The Problem

While reconnecting the USB device you may face the following error
The contents of the error message in the little message balloon says

"Usb device not recognized"
"One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click this message."

If you try clicking the message but the troubleshooting assistance is of no help

I tried it on several Windows 2000 machines and two other Windows XP machines and it worked on all of them, so I concluded that it had something to do with computer rather than my hopes that it was just a faulty flash drive that I could exchange to solve the problem.

I did some research online and learned that sometimes the USB ports located on the front of the case don’t have enough power for some USB devices. Sure enough, when I tried copying the exact same directory with the flash drive plugged into one of the USB ports in the back, it worked several times in a row.

The Solution

Here is the solution that worked for me...

1) Remove all oem*.inf files

    1. Click start and click run then under the run line type in the command "cmd" (without the quotation marks)
    2. In the command line, type in the following (without the quotes) and press enter after each command:
       "cd \windows\inf"
       "ren infcache.1 *.old"
       "ren oem*.inf *.old"
       "del C:\windows\setupapi.log"

2) Removing all entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Enum/USB that start with "VID"

     Removing the VID entries from the registry will cause them to be redetected at restart.
    CAUTION: If you have a USB keyboard or mouse, do not remove the VID entry for these devices, otherwise, Windows may not restart correctly.

    1. Click Start and click Run. Type regedit and click OK. The Registry Editor window will open.
    2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB.
    3. Highlight and delete all the VID_…. entries.
       Permissions may be set allowing the deletion of the VID_ entries by following the steps below:
       a)Right-click the key to be deleted, and then click Permissions. The VID_… Permissions window will open.
       b)With Everyone highlighted in the Group or User name section, select Full Control in the Permissions section.
       c)Click Apply, and then click OK.
    4. Turn off the computer.

3) Reconnect the USB device to the computer system: 

    1. With the computer system turned off, reconnect the USB hub to the the USB port.
    2. Restart the computer.
    3. A New Hardware Detected window should open and reload the drivers.