virtualbox.org

I have Vista host and XP guest installed OK but the USB facility does not work, it tells me it is and is showing the correct drive and showing as active but when I look in My Computer nothing is showing other than C Drive and DVD Drive. I have done Linux host and XP guest working great USB and all so I thought Vista and XP would by simple in comparison but not so. Any information to get me on the right path would be appreciated.

USB in Vista is not at all like it is in Linux. Think of it like this, Windows does not like it when you yank things away from it, kind of like a baby in that regard.
The easiest way to use USB in Windows is:

• You can either enable the USB in the GUI settings of VBox and leave off the filters (do not define any) then boot into the guest and click on the USB device you want.
  Or Use a blank filter (.) and then boot the guest. Unplug the USB device and plug it back in to get focus and it should appear in the guest.
  
  The device must be installed and working in the Windows host, so the first suggestion is preferable to the second for external hard drives. Still it will unmount (turn off) the device and then mount (turn it back on) it to the guest. For external hard drives I much prefer to share the drive in the Host and map it in the guest. Lots safer.

The virtual box user manual states:

VirtualBox implements a virtual USB controller and allows you to connect arbitrary USB devices to your virtual machines without having to install device-speci?c drivers on the host. USB support is not limited to certain device categories.
p. 14

This is an incredibly useful feature, especially considering its potential for Windows Vista driver support issues for legacy USB devices. However, are you saying there is no way to get this to work in Vista, not even with tweaking/hacking permission settings, etc?

Thanks
-M

Hummm, I don't see anywhere that I said it would not work. I said it would in fact if you follow the advise above, albeit it may be harder to get to work.