stolen. Download a copy of this tool and store it on your removable drive.

Set your password and confirm by pressing OK button. You can also use Windows On-Screen Keyboard to type password by clicking small keyboard icon left to OK button.

Clicking on button shows follows menu.

Click on first entry to set your contact details in case your drive is lost or stolen.

USB Safeguard offers you to store your password in a file.

Now drag & drop files/folders of your removable drive that you want to protect.

Click on Encrypt button to protect files/folders dropped inside the file box or click on Encrypt All button to protect everything on your removable drive.

After successful encryption of the data, you can erase the original files/folders using standard data erasure algorithms.

Click OK button to continue.

Click OK button to continue.

To access your protected file, launch USB Safeguard from removable drive. Type your password and select which files/folders you want to decrypt. You can also erase encrypted files/folders along with decryption.

Technorati Tags: USB Safeguard,USB protection,Portable app