USB 2 external drive will not connect in VMWare Workstation

[dhuber23]

I am using VMWare Workstation 9.01 with Windows 7 Pro for both the host and guest OS on a Dell XPS 8700. External USB hard drives and memory sticks do not seem to work.  The hard drive is USB 2.  When I try to connect to it using VM->Removable Devices, I get the following message:

  The connection for the device "X" was unsuccessful.  The device is in use.

I have seen some other people with similar problems, and their resolution has generally been to plug into a USB 2.0 port.  I have tried all 4 USB 2.0 ports on the machine, and I get the same error message each time.  Any suggestions on how to get this working?

Also, my USB memory sticks (also USB 2) don't even show up.  All devices work fine on the host OS.

Thanks in advance,

Daniel

[OscarDavey]

Hello,

Did your USB Sticks have Autorun applications on it?

Because it could be opened and do not allow to map it into Guest OS.

Try to use "Automatically connect new USB devices" in Virtual Machine Settings.

Hope will help.

Yours, Oscar