This issue occurs if unknown USB drivers are installed on the Windows machine hosting the VMware Workstation software or due to conflicting USB software or registry entries.
Before proceeding with any action, ensure that your VMware software is the most recent versions available. You can see and download the most recent versions from the VMware Download Center:
To resolve the issue:
- Ensure that your host computer is using the original, Microsoft USB drivers:
- Right-click (My) Computer and click Manage.
- In the left pane of the Computer Management window, select Device Manager.
- Expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
- Right-click USB Root Hub and click Properties.
- On the Driver tab, click Roll Back Driver.
- Confirm that you are not using any conflicting USB services such as monitors (sniffers) on your host. For more information, see Configuring Windows Hosts for Use with USB Monitors (Sniffers) (1679)
- If you have an AMD processor, there may be a conflicting USB controller. VMware recommends removing the
AMD USB Filter Driver
from the Windows Device Manager:
Warning: This can cause other USB devices to fail. Ensure to make a System Restore point before attempting this step. Alternatively, rather than trying a system restore, you can restore the USB controller you deleted in this step by clicking Scan for New Hardware in Device Manager. For more information about System Restore, see these Microsoft articles:
To remove the conflicting USB controller:
- Right-click (My) Computer and click Manage.
- In the left pane of the Computer Management window, click Device Manager.
- Expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
- Locate the
AMD USB Filter Driver
. - Right-click it and choose Uninstall.
- Click Uninstall the driver software for the device.
- Restart your computer
- If you are unable to remove the AMD USB controller through the Device Manager, you can also uninstall it manually.
Note: You may wish to backup the Windows registry before modifying it. For more information, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 322756.
To manually remove the AMD USB controller:
- Click Start > Run, typing regedit, and click ok. The Registry Editor window opens.
- Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}.
- In the right pane, if the the
UpperFilters
entry exists, delete it. - Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\
. - Delete the usbfilter string.
- Close the Registry
- Delete this file:
%system32%\drivers\usbfilter.sys
. - Reboot your computer.
- You can also use the ATI Catalyst Install Manager to uninstall AMD USB controller.
To uninstall the AMD USB controller:
- Open Control Panel.
- Open Add/Remove Programs (XP) or Programs and Features (Vista/7).
- Double-click ATI Catalyst Install Manager
- click Change.
- Select Uninstall Manager.
- Select Custom.
- Select the AMD USB controller as the component to uninstall.
- Reboot if prompted.
If the issue continues to exist after trying the steps in this article: