Most portable or "travel size" hubs are junk.

Several eBay sellers list a 7-port aluminum hub that's definitely portable. I purchased
one. It's built like a miniature tank. Really nice!

98SE is having some trouble with this hub. It works normally for awhile and then your
USB sticks stop loading. I unplug the hub for a few seconds. When its plugged in again
the system tries to install it, like it needs a driver. Hubs are passive devices. They don't
need third party drivers.

It appears in Device Manager as an improperly installed Unknown Device. Deleting the item
keeps it away for a few boot cycles until the next time when the system again fails to load
devices plugged into the hub.

(Ironically, I've never had this problem with all the junk hubs that were thrown in the trash.)

This is a very old problem with systems like 98SE. Years ago I devised a two part solution.
It involves adding some command lines to autoexec.bat and placing a script in the Startup
folder. My fix has always worked well, but a less complex solution would be preferable.

I'm confused.

When its plugged in again the system tries to install it, like it needs a driver. Hubs are passive devices. They don't need third party drivers.

AFAIK, it *does* need a Driver, just not a 3d Party. Built-in USB's are also via a Root Hub. When you plug another Hub in, it becomes another "chained" Hub. I have a 3-port Extension Hub and even though you state "passive" it definitely shows up in Device Manager (note the word "extension"). A hub is a hub is a hub (Root, of course) and THEN the "ports" are listed (as part of the Hub).

 

It sounds like there may be a problem more with the USB Stick / Transfer.

Yes, you're absolutely correct.

Old Windows systems don't natively support USB devices. I was thinking about all the generic
USB drivers created for older systems. I remember trying several until I found one that has
worked perfectly with every USB device I own.

Hubs are definitely listed in Device Manager under "Universal Serial Bus Controllers." That's
where they should appear if properly installed.

I'm 99% certain there is nothing physically wrong with this hub. It's been used with three
computers. No problems.

When (or if) this glitch happens again I'll find the Registry Key associated with the Unknown
Device. It would take several paragraphs to explain how I've dealt with these kind of problems
in the past. Like I said, it involves autoexec.bat and a script. Not a "clean" solution, but it
works.