I had a USB scanner that worked, but recently it was no longer being recognized. I thought the scanner went bad, and I bought another USB scanner, but Windows didn't even recognize a USB device was plugged in, like it usually does even without a driver installed. I then put the new scanner on another XP machine and it recognized it. So what could be wrong? Are my USB ports just fried? How could it have happened? Jiggling cables too much or something? Is there some test software I can get to check the integrity of my USB bus or ports?

What does Device Manager say about your USB ports? And are they integrated into the motherboard?

The USB devices could be corrupted. Here's something I stumbled on quite by accident. Remove the USB Root and Hub in Device Manager. Then go into the Registry and delete the first FOLDER called usb you come to after doing a search. Nothing else. No Data values or descriptions, just that one USB folder on the left hand side. Reboot and your USB stuff will be reinstalled. If you don't delete the Registry entry you'll never get it to work. I've seen people reinstall the OS after a format to fix this. Just be sure to backup your Registry first. Larry

I found a cool little standalone utility from Intel called "USBready" It'll check your system and drivers. And it's free. You can download it here. usbready download SullyD

Joel, Here is a link for a Windows XP update which addresses USB issues: click here SullyD

Often a problem with USB ports is that they're underpowered. Did you try the scanner in a different port or ports? Is your hub powered? Worth a shot.