PC not recognising ANY Creative devices

[chopper]

OK, my head is fried.
Up until a couple of days ago, my PC (XP, automatic service pack updates, WMP 11) had no problem recognising, charging & syncing both my Zen v+ and my partner's Zen Micro Photo. Now all it does when you connect any of them is pop up a small speech bubble that says "USB device has malfunctioned and Windows does not recognise it." (They haven't - i can charge both at my work, and they both play perfectly well on their own).

I've tried to follow some of the suggested fixes on this site: i've rolled back WMP to v.10 to see if it would clear up, then went back to v.11. No luck. All Creative software is uninstalled - i think the problem may stem from the fact that i accidentally opened an old version of Mediaource while trying to figure out what programs to clear from the machine. The Device Manager doesn't even register the fact that any portable devices are connected - it just registers an Unknown Device under USB controllers. I tried to force it to see a driver, but that didn't work either. All i've managed to achieve so far is to have the PC not recognise one of my printers too (a new Epson - the old HP printer we have still connects and works perfectly through the same USB ports, so we know it aint that). we've tried different ports and different cables to no effect.

What am i missing/doing wrong?

Thanks in advance, guys'n'gals...

[CrowdAds]