I've been having trouble with my usb ports not detecting my external harddrive or webcam. I have an MSI motherboard with the usb integrated into it. A few days ago it worked, but now it won't detect my external, I tried it with another computer so I know it's not the harddrive itself. I checked under system & USB controllers it shows both ports & root hubs and it says the device is working properly. I uninstalled the software for my harddrive and reinstalled it but it didn't fix the problem. I did notice though that even after uninstalling the drivers that WDBtnMgr.exe remained on my system. Anyone know what the cause is?

"I uninstalled the software for my harddrive and reinstalled it but it didn't fix the problem. I did notice though that even after uninstalling the drivers that WDBtnMgr.exe remained on my system" Did you un-install the software using an entry in Add/Remove Programs? Did you reboot between un-installing and re-installing? If you didn't, try again, reboot between. Have you added any devices since the USB connected drive last worked? Have you tried connecting the hard drive with the usb connected webcam disconnected? Does your mboard have USB 2.0? Did you change the location of where you plugged in the hard drive USB since it was working? There are lots of USB connected things that will work properly when connected directly to a USB port and it's controller, but will not work, or not work properly, when connected to a USB hub. If you have the hard drive or web cam connected to a USB hub, don't do that - connect them directly to the USB ports on the mboard instead.

I used add/remove, I restarted afterwards and saw WDBtnMgr was stilling running in windows task but it wasn't on the taskbar. I haven't added any new hardware to my computer during that time. I left my harddrive plugged into the same usb port(the one integrated into the motherboard) I have two ports and I tried both and there was no difference. My webcam was removed for awhile I just plugged it in after my harddrive wasn't being detected to see if it would notice the cam. And how can you tell if it's USB 2.0? Is there any software that can help test if there is a problem with my usb ports?

"I used add/remove, I restarted afterwards and saw WDBtnMgr was stilling running in windows task but it wasn't on the taskbar. " There might be more than one entry in Add/Remove for the software for the USB drive. Whether or not that is the case, sometimes an un-install program does not remove all it should. e.g. it may have not have removed WDBtnMgr because it was still running at the time - you may have to close it before doing the un-install (e.g. by turning it off in Task Manager, or by RIGHT clicking on it's icon, choosing close, or similar) - at the end of uninstalling sometimes it says not everything was removed, and there is a Details button you can click on to see what that is about. If your mboard has only 2 USB ports built into the mboard (it may also have a headeer for 2 more on the mboard that can be connected to a 2 port USB adapter plate) it probably is USB 1.x, not USB 2.0. You can find out in Device Manager - Universal Serial Bus Controllers - if it has USB 2.0 it will either mention USB 2.0 or have listings for both USB and enhanced USB Host controllers, or similar. USB 2.0 would also be mentioned in the mboard manual, and in specifucations for the mboard model on the MSI web sites. If you don't have USB 2.0, the USB connected hard drive will probably still work, but it can't achieve the maximum speed the hard drive is capable of. Windows 98SE does not have support for USB 2.0 built into it, but if you were to get a USB 2.0 card, some of them have Win98SE software/drivers that enables USB 2.0 support (beware - some USB cards do not come with Win 98SE software/driver support). Your USB connected hard drive can achieve it's full max speed if connected to USB 2.0. " I haven't added any new hardware to my computer during that time." Good. If you had, there might have been some resource conflict that prevented the USB drive from being detected, whether it shows up in Windows or not. "Is there any software that can help test if there is a problem with my usb ports?" Possibly, but I don't know offhand. If you have something else such as a USB mouse or keyboard, you can try it in each USB port. If that works, there's probably nothing wrong with the ports. If that doesn't work, your USB driver support files could be corrupted. In that case, try going into Device Manager - Universal Serial Bus Controllers - RIGHT click on the Host Controller(s) to Remove them - if that doesn't also remove the Root Hub entry(ies) Remove them too. Reboot. Win98SE should find them again. If that doesn't help, or if you want to try something else, you need to re-load the mboard chipset drivers - the ones on the mboard CD are usually enough, or you can usually get those drivers on the mboard website for your model. You could look in System Information (Start - Run - type: msinfo32 - click OK) (but Windows doesn't always show you problems) Open up Hardware ..... on the left. Choose Conflicts/Sharing Are there any entries that start with red lettering? Is anything sharing the IRQ for USB other than IRQ holder.....? Look at Components - Problem Devices Anything there? You could also look on the web site of the manufacturer of the extrenal hard drive assembly for t-shooting info.

Okay I had USB 1.0, I first removed it from the device manager and restarted but instead of telling me that it found the usb and asking me for drivers the usb was automatically placed back into the device manager without any messages. So I tried removing it and using hardware detection and it found it. So from that I'm assuming it's corrupt drivers, if it was the hardware it wouldn't of even detected it or it would say that the device wasn't working properly. I noticed that under device manager & USB it shows both USB host controllers and below them it shows the root hubs. Interrupt request is at 11 on both ports. I had forgotten that the mouse that I use on a ps/2 plug addon was also usb compatible so I tried it in the usb port but it didn't detect it either. When going under msinfo32 hardware/Conflicts/sharing I always got an invalid page fault error. Is there another program I can use that does the same as msinfo?

"When going under msinfo32 hardware/Conflicts/sharing I always got an invalid page fault error. " That's really odd. You may have more than possibly corrupt USB driver files - other files may be wonky. Several things you can try. Look in Device Manager - Universal Serial Bus Controllers - double click xxxxxx Host Controller (properties) Driver tab click Driver files details copy down all the file names that are in \Windows\System32\Drivers directory e.g. in my case, I have USB 1.x, and a UHCI type of controller (you may have an OHCI controller) uhcd.sys usbui.dll usbhub.sys usbd.sys (your list may be slightly different) ...... The following will replace the USB related files with a new copy. Insert your Win 98 CD in a CD drive. If it starts up, exit. Start up System Information. (Start - Run - type msinfo32 - click OK) top menu - Tools - System File Checker click on the tiny circle to select "Extract one file from installation disk" For each of the files names in your list... - type the name of a file from the list in the white box, click on Start - Restore from: (CD drive letter):\Win98 (e.g. if your CD is in D, D:\win98) - Save file in: C:\windows\system32\drivers - click OK - you should get a message file was extracted successfully or similar. (If you don't, let me know, but most files are in that \Win98 directory) - same for all the files. Reboot. Try your USB. ....... If the System File Checker won't load or doesn't work properly, you can also do the same from a Win 98 Startup disk but it's more tedious. ....... If your USB still won't work, try loading the chipset drivers for your mboard - the ones on your mboard CD will do, or you can often get them at the mboard website, downloads for your model. ........ If it still won't work, run Scandisk, check the whole drive partition, including free space. Did it find data errors? ....... You could check your hard drive more thoroughly, in case it is starting to fail. Go to the web site of your drive manufacturer, download a utility that will diagnose your hard drive - you want one that will make floppy disks. Execute the download on your computer, it will make a bootable floppy (or floppies). Boot with the floppy, run the diagnostics. ....... If the hard drive is okay, your Windows may have more corrupt files than just those controlling USB. You could do an "overtop" Setup of Windows. This will not delete anything you have added - it will just repair problems Windows knows how to fix, and replace missing Windows files, and Windows files found to be corrupt. Set your bios to boot from a CD if it isn't already set that way. Insert your Win 98 CD. Reboot - boot the CD when prompted. Install Windows in the SAME directory you had it in - usually that's C:\Windows. (You must install it in the same directory, in order to not lose the Windows info and program installs you already have there). It then runs much the way it did when Setup was first run, only it doesn't ask as many questions, you are not asked for the Product Key, and all the hardware and programs and almost all settings have already been set up. You don't need to boot with the Windows CD after the first time. Try your USB.

Okay, I tried replacing the files through SFC, then I reinstalled my motherboard drivers. After I did that I noticed 98saferemove started up with windows, but the usb still isn't detecting the harddrive. I remember that I had shut down WDBtnMgr & 98saferemove from windows tasks a few days before my usb stopped working. They started up after I restarted of course, but could I have corrupted them when I had shut them down that time? I noticed that when 98saferemove is running it isn't taking up any memory which I found odd.