Unknown USB Device notification but nothing is plugged in

I have a HP Pavillion laptop running Vista Home Premium. I have it set up to go into hibernate when I close the lid. I did this because a full boot takes a really long time. I checked online about that and it seems that's just the way this particular model works.

Anyway... the last few days, when I start up the computer from hibernate, I get a notification of an unknown usb device. Nothing is plugged in and nothing has been plugged in since I did a full system reinstall about a month ago. The problem just started two or three days ago. I did a "chkdsk /f" and ran a registry cleaner. I'm running Avast antivirus and am running behind a Linksys wireless router.

It's really not hurting anything and the computer runs fine otherwise. Just an annoyance. Wondering if anyone has a similar problem or advice on how to get rid of the "phantom" device.

Thanks in advance.

We had the exact same issue on our HP desktop. Turns out it was our removable hard drive which had crashed..

reply to post by misfitofscience


What did you do to fix it? I don't have anything plugged in to either usb port.

Do you have a USB receiver for the wireless plugged into the unit or is that feature self-contained?

Have you tried rebooting?

I just threw out the external hard drive...It could also be your USB drives are getting old. or possibly you recently hooked something up to it which may have dislodged your USB port.

Originally posted by N3k9Ni
I get a notification of an unknown usb device.

Perhaps a visit to "Control Panel", "Device Manager" would be helpful.

Each and everything on your computer will be listed in Device Manager, and that may provide more clues.
The unknown object may be shown as having some kind of an error, or perhaps missing driver.

reply to post by N3k9Ni

I have a HP Pavillion laptop running Vista Home Premium.

- PROBLEM 1.

I have it set up to go into hibernate when I close the lid.

. PROBLEM 2

I did this because a full boot takes a really long time..

PROBLEM 3

funny fact: I've been involved in IT for 12yrs atleast.. and Windows VISTA was the ONLY legitimate copy of Microsoft Windows I ever bought for myself. It turned out to be the WORST operating system ever.

Your first issue is VISTA, can that crap! go to 7 or XP.
Hibernate is also dodgy on a good windows system, let alone VISTA. do you actually use it?
Why is your PC taking ages to boot, is it taking ages in POST ( the black screen with white writing ) or is it taking ages once windows loads and logs in?

Do you use a USB modem or anything? most USB modems have inbuilt partitions that can cause issues.

reply to post by Aliensun


Nothing plugged in. Internal wireless adapter.

reply to post by SpearMint


I just did a full shutdown. Unplugged the power cord and battery. Waited 20 seconds. Plugged battery and power cord in. Booted the computer and no notification. Waited for to settle down and closed the lid. It went into hibernate. Waited 20 seconds and restarted. Notification showed up again.

reply to post by N3k9Ni


Does the port work when you plug something into it?
Make sure the four small copper tabs (inside the USB plug itself) isn't bent touching one another.

reply to post by alfa1


I looked there and didn't find anything that showed a problem. This really has me puzzled.

reply to post by N3k9Ni


Does your camera have a webcam? Fingerprint reader? Other 'built-in' device?

Any of those could be suffering from a missing or corrupt driver.

Go to the HP website and install the latest device drivers for Vista for your PC.

reply to post by Agit8dChop

Unfortunately, changing the OS isn't an option for me. I'm stuck with it. The start up delay is in the POST. I'd say it sits for around a full minute on POST before it goes on. As I said, I checked on that online and it seems that is just how this model operates. A lot of people with this same model said the same thing. I"m not particularly fond of the hibernate feature, but it does reduce the start time.

Thank you for your input.

reply to post by TheLieWeLive


I did try plugging in a thumb drive into both ports and both worked like they should. I even did the "safely remove device" in hopes it might clear up. Didn't help.

reply to post by eonpeon


It does have a built in webcam. I'll try checking driver updates. Thanks.

Thank you, everyone for your suggestions. I'm beginning to believe it's something that I can't do anything about. I'll just have to live with it. Like I said, it doesn't affect the computer otherwise, just an annoyance.

BLEEPing computer.

Here's a shot in the dark but here goes. Have you used virtual drive mounting software like Poweriso or Daemon Tools lately? If you don't know what I'm talking about forget it but if you do maybe you have a file still mounted and it's messing with the USB indicator?

reply to post by TheLieWeLive


Nope. All I really use it for is to check email, watch movies on HULU and post on ATS.

reply to post by N3k9Ni


Sounds to me like you have a memory corruption issue weather it be your on board or RAM. During post, your system will do a couple of checks before boot to ensure a safe start.

Hanging on the post screen for that long would indicate a memory or internal component fault.

It would also appear that your hibernation is causing the USB device to unconfigure itself. This can often be wireless network adapters in vista as their power save mode refuses to restart correctly when the system sudo restarts itself.

There is a tool called "unidentified device identifier" from xangduo which will help you locate the problem USB device.

It would be a good idea to start looking for a new laptop imho.

*been in IT since i left school some 20 yrs ago mate* ;b