Win 7 x64 host - everything freezes after connecting USB dev

[H0w4rd]

One month ago I switched to Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise and I have big problem with sharing USB devices to guest OS. No matter what USB device I share, guest OS freezes immediately after USB driver installation or after USB device connecting and the host OS follows very soon after that (it seems computer is very high loaded, cannot even move with mouse).
Before that I was using Windows Vista 32 bit and there was no problem. My colleague uses Windows 7 32-bit and there is no problem either. Today we tried it with my other colleague with Windows 7 64-bit with the same result as me, Virtualbox freezed and Win 7 one minute after, that's why I decided to write this post. So I think there must be some problem in Virtualbox USB sharing conected with Windows 7 64-bit only!

OS: Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise
Virtualbox tested versions: 3.0.8, 3.0.10, 3.0.12
Guest OS: Windows XP 32, Windows 7 32 - no matter, the problem is the same
Tested USB devices: Corsair flash drive 16 GB, Transcend flash drive 2 GB, USB Siemens data cable, USB Scanner
Computer: Fujitsu siemens esprimo 6535

Maybe you asks, why I need it. Because I have two USB devices (scanner and USB siemens data cable) with the latest drivers for Windows XP 32-bit and I will not buy new hardware only because Microsoft decided to create new OS (I mean Vista) with incompatible drivers and because manufacturer haven't released new drivers for newer OS's. It worked perfectly fine in Virtualbox when I worked on Vista, so I would like to return these times.

[marsic2]

i may add that the same issue happens also with the Nortek Webcam: Element ONE 300 PRO
Guest os: xp x32
Host: W7 RTM x64
VBox Version: 3.0.12

[Pappy]

I have the same issue. I'm running windows 7 as the host and windows XP PRO service pack 3. I have used 2 different USB drives and as soon as Iplug them in they show continues activity and my whole computer locks up. Has anyone found a fix for this.
Thanks,

[Perryg]

If these are reproducible then you might want to file a report in bugtracker. Link is below my post. You need to setup an account there and DO NOT forget to send your log file.

[HellDriver]

Same problem with my system. Sometimes I can use the USB device for about 1 or 2 minutes. Then everything is frozen. Even the task manager of the host system cannot interrupt the VM. The only help ist pressing the power button for 3 seconds.

There is already an older thread:
http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24890

Regards,
HellDriver

[H0w4rd]

I think they are working on a fix, so we can hope and look forward for the next version
or go back to 3.0.6.

http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/5237

[H0w4rd]

I've returned to version 3.0.6 and it is confirmed - all USB devices work perfectly.
It is not ideal solution, but I really need it - I travel with notebook, USB data cable and my Siemens phone, I need to be able to connect
looking forward to the next version

[H0w4rd]

there is a new version 3.1.0 - but i think this bug hasn't been fixed yet because it is not in changelog, I'm going to remain on 3.0.6

[wilksm]

I'm having similar troubles. Running 3.1.0 under Ubuntu 9.10, with a WinXP SP3 guest OS. If I don't enable USB devices, the mouse pointer/keyboard freeze up when I try a drag and drop. If I enable the USB mouse, VirtualBox takes over the mouse in the host OS as well and I need to reboot in order to get it back.

[wilksm]

Just wanted to post a followup to my last note. Seems that those problems were only when using an image created by Virtual PC. If I re-install Windows via VirtualBox everything seems OK so far.

[jbrock]

I have had this problem for several versions. I learned the hard way to never ever plug a usb device into my laptop for any reason whatsoever if virtual box is running. doing so means damned near instant crash.

I also learned to burn a copy of my XP guest installation onto a dvd, because the crashes have resulted in an unusuable and unrecoverable guest OS.

I have been disabling usb support and only re-enabling it to try it after each version update. I just finished doing that now with the new 3.1 release. The sequence of events was (roughly) install 3.1, power on XP guest, plug USB drive into laptop, hardboot laptop to regain control, restore XP guest from backup, disable usb support on virtualbox, sigh heavily

[Veazer]

I'm having the same issue on Win Server 2008 R2 64 bit. Conncecting any USB device kills VirtualBox. The VM was created on VirtualBox, so I'm not experiencing the same issue as wilksm.

[H0w4rd]

Test build 3.1.1 is available for testing, but according to the posts I read in the bugtracker, this problem hasn't been solved yet, so I remain on version 3.0.6.

[sandervl]

Test build 3.1.1 is available for testing, but according to the posts I read in the bugtracker, this problem hasn't been solved yet, so I remain on version 3.0.6.

The problem has been solved and I advise you to update to 3.1.2 or 3.0.14 when they are released. This USB bug has been present since the day we added support for x64 Windows hosts; it just has been very difficult to reproduce until recently.

[H0w4rd]

Thank you, it works!