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USB View Don Bradbury looks at a Microsoft USB reporting facility The usage of USB connectivity and devices is gaining momentum so quickly that it is easily possible to get confused over where these devices are installed, how they relate to one another, and what their current status is. Microsoft, mindful of this, have produced a little utility called USBview.exe. Download it to your Desktop from their web site, and run it if ever you are not certain of the viability of one of your devices, or the hub to which it is attached, or even the relevant host controller.
That doubt can easily arise because USB, unlike serial or parallel technology for example, is relatively new to the computing scene, and not all USB device drivers, not to mention chipsets and their drivers, are fully optimized or can maintain their viability under complex situations of interdependability. By that I mean if you try to connect certain items of gear at the same time, one or more may fail if the chipset on your PC, or its driver software, aren’t up to the job. At PPC we meet that fairly frequently. We throw so many items of USB hardware into the same arena, that, frankly, crashes are always a possibility. The home user may quickly get to that condition, and USBview.exe might help you sort it all out. If a device crashes out, you might find that a reboot is required to restore things to full functionality because some clashes can entirely remove devices from Device Manager, that other good old standby diagnostic and report facility. The Explorer-like presentation of USBview shows, in the left hand window, your controllers, the hubs, and the devices that are connected to the USB side of things on your system. In the right hand pane you get a full report of each item’s current status as you highlight it in the left pane. In the graphic we’ve used here, only a part of one report is shown.
In conclusion USBview could hardly e simpler. Keep a copy on your Desktop, or if you are currently engaged in troubleshooting your USB gear, pop the USBview icon into Windows’ Quick Launch toolbar for instant retrieval. It could save you a lot of hassle. USB View was part of the Windows 98 Resource Kit, but it can be downloaded from various sites such as www.vpedal.com.
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