I had an issue for some time now where I could not add new USB Plug & Play devices (memory sticks, hard drives, camera's, etc). Devices that were added before the problem occurred still functioned properly, just the new ones wouldn't install.
I tried:
- Changing stuff in the registry (values, permissions)
- Copied the drivers.cab file from the Windows installation disc
- Removed *all* USB hardware in Device Manager and let Windows reinstall it upon reboot
Finally the solution was to restore the usbstor.inf file that had gone missing in the C:\Windows\inf folder.
F:\>cd I386
F:\I386>expand -r USBSTOR.IN_ C:\WINDOWS\inf
Microsoft (R) File Expansion Utility Version 5.1.2600.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp 1990-1999. All rights reserved.
Expanding usbstor.in_ to c:\windows\inf\usbstor.inf.
usbstor.in_: 2972 bytes expanded to 14578 bytes, 390% increase.