Cannot use USB sticks on windows guest

nedo72 · Post by **nedo72** » 4. Jul 2011, 15:14

Hello,
I'm completely new to VirtualBox and I am not able to use USB memory sticks.
I've downloaded and installed VirtualBox-4.0.10-72479-Win.exe and Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.0.10-72436.vbox-extpack.
Host: MS Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64 bit
Guest: MS Windows XP Professional SP3 32 bit
From within the guest OS I can nicely use shared folders and optical drives but I cannot use USB memory sticks even when creating a USB filter with the ProductID and VendorID of my stick. By the way, I was not able to retrieve those two IDs by "VBoxManage list usbhost" (on the host command prompt) since my stick is not listed even when it is attached, I only retrieve data for USB mouse and keyboard.

I tried reading manual and internet (this forum included) info but was not able to solve (this does not mean that I have accessed and understood 100% of the available info).

Could this be due to MS security updates that are disabling USB sticks from automatic autorun?...

Can you please direct me towards the available info in order to solve this?

Thank you

Best Regards

Nedo

Post by **Sasquatch** » 4. Jul 2011, 21:33

The removal of autorun on USB devices is not the cause. There must be another one, probably a lock on the Host for the device. What you can do is make it a shared folder and use it that way. You can then access the USB device from both Host and Guest.

nedo72 · Post by **nedo72** » 4. Jul 2011, 22:19

OK. I'll try that.
THX!
Best
N

Hans Eberhardt · Post by **Hans Eberhardt** » 5. Jul 2011, 08:14

You can mount it as \\<Hostname>\$<driveletter> with administrator password.

nedo72 · Post by **nedo72** » 5. Jul 2011, 10:42

I made it a shared folder with auto mounting option selected, and now I can use it; it also (correctly) appears in the VM menu "devices, USB devices".
THX

nedo72 · Post by **nedo72** » 5. Jul 2011, 20:53

The only problem I have is that, by doing as previously posted, I can see the USB stick from the guest OS only if I plug it before I activate the VM. If I plug it when the VM is on, I am not able to see the attached folder (i.e. network drive) associated to the stick.
Is there a way to overcome this?

Post by **Sasquatch** » 5. Jul 2011, 22:09

That's probably because you have created a filter for it. Other option is that the SF definitions are checked for validity and invalid ones are not shown/activated. If you can properly see the device in the USB menu, can you also send it to the VM so it can access it natively? If so, then that is one way to solve it, though you won't be able to access it from the Host until you release it from the VM.

nedo72 · Post by **nedo72** » 6. Jul 2011, 08:43

Hi Sasquatch,
my situation at the moment is the following one.
The USB memory stick is set as shared folder with auto-mount option and I have no USB filter set (I had but I noticed no difference with or without so I decided to get rid of them).
If I plug the stick in the host and then I activate the guest, I can access the stick shared folder and the stick also correctly appears in the USB devices from the VM menu.
If I activate the guest and then plug the stick, the shared folder is not accessible (nor can I "refresh" it in order to became available) and the stick does not appear in the USB devices from the VM menu.
Thank you for the help

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Cannot use USB sticks on windows guest

Cannot use USB sticks on windows guest

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