Question Unable to use new USB devices

[AholicKnighter]

Hello. Today I am having a weird problem where when I unplug a USB device, and plug it back in, the computer will no longer recognize it, forcing me to reboot to temporary fix this problem, until it happens again.

I just ran "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" and the command completed, rebooted, and that did not fix the problem.

The OS I am using is: Microsoft Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC (x64) Build 19044.5965 (21H2)

If there is anything else you need, I would be more than happy to provide it. Thank you.

 

[Aeacus]

Since you are using Enterprise version of Win10, contact system admin or IT department of the company about your issue. Or IoT device builder (whoever installed the Win, since they have to provide customer support).

Home users have no legal method of using Enterprise edition of Windows.

 

[ak47jar3d]

Thats sounds like a group policy to me. Most companies won't let you plug usb drives with that verison of windows. The iot versions by default, have missing many drivers (chipset is common missing one) and could cause those issues indirectly.

 

[AholicKnighter]

Thats sounds like a group policy to me. Most companies won't let you plug usb drives with that verison of windows. The iot versions by default, have missing many drivers (chipset is common missing one) and could cause those issues indirectly.

But here's the thing. If I put a new USB device in, it will identify it, and I can see the partitions just fine, but as soon as I take the USB out (even when ejecting), and put the USB back in, it will not be identified. No sound. Nothing. This problem goes away after I reboot the computer, and doing this everytime I want to plug a new device in, is getting a bit tiresome.

 

[Bob.B]

But here's the thing. If I put a new USB device in, it will identify it, and I can see the partitions just fine, but as soon as I take the USB out (even when ejecting), and put the USB back in, it will not be identified. No sound. Nothing. This problem goes away after I reboot the computer, and doing this everytime I want to plug a new device in, is getting a bit tiresome.

When you eject the device do you get a msg......safe to remove?

 

[AholicKnighter]

When you eject the device do you get a msg......safe to remove?

Yes I do. Then when I put the same usb in, it won't recognize it. It won't even recognize a complete new USB device, until I reboot.

 

[Bob.B]

Yes I do. Then when I put the same usb in, it won't recognize it. It won't even recognize a complete new USB device, until I reboot.

Play with the device mgr policy settings see if it makes a diff.

 

[Ralston18]

Agree with @Bob.B regarding "Safe to Remove".

However, my SOP is to wait a bit longer and ensure that no apps are continuing to or trying to access the drive.
I am not always sure about Windows reliability regarding "Safe to Remove".

My suggestion is to look into Reliabilty History/Monitor for error codes, warnings, or informational events being captured when the USB device(s) are first used and then fails to work or otherwise be recognized when used again.

Event Viewer will provide similar information but requires more time and effort to navigate and understand.

As for Group Policy that can be a bit more complicated - check the details via:

Computer Configuration ---> Administrative Templates ---> System ---> Removable Storage Access.

Multiple options and settings.

 

[AholicKnighter]

Agree with @Bob.B regarding "Safe to Remove".

I will check these out. To be honest with you, the reason why I am using IoT LTSC support ends in 10 years (till 2032), and I really do not want windows 11 with all the bloat they add.

EDIT: Seems like drvinst.exe is corrupted.

I also ran sfc /scannowand it says it found corrupted files. You can view the full log here.

I also forgot to mention, on 6/17/2025, the computer BSOD due to "DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE" when I was restarting the PC. You can download the crash dump here, and output of WinDBG here.

 

[Ralston18]

FYI:

Did you check the Security and Maintenance Control Panel as mentioned in the Description presented in the 1/3 screenshot?

Have not (full disclosure) worked with Windows Enterprise. However, (after reading back and noting @Aeacus 's post) if Windows Enterprise is indeed installed without any company IT support it does not surprise me that there are problems.

Likely that any Microsoft updates, driver updates, and application updates are having and/or creating conflicts.

The crash dump file was an encrypted download. No offense but as a general matter of security I do not nor intend to download and open any such files.

The WinDBG file was text and immediately readable.

Noted:

"Implicit thread is now ffffb006`7593f040
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for mrcbt.sys"

mrcbt.sys is associated with Macrium Reflect.

Is Macrium Reflect installed? Are you trying to create images on the USB drive(s)?

 

[johnbl]

I would also remove this driver:
\SystemRoot\system32\pwdrvio.sys Mon Jun 15 18:43:45 2009
old partition wizard driver.

you can run a uninstaller or download and run microsoft autoruns64.exe and delete the entry.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

note: you also have some other rarely used drivers installed:
like
HttpDebuggerSdk.sys Fri Mar 30 05:53:50 2018
(just fyi)
----------
looks like the system is waiting for access to a resource that is being used by
mrcbt.sys Mon Sep 2 02:05:35 2024
(macrium driver to monitor file system)

I wonder what this driver could be for:
\SystemRoot\System32\drivers\CLFCL5.21\000.fcl Wed May 18 22:25:38 2016
(old date and strange name 000.fcl)
looks like it is related to powerdvd software

bugcheck shows a corrupted stack with a error code in it:
the error was
0: kd> !error 0xc00000bb
Error code: (NTSTATUS) 0xc00000bb (3221225659) - The request is not supported.

it might be a case where a device went to sleep and could not wake. ( set the system to high performance and reboot to work around the problem until you get a fix)

------------
3rd party defrag software running.
device driver failing install.

you might want to start cmd.exe as an admin then run
net.exe /stop "plug and play"

then go and uninstall the 3rd party defrag software and what ever software plug and play was failing to install.

I would then go into windows device manager, find the option to show hidden devices, enable it then delete any greyed out entries in the list.

if you change the memory dump to kernel, I can read what windows plug and play was failing to install. (if you provide the kernel dump)
most likely a old driver, plug and play detects the device, attempt to install the driver and fails, times out and detects it again 4 minutes later and tries again. This often happens if some software tries to use the driver while it is being updated. code it run on different cores (the installer on one core, and the process that attempts to use the device on another core)
You might guess that it is the defrag software and stop it so that the install/update will complete. USB devices will install the driver on each USB port the device is connected to.

note: run
net.exe start "plug and play"
after you do the cleanup or stop the defrag program.
(or you can just reboot)

machine info:
0: kd> !sysinfo machineid
Machine ID Information [From Smbios 2.8, DMIVersion 0, Size=2599]
BiosMajorRelease = 5
BiosMinorRelease = 17
BiosVendor = American Megatrends International, LLC.
BiosVersion = 3.B0
BiosReleaseDate = 05/12/2021
SystemManufacturer = Micro-Star International Co., Ltd
SystemProductName = MS-7C02
SystemFamily = To be filled by O.E.M.
SystemVersion = 1.0
SystemSKU = To be filled by O.E.M.
BaseBoardManufacturer = Micro-Star International Co., Ltd
BaseBoardProduct = B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (MS-7C02)
BaseBoardVersion = 1.0

0: kd> !sysinfo cpuinfo
[CPU Information]
~MHz = REG_DWORD 3600
Component Information = REG_BINARY 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
Configuration Data = REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
Identifier = REG_SZ AMD64 Family 23 Model 113 Stepping 0
ProcessorNameString = REG_SZ AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor
Update Status = REG_DWORD 1
VendorIdentifier = REG_SZ AuthenticAMD

0: kd> !sysinfo cpumicrocode
Initial Microcode Version: 00000000:08701021
Cached Microcode Version: 00000000:00000000
Processor Family: 17
Processor Model: 71
Processor Stepping: 00
Note: Cached Microcode Version is not detected!

 

[AholicKnighter]

3rd party defrag software running.
device driver failing install.

O&O Defrag has been uninstalled. After uninstalling, I then re-enabled plug and play. In the files I provided (sfc log, crash dump) where did it say this?

if you change the memory dump to kernel, I can read what windows plug and play was failing to install. (if you provide the kernel dump)

I would be more than welcome to provide this. System Informer has an option to capture a live dump. If you want additional information in the dump, tell me what to check and I will send the dump. I will not be sending the dump in this thread, I will DM you it.

Is Macrium Reflect installed?

Yes it is. I am not creating images with USB Devices but I create backups of my main OS onto an external TB drive.

 

[johnbl]

you can create a live kernel dump and I will take a look at it.
normally I would look at memory.dmp file that is made when the system bugchecks. It has all of the kernel, usb and plug and play info contained in it. I can look at your live kernel dump if you reboot and have the problem occurring at the time of the dump.

my first fix attempt would be to remove any old drivers that deal with file system. (partition wizard)

I would also update the macrium driver. most of the time with a stack like that, it is the named driver that corrupted the stack.
(looks like a driver bug. where they did not check the return code)

from the minidump there were 5 processes waiting for access that was being held by the macrium driver. (check for update)

 

[johnbl]

you also have a old driver:
fltsrv.sys is a the Acronis Storage Filter Management Driver
from 2015 that tends to causes a driver power state failure bugcheck.
fltsrv.sys Tue Nov 3 08:22:47 2015

these type of drivers might mess up the macrium driver.

this might be the update site:

https://care.acronis.com/s/article/1541-Installation-of-the-latest-update-of-an-Acronis-product?language=en_US

 

[Aeacus]

To be honest with you, the reason why I am using IoT LTSC support ends in 10 years (till 2032), and I really do not want windows 11 with all the bloat they add.

If so, use any GNU/Linux distro of your choosing. E.g Linux Mint is good alternative for Win. But if you want it barebones, then look towards Debian.
With GNU/Linux, you can customize it to your likening, while many distros have continued support for a long time, while costing 0.

To have Win10 long term support, use Home/Pro version and pay for the ESU.
Further reading: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/extended-security-updates

But it isn't right or legal, for you to nefariously get your hands on Win10 IoT Enterprise LTSC for home use due to it's extended support until 2032-01-13.

but I create backups of my main OS onto an external TB drive.

Do you have a permission from Microsoft to do the OS backup? 🙄 I don't think so.

In Windows IoT Enterprise EULA,
link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/iot/iot-enterprise/eula/end-user-license-agreement
there is clearly written;

2. Installation and Use Rights
c. Restrictions
For the avoidance of doubt, this license does not give you any right to, and you may not (and you may not permit any other person or entity to):

(ii) publish, copy (other than the permitted backup copy), rent, lease, or lend the software;

How did you get your hands on this Windows IoT Enterprise in the first place? 🤔
Upgraded from previous Win installation and then used key from black market to activate it?
If so;

2. Installation and Use Rights
a. License. The software is licensed, not sold.
Updating or upgrading from non-genuine software with software from Microsoft or authorized sources does not make your original version or the updated/upgraded version genuine, and in that situation, you do not have a license to use the software.

And:

2. Installation and Use Rights
e. Specific Use.
The manufacturer designed the licensed device for a specific use. You may only use the software for that use.

As far as your USB connection issue is, it probably comes down to this:

2. Installation and Use Rights
d. Multi-Use scenarios.
(iii) Device connections. You may allow up to 20 other devices to access the software installed on the licensed device solely to use the following software features for personal or internal purposes: file services, print services, Internet information services, and Internet connection sharing and telephony services on the licensed device. The 20 connection limit applies to devices that access the software indirectly through “multiplexing” or other software or hardware that pools connections.

However, this limitation must remain, since;

2. Installation and Use Rights
c. Restrictions
For the avoidance of doubt, this license does not give you any right to, and you may not (and you may not permit any other person or entity to):

(iv) work around any technical restrictions or limitations in the software;

As i said above;

7. Device Manufacturer and Installer Support and Refund Procedures.
For the software generally, contact the device manufacturer or installer for support options.

And this is your option in terms of support. Contact the device manufacturer who installed the OS. Or company's IT department, to whom the device belongs to.

 

[AholicKnighter]

you can create a live kernel dump and I will take a look at it.

I will create a live kernel dump and send you the download privately. I will also attach memory.dmp as well.

How did you get your hands on this Windows IoT Enterprise in the first place?

(don't worry I censored the URL)

As far as your USB connection issue is, it probably comes down to this:

Nope. That is for concurrent connections.