In this post, we will consider the most common USB problems after upgrading your OS together with some precautionary measures that you can do to avoid USB related problems such as Unknown USB Device. You can also experience these USB related issues when you downgrade your OS.
You must remember that making major changes to your computer such as upgrading or downgrading your Operating System have a big impact to your installed programs and saved data.
If you’re going to undergo clean install of Operating System (recommended option of upgrading your OS), all the installed programs on your computer will be deleted together with all your saved data, so it is highly recommended to backup all of your important documents such as images, videos, spreadsheets, word documents, etc. You can also backup applications by saving a copy of their respective installers (games, computer programs, etc.) The installed programs on your computer also include the specific device drivers required by your hardware devices. Without these device driver, your PC may not be able to detect the USB device that you are going to attach to your PC, and you will be troubled by device driver related issues such as USB Ports Not Working problems.
To solve USB related issues after a clean install of Operating System, you just need to install the required drivers to your PC again before connecting your USB hardware devices. For example: prior attaching your PSP to your computer, you will need to install the required drivers to access and transfer files to your PSP through your PC.
On the other hand, the basic upgrade or downgrade of OS (commonly known as Upgrade/Downgrade Install) is associated with more risks such as system crash and errors due to the device drivers left by the previous OS which may trigger serious device troubles. Also, computer issues (computer virus infections, registry errors, etc) with your previous Operating System will still be there to annoy you.
Another problem associated with Upgrade/Downgrade Install is that it might leave your PC unable to detect USB devices. The reason is because the installed USB Port drivers are leftover of the previous OS. For example: if you have USB Port Not Working Windows 7 problem after upgrading your XP-based computer to Windows 7, you will need to uninstall the current drivers and install the USB Port device drivers compatible with your newly installed OS.