Reset usb ports without rebooting (Windows)

For this purposes you will need devcon utility from Microsoft. This utility is no more than 100 KBytes in size, but in case you would like to use devcon-utility guys from Microsoft suggests you to download huge WDK iso-file (about 3 GBytes). Fortunately there is workaround which I’ve found here.

For Windows Xp/Vista + Windows Server 2003(R2) (as described by Microsoft here):

x86: Download Support.cab (which is Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 32-bit Support Tools) and extract “devcon.exe”. (download size: 3.45 MB)

amd64: Download w2k3sp2_3959_usa_x64fre_spcd.iso (which is Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2, x64 Editions – ISO-9660 CD Image File) and mount the “.iso” file, then go to “SUPPORT/TOOLS/SUPPORT.cab” and extract “devcon.exe”. (download size: 475 MB)

For Windows 7/8/8.1/10 + Windows Server 2008(R2)/2012(R2)/2016:

x86: Download 82c1721cd310c73968861674ffc209c9.cab, extract the file “fil5a9177f816435063f779ebbbd2c1a1d2”, and rename it to “devcon.exe”. (download size: 7.73 MB)

amd64: Download 787bee96dbd26371076b37b13c405890.cab, extract the file “filbad6e2cce5ebc45a401e19c613d0a28f”, and rename it to “devcon.exe”. (download size: 7.29 MB)

All the links (except for the script) are provided by Microsoft, and both links to .cab files are the same links that WDK uses to obtain its packages.

Okay, now we have devcon-utility. What then?

1. Enumerate internal root usb-hubs. Fire-up windows command-line in privileged mode, navigate to folder where is devcon stored and then type: devcon findall *ROOT_HUB* (this will return vertical list of available hubs)
2. Then reset preferred usb-hub with: devcon restart <selected hub from vertical list>
3. Or you can use wild-card matching and reset every hub you computer have with: devcon restart *ROOT_HUB*
4. That’s all

One-second humor

Internal file filbad6e2cce5ebc45a401e19c613d0a28f contains interesting signature – filbad* – feel-bad. I don’t know is this really a coincidence 🙂