Fixing unrecognized USB device under VISTA

**Matthew Cordery** · 22-Jun-2008, 18:19

I have this odd problem. I bought a Epson 4990 PHOTO (refurb) and installed updated drivers (that are Vista compatible) and in no time was scanning away and just got back my first batch of prints from West Coast Imaging. I haven't touched the scanner for a month or so and today my wife asks me to scan a bunch of negatives from her childhood. I go to switch on the scanner and get the dreaded "Unrecognized USB device" message. It seems the scanner powers up properly, and that the cables are ok. I've noticed that there is no "Imaging Devices" underneath my Device Manager window (that's odd right?) and I've even tried deleting any unknown USB devices from my the device manager and rebooting. All to no avail. I still can't scan. Any ideas?

**Kuzano** · 22-Jun-2008, 18:38

Go to Yahoo. In the search block type in.... "Epson 4990 stopped working Vista" without the quotation marks. There is probably no simple solution to your problem.

Have you visited the Epson web site for latest drivers that may work with Vista? Do not use the driver disk that came with the scanner. It was burned before Vista, so probably not appropriate.

I have been consulting on PC's and Networks for fifteen years. I have advised all my clients that I will not service PC's running Vista. Vista is done and will die a slow agonizing death as Microsoft transfers all development energy over to Windows 7 OS. Other signs they have given up. Support for XP has been extended to 2010 for consumers and 2014 for the Corporate market. Microsoft has not been successful in ceasing sales of XP in the market place.

Yes, many people say they have no problem with Vista. They just haven't encountered an insoluble problem yet aside from Vista every increasing need for more RAM. There are only two types of Vista users in the marketplace. Those who are very unhappy with Vista, and those who eventually will be.

**Preston** · 22-Jun-2008, 18:56

There is a great site for Vista that may help. There is also an associated forum where you may be able to get some help...

The Elder Geek On Windows Vista

I've used the companion site The Elder Geek On Wndows XP several times...useful stuff.

-PB

jetcode · 23-Jun-2008, 09:05

you are not the only one experiencing vista usb driver problems ... while debugging a project for a client a tool would lose it's usb driver association and I had to reinstall it every time I boot up the computer ...

**RPNugent** · 23-Jun-2008, 09:27

Do you by chance have a second printer that is a combo machine with fax/scanner etc? If so that may be our problem. I know it forced me to firewire with my 4990.

**Matthew Cordery** · 23-Jun-2008, 12:00

I haven't heard back from Epson yet. Part of why I asked here is because I expect to get the cut and paste non-helpful answer from some 3rd party off-shored company. Anyway, I don't have any other imaging devices, but when I plug my wife's Canon into the computer, everything is fine, as is the standard printer. It was suggested to me on another forum that I disable my firewall and try it again. I thought about the firewire option before but would like to see if I can get this solved anyway.

**Ernest Purdum** · 24-Jun-2008, 08:18

My elderly desktop is on Windows ME and I have many problems that I am told are because I have such a horrible OS.

My laptop uses Vista.

**ric_kb** · 24-Jun-2008, 14:24

Possibly a Vista update would solve... you may already be current with this patch but since I don't use Vista I can't offer more than the result of a casual MS look...http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941600

This article describes an update rollup that resolves some reliability issues in the USB core components in Windows Vista. You will achieve better reliability in various scenarios by installing this update. [from May 19 2008]