USB Root Hubs missing after windows 7 clean install  

After a 'convoluted' clean install of Windows 7 Professional 64bit on a pre-installed Windows 8.1 system [secure boot disabled and re-formatted hard drive] I seem to be missing all the USB Root Hubs although the USB3 hubs are there and I have reinstalled the Intel chipset drivers. All the USB ports are working properly both USB2 and USB3 but when I try to install a HP Photosmart printer as a usb printer [it does not give me another choice] the installation stops at detecting system settings: no USB drivers installed.The question is: do I have to do another clean install of Windows 7 or is there some way of downloading the USB2 Root Hub drivers from Microsoft or Lenovo? Has anybody ever had this problem? sfc /scannow hasn't found anything missing.

jovital said:

<snip>when I try to install a HP Photosmart printer as a usb printer [it does not give me another choice] the installation stops at detecting system settings: no USB drivers installed.

"No USB drivers installed". Is that the actual error message or are you paraphrasing???? What model HP printer and what is the EXACT error message?

fyi... Every USB controller has its own Root Hub. USB Controller connects to the Root Hub which, in turn, connects to USB Devices.
> Drivers for USB 2.x controllers and Root hubs are generic and come as part of Windows 7
> For Windows 7, USB 3 controller/hub drivers aren't part of the OS (they are starting with Win8). They must be downloaded and installed

Look in Device Manager under USB and if an "Other" device category. Do you see any devices with yellow icons? If device drivers are missing, you should see one or more of the yellow icons. If a USB drivers are missing I'd also expect the device to appear in a Problem Device Report

• Make sure devices are connected and powered on
• Click the Start Orb, type msinfo32 in the search box. Hit Enter
• Click the + sign next to Components to expand it
• Click Problem Devices. Anything appear?
• If yes, click on it, Ctrl-A to select all, Ctrl-C to copy it, Ctrl-V to paste into next post
• On the other hand, if no devices are listed, tell me so

My question is why can't the HP printer drivers see the USB3 Host controller?

I'd guess it's a HP driver issue/bug but before we go there....

Based on last post, you have a device problem, not a driver problem. A Root Hub is downstream from its Controller. That means until the Controller is detected AND its driver installed, the downstream root hub can't be detected and will never appear.

The controller is a Plug and Play device. Windows doesn't need driver to detect a PnP device. The driver is only needed before Windows can use the device functionality. Based on your info above, there's no indication a USB 2.x controller even is detected! No yellow icons in Device Manager. Nothing listed in Problem Device report. Since no controller, no root hub.

What specific make is your Lenovo? I'd start by checking the m/b spec and see what/how many USB controllers are on the m/b.

Reasons a PnP device isn't detected:
> It doesn't have power (N/A in this case)
> Device failed
> Device disabled in BIOS or BIOS needs updating to detect it

Assuming a USB 2 controller is on the m/b (is probably the case) i'd start with BIOS. Can USB be disabled in BIOS? If not, I'd also check for BIOS updates. Has this HP printer EVER been connected to this computer? Which OS?

You can use UBS Tree View to see controllers/hubs and device connections (p.s Also note: the ports you see displayed by the tool are USB ports on the m/b. They're NOT the external USB ports on the case.)

My example below shows two USB 2 controllers and one USB 3 controller. Note all devices happen to connect to the USB 3 controller.

Thanks for your reply. I think the problem is that I had to format the drive and disable secure boot and enable legacy support in the BIOS before I installed OEM Win7. I noticed that I had no USB support right throughout the installation and I had to use a disk to load all the Lenovo drivers [Lenovo G50-80 originally with Win 8.1]. Something went wrong which I suppose is the peril of 'downgrading'. Legacy USB is enabled in the BIOS.I have used your USB tool and it shows just the USB3 controllers and all the devices attached to the three ports [2xUSB3 and 1xUSB2] so that is Host Controllers:1,Root HUbs:1,Standard Hubs:0,Peripheral devices:6. I would like your opinion on whether if I get the HP over here and try to plug it in and see if windows detects it [I don't have the HP printer at the moment, so I have just been trying to install the software and drivers before I travel to where it is] and if it installs, should I just live with it or is going to cause me problems in the future? At the moment all the USB ports seem to work with the USB3 drivers. Or should I just re-install windows which is a lot of work as I have already done everything else?Once more I am very grateful for your help.

I noticed that I had no USB support right throughout the installation and I had to use a disk to load all the Lenovo drivers

The scenario you describe above is exactly what I'd expect when you only have a USB 3 controller. Since Win 7 doesn't include USB 3 drivers (and no USB 2 controller is there), your USB ports won't work during OS install. Not until you install the USB 3 drivers from disk. That said, I can't find enough detail for your model to know if a USB 2 controller is supposed to be there OR maybe your model only comes with a USB 3 controller. USB 3 is supposed to be backward compatible and support USB 2 as well.

You said you installed drivers off of disk. Have you installed the drivers found on the Lenovo website?? - (make sure you select Win 7 x64). Online drivers can be more recent then disk. (I always use online drivers when installing a new PC). Online drivers include
> chipset and a USB 3 drivers released july 2015 (have a look through all of them)
> A very recent bios update aug 2016 (tho release notes don't specifically mention fixing USB issues)
If you elect to do the BIOS update, typical cautions about doing BIOS updates apply (like making certain laptop is fully charged, plugged in and can't lose power)

Your HP printer is a USB 2.x device and should work with your USB 3 controller. But that also assumes all drivers, hardware and firmware on both laptop and printer all perform to spec. If driver updates from Lenovo site don't help my only other suggestion is try a USB 2 hub (they're cheap). Prove other devices work off the hub then try connecting the printer to the hub.

If all the above doesn't work, IMO an OS re-install won't make any difference. It's not a Win 7 OS issue. p.s. You're most welcome. Happy to try and help :)

I should have stated that I downloaded all the drivers from the Lenovo web site and then put them on a disk. I somehow can't imagine a brand new Win 8.1 laptop not having any USB2 controllers. I'll probably just reset the BIOS and do another clean install of Win 7 Professional. One lives and learns.Thanks for all your help. I'll keep you posted.

We'll dig deeper but not a good sign. The ISO downloaded is guaranteed to include all the drivers that come with Win 8.1 (which includes the USB2 and 3 drivers). It's only missing drivers you install after the OS. Since USB 2 and 3 drivers are part of Win 8.1, the USB 2 controller should have appeared in Device Manager if it was detected. No extra steps required. So, USB 2 not listed is not good.

"PCI Simple Controller" is for slow speed devices. I've often seen it part of Card Readers though can be for other things too. But never yet seen it for a USB controller. We'll do another Problem Device Report and a DirectX report. The telling part of the DirectX report are the devices it list in the System Device section. System Devices are devices Windows detects that connect to the PCI bus - which include USB controllers. So will see what's listed there. If USB 2 is detected, it'll be among the System Devices

List any Problem devices (do the copy/paste so I can see all those cryptic IDs that appear in the report. The IDs can tell me what those devices are)

• Make sure devices are connected and powered on
• Click the Start Orb, type msinfo32 in the search box. Hit Enter
• Click the + sign next to Components to expand it
• Click Problem Devices. Anything appear?
• If yes, click on it, Ctrl-A to select all, Ctrl-C to copy it, Ctrl-V to paste into next post
• On the other hand, if no devices are listed, tell me so

Generate and attach a DirectX report

• Click Start, enter dxdiag in the search box
• When DxDiag opens, look along the buttons at the bottom of the DxDiag window. Since you're running x64 you should a 64-bit DxDiag button. Click it to run the 64-bit version of dxdiag
• Notice progress in lower left window corner
• When done, click Save Information button and save as a text file to your Desktop
• Upload the file to your next post