“one of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned  and windows does not recognize it”  you will get this error even if all usb devices are connected and functioning. 

It is caused by a problem media encoder 7. 

 

 

SYMPTOMS

Windows Media Encoder 7 may not recognize a Universal Serial Bus (USB) camera, even though the Windows Media Services 4.1 encoder recognizes it.

CAUSE

Although it has only been tested with the Intel USB camera, Windows Media Encoder 7 works with most USB cameras that have a Video for Windows (VFW) or Windows Driver Model (WDM) driver. If a USB camera works with Windows Media Encoder version 4.1 but does not work with version 7, the VFW drivers are properly installed, but DirectX Media may not be properly installed.

Windows Media Encoder 7 uses DirectX Media to capture video from devices. If DirectX Media is not properly installed, DirectShow cannot properly recognize the USB camera because the camera cannot communicate with the VFW drivers.

DirectX Media can be improperly installed because of many reasons. The most common reason is that Microsoft Internet Explorer was only partially installed.

RESOLUTION

To resolve the problem, perform the following steps:

1.      Uninstall Windows Media Encoder 7.

Reinstall DirectX Media 6.0 from the following Microsoft DirectX Web site

Reinstall Windows Media Encoder 7 from the following Microsoft Windows Media Web site

The information in this article applies to:

           Microsoft Windows Media Services

           Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 7

           Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 7.1