usb 2 active cables and computer usb port problem

[red dwalf]

hi all,

hope someone can help with my strange problem, i downloaded something i thought was an updated driver for the usb ports on my desktop pc, 

now i get a problem when i plug my 5 meter usb 2 active cables into the pc, there are 4 ports on the rear of the pc and it is running windows xp sp3

when cable is plugged into usb port 1, in device manager it shows up in "other devices">"usb 2.0 hub" with a yellow question mark and looks for a driver it never finds.

port 2 it shows up in other devices as above and also in the usb serial bus controllers as a generic usb hub which it used to do.

port 3 it shows up as 2 generic usb hubs.

port 4 is the same as port 2.

the cables are only 5 meter active usb cables so shouldn`t need any drivers to work, i`ve never installed anything for them in the past.

i look to have done something very silly and restore point in windows won`t successfully restore the pc to an earlier time.

can anyone shed some light on what to do and restore it to how it used to be i`d be very grateful.

[oldpink]

have you tried rolling back the driver from the device manager
or check to see if you can do it from the Add / remove program features

[red dwalf]

i haven`t but will try, thanks

have checked driver and it seems to show the same as the old version, a windows one 5.1.2600.0

[ChrisLX200]

I would first check the hardware is still OK by plugging it into another computer (if possible). I that suggests the cables/hub are fine then my preference is to restore a disk image from backup, otherwise you are left trying to repair the exisitng installation. First try running a registry check for corrupted entries, then try deleting the offending items from device manager and let it re-discover the devices and reinstall the drivers. If that fails things get complicated...

ChrisH

[red dwalf]

thanks Chris, the cable work fine on my laptop, was using them at sgl the other day with no problem,

not sure how to restore a disk image from backup,

will try deleting the usb serial bus components and see what that does