[TheLoneKnight]

Not that I like bumping my own threads but I'm still suffering from these sporadic pauses. All updating the drivers seemed to do was remove the noise that came with it. I even still get the occasional "Unrecognised USB device detected" notice during some of the pauses. Keeping the device manager open during them doesn't give me any new information. The list refreshes but doesn't show any new USB devices when it finishes.

I've got Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller, Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller, USB Composite Device and two USB Root Hubs; could any of these be this mysterious unrecognised device? Is there something I can do to figure out what this unrecognised USB thing could be?

[win2kpro]

Let's let Windows reinstall all the USB drivers.

Unplug any USB device connected to the machine
Go into Device Manager and scroll down to Universal Serial Bus Controllers
Click on the + mark next to Universal Serial Bus Controllers
A list should appear after you click on the + mark
On that list start at the top, and right click on everything listed under Universal Serial Bus Controllers
When you right click on each item click on uninstall
Proceed down the list until everything listed under Universal Serial Bus Controllers is uninstalled
After everything is uninstalled, restart the machine and Windows should reinstall all the USB drivers

See if the problem still exists after all the drivers are uninstalled and reinstalled.

[TheLoneKnight]

This is going to sound like an unbelievably foolish question, I know, but is there some way to sort out which devices I need to remove? Even after removing all of the ones I could think of, it doesn't look like there has been any change in the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section. Either that or I have no idea what I'm supposed to unplug, which seems infinitely more plausible.

[win2kpro]

Before you uninstall all the USB drivers and let Windows reinstall them, unplug any USB device you have connected to the machine such as printers, scanners, external hard drive, etc. Just unplug anything that is plugged in to an external USB port.

[TheLoneKnight]

It may not be necessary, now. During one of the spontaneous detections I managed to click on the icon before it vanished. The highlighted USB device is my mouse (which is plugged into a USB port because the serial port doesn't seem inclined to recognise it). Should I just uninstall/reinstall it, then?

[win2kpro]

If you have a serial mouse that is not recognized by a serial port, I believe I would take the easy way out, and just buy a USB mouse.

[TheLoneKnight]

It is a USB mouse but it came with a small connecter that allows it to plug into a serial port as well. The problem is that the computer doesn't detect it when it is plugged into the serial port so I've just been using a USB port instead.

Of course, that just brings me back to the weirdness with the mouse being periodically undetected in the USB port, which I assume is the problem. I suppose I'll reinstall it and see if anything works. Any ideas as to what I can do if it continues to bug out afterwards? Will I just need a new mouse?

[win2kpro]

If it is a USB mouse that is not detected in a USB port then you need to determine if the problem is the mouse itself or the USB port.

Try the mouse in a USB port on another machine. If it works on another machine's USB port, but doesn't work on your machine's USB port then you may have a defective USB port.

I would first reload all the USB drivers, and try the mouse again in a USB port after the USB drivers are reinstalled by Windows.

[TheLoneKnight]

Reinstalling all the USB stuff simultaneously is kind of difficult because the mouse and keyboard would both be detatched from the computer, since they're USB devices. That's why I mentioned the serial port; I had hoped I could, at least, temporarily install it into the serial port so that I could actually uninstall the drivers as per your suggestion. Unless you know of a way to uninstall these things and then restart my computer without using a keyboard or mouse.

As an alternative, I was hoping to try uninstalling/reinstalling just the mouse. Since it's the device that I previously saw as "Unrecognised", I think it's pretty likely that the issue is just with the mouse, rather than all of my USB devices. It says it's in one of the USB Root Hubs although I'm not sure what to look for to discern which of the two it is.

Edit: Now that I re-read your post, I think I misunderstandood a bit. I do have another machine I can set up, but I've also got some 9 other USB ports (split between two hubs) on this machine I could try to check; would those suffice for checking the mouse?

As far as reinstalling the USB controllers go, I assume it's alright to plug my keyboard into the second Hub while reinstalling them one at a time, since I don't know how to reinstall both without using either a mouse or a keyboard.

[win2kpro]

You can check the mouse on any machine that has a USB port. I would try the mouse on another machine. You need to isolate the problem to see if it is the machine or the mouse.

If you have PS2 ports on the machine that is giving you the problem, you could get a USB to PS2 adapter for the mouse and try it with a PS2 connection.

[TheLoneKnight]

Well, I've tried plugging the mouse into different USB slots and so on. The problem persisted, naturally, but the spare mouse (wireless, connects through the same USB device as my keyboard) seems to be doing fine. No pauses with it.

I get the feeling the problem might've just been the mouse.

[Rich-M]

Well that sure sounds like it.