USB Device Not Recognized/Unknown Device

Connections b> The USB cable must be securely connected both to the iPod and to the selected USB port on the computer. Reattach the cable at both ends, and click "Computer" in the start menu to see if the iPod is shown connected to the drive for that USB port. b> Drivers b> If the drivers of the computer responsible for the USB interface are out of date, malfunctioning or incorrectly installed, that may also cause the iPod to not be recognized by the computer. If this is the case, the device may not appear in iTunes and there may be an exclamation point next to the device in Device Manager. b> Software b> The latest version of iTunes is recommended to best communicate with the various models of iPod. Go to the iTunes website or click "Help" and "Check for Updates" in iTunes to install the most recent update. Further, the computer must be running Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 for PCs, or OS X v.10.4.11 or later for Macs. b> Battery b> The iPod's battery must have sufficient charge to be recognized in iTunes; charge it either via USB connection or another power source if the indicator shows a low battery. Once the battery has charged, try to connect the iPod to the computer via USB cable again.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538 Ipod not recognized http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1495 Device not recognized

You mentioned that you uninstalled the unknown device from the Device manager. If you uninstall it then connected your usb flash drive you will see an error again on your device manager. This means that the driver for your usb port is not properly installed.

To install it, visit dell website, look for the model of your machine and locate the driver, download it then install from your machine.

I have had problems in the past with some Mp3 players including Ipod and Iphones not recognized by some motherboards and I found that even with the latest drivers not all USB plugs work as they should be, either USB 1 or USB 2, for example recently in my ASUS motherboard, (though my ASUS mobo is a few years old) it does have USB 2 but my Ipod and my sister's Iphone were not recognized by it and what I did was to buy a USB card with a couple of external connectors and I installed this in my PC and installed the Windows XP drivers that came with it. When I pluged my Ipod and my sister Iphone they were recognized inmediately and they have not given me a problem ever since. You know, what happened is that even though this card is just another USB 2 connector card it's manufactured by somebody different than the motherboard maker and it has different drivers. For one reason or another my Ipods and my sister Iphone were not recognized by my mobo and it's USB drivers even though most other USB 2 devices work without a problem. Those USB 2 cards are very cheap now, you can get them for about $8 to $12 in some places and that may solve your problems. I'm not saying that this is a sure fire way of solving the problem cause there may be other reasons but for a lot of people this can work and they wont have to go crazy wondering if their devices are damaged, if that's the case they can go to the store and ask for a replacement or have them fixed by the factory but before doing that it may be wise to check if your device is recognized by somebody elses computer first, if that's the case then this may be a solution for you.

im not for shure what OS you are running but with XP and newer it should read it. try downloading itunes

Hey, watch this tutorial and try the things it suggest.

Id highly recommend, restarting, and returning the device into the original state.

All this is covered in the video here:

http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/tutorials/troubleshooting.html

I had a very similar problem with a USB camcroder, drove me crazy! This sounds like a USB device not being recognized, this issue is rather uncommon with XP, it's not the player or device, unless the device is not working proplerly. 9 out of 10 times it's system device manager.

(Solution)
With the device plugged into the USB go to control panel and click on system and navigate to your device manager hardware>device manager, scroll down to Universal Serial Bus Controllers, there should be either an X or an exclamation mark indicating the device/driver is not loaded properly, right click on that line and chose uninstall driver, reboot then plug the device in, if it asks for a driver then put in the CD and let the driver install it. If this still does not work, then repeat the above but instead of choosing uninstall when you right click choose "update driver" and when it asks for a location to the driver, point it to the driver on the CD.

Hope this helps

I struggled with this issue for a while and finally found a post that helped me. Hold menu and the center buttons until the iPod turns off. Then, immediately hold the left and center buttons to pull up the iPod diagnostic menu. Scroll down to the option "Reset" and select it. My iPod was finally recognized by iTunes. Good luck :)

What version of iTunes and Windows are you using? If you update your iTunes, it might recognize the driver. 

was there an error number that popped up on the error message? i could probably look it up on apple support for you, i had a similar problem to this, and i could probably help you out :]

Go into the device manager, click on View > Show hidden devices. Look under unknown devices or under USB for unknown devices. Also check under the section relating to the type of usb device. If you find an Unknown Device, or a device with an exclamation point, right click on it and uninstall. Disconnect the device, reboot and install the drivers/software for it if any. If it's still not working check it in another computer. If you cannot get it to work in either machine, the usb plug of the device is probably damaged. Possibly a loose solder joint. Have the manufacturer send you a new one if its still under warranty.