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I was using XP Home, i'm not sure if this is particular to it or this individual one.. I got an icon and probably a message like this
enter image description here

I looked in device manager and nothing came up in "other devices".

Which versions of windows give an icon like that?

And does anybody else have nothing come up in "other devices", when a device isn't recognized?

I don't know if it came up the first time in "other devices", I doubt it 'cos it should be either there every time if at all. After that first time, I tried taking the usb device out and in and out and in, I got no message(which would be normal), but I got nothing in device manager. I know in xp sp3 and I think in sp2, if it wasn't recognized, it'd have been a slightly different icon, a similar message, and it would come up in "other devices" while it was in.

I may get to have a look at it again. But i'd like to know if anybody else has seen those symptoms? And whether it's normal in XP Home? Or perhaps it's an SP thing. maybe SP1 or pre?

This isn't a question of how to solve it. It's a question of whether others have seen this happen. Whether this is normal for certain editions of xp, when a device isn't recognized, and if so what editions.

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up vote 1 down vote accepted

This is usually caused by a USB power issue. If there is not enough power to properly power the device then Windows brings this message up. It's hardly ever a driver issue.

The key word here is "Malfunctioned" in the bubble.

Either plug the device directly into the computer, or plug it in to a powered hub.

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happened when I plugged it in directly, but didn't happen again. you think it was a power issue then? –  barlop Mar 22 '11 at 14:59
I'd like to test this about power. If I get a usb hub and overload it, would it cause what you say, and is it bad for anything? –  barlop Mar 22 '11 at 15:00
It's not bad for anything as such, no. It should complain if you plug too much in. I mostly see it when you plug too much in at the same time (say you plug things into the hub then plug the hub in - windows tries to turn them all on at once and fails, then tries them one at a time and it works) –  Majenko Mar 22 '11 at 15:06
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