virtualbox.org

I've got some Windows XP guests on a Windows 7 host. Until September they worked properly, with USB 2.0 support. In September I upgraded VirtualBox to version 4.3.16, including installing 4.3.16 guest additions on all supported guests (I've got some *BSD guests too) and all the XP guests lost access to USB 2.0 ports, with the error that guest additions needed to be installed. I reinstalled guest additions with no change, then uninstalled, rebooted, and reinstalled, then rebooted into safe mode, uninstalled, rebooted (back into safe mode), and reinstalled, but still no USB 2.0, and I'm still getting the error that guest additions haven't been installed. Mouse pointer integration works, as does the VirtualBox video driver: dynamic resizing of the VM screen works flawlessly. The VBoxStartup.Log file was filling with spam rather quickly, which another post said was a problem with 3D acceleration on Windows guests, and could be fixed by upgrading VirtualBox.

Yesterday I upgraded to 4.3.20, and installed 4.3.20 guest additions on all applicable guests. Mouse pointer integration works, the VirtualBox video driver works, other things seem to work properly, but still no USB 2.0.

Can anyone offer any suggestions to get USB 2.0 back?

Thanks

You need to install the matching 4.3.20 extension pack for VirtualBox.

Yes, it's quite easy actually. It's not the Guest Additions that provide the USB 2 functionality. It's the Extension Pack. Look for it in the downloads section (https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads). Make sure you install the one that matches your VirtualBox installation (Extension Pack 4.3.20 in your case).