Had this prob the other day. Saved this from the ms site. Havn't got the url, sorry.
A computer that is running Windows XP cannot detect a USB thumb drive, an Apple iPod, or an external hard disk drive
View products that this article applies to.
Expand all | Collapse all
SYMPTOMS
You attach a USB-based device to a computer that is running Windows XP. Then, you try to scan for hardware devices. However, the computer may not detect the attached device, and you may not see
the device in the My Computer folder.
You may experience this problem when you are using one or more of the following devices:
* USB thumb drive
* Apple iPod
* External hard disk drive
Additionally, you may not see the iPod in the iTunes application.
Back to the top
CAUSE
This problem may occur if there are corrupted or incorrect keys in the registry....
This problem may occur if there are corrupted or incorrect keys in the registry.
Note There may be other reasons that a USB device is not detected. For related Microsoft Knowledge Base articles, see the "Similar problems and solutions" section.
Back to the top
RESOLUTION
Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modi...
Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that
you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and
restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 (
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ ) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
To resolve this problem, delete the UpperFilters registry value and the LowerFilters registry value. These values may cause access problems. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit , and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the UpperFilters registry value. This value is located in the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E980-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
3. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click OK.
Note If you receive an error when you try to delete the registry subkey, you may not have correct permissions to edit the subkey. For more information about how to set or to change registry
editing permissions, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
310426 (
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310426/ ) How to set or change registry editing permissions in Windows XP or in Windows Server 2003
4. Locate and then click the LowerFilters registry value. This value is located in the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
5. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click OK.
Note If you receive an error when you try to delete the registry subkey, you may not have correct permissions to edit the subkey. For more information about how to set or to change registry
editing permissions, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
310426 (
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310426/ ) How to set or change registry editing permissions in Windows XP or in Windows Server 2003
6. Exit Registry Editor.
7. Restart the computer.
Note If you remove both registry values and you lose functionality in a particular program such as CD recording software, you may have to reinstall that software. If this problem occurs again, contact
the software vendor for help.
For information about how to contact Apple Computer, Inc., click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
65416 (
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/65416/ ) Hardware and software vendor contact information, A-K
60781 (
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/60781/ ) Hardware and software vendor contact information, L-P
