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VirtualBox USB Add Filter From Device No Device Available Ubuntu

I am running an old XP license on a Virtualbox guest. One things that has always bugged me was the inability to use USB devices within my VirtualBox guest.

After searching google a few times for "Virtualbox USB Add Filter From Device No Device Available Ubuntu" and similar search terms, I found A LOT of different "solutions" that just wouldn't do what I wanted -- to be able to access my USB Flash Drive on my Virtual Box Windows XP guest.

So, on to the solution that worked for me (and will most likely work for you)!

1. Enable USB 2.0 (EHCI) Support

First, check your virtual box version!

I am using 4.1.12, so I had to go to:

 If you are using a different VirtualBox version, simply replace 4.1.12 with your version in the link.

There I downloaded:

 The important part here is the "-77245" in the file name, (if this is updated, the number may change, just look for the one that has the -7xxxx)

This is a special Extension Pack that allows you to enable USB 2.0 support. To install it just double-click the downloaded file, which should open VirtualBox and start the actual installation. You need to do this regardless of whether you have installed another extension pack already or not. After that enable USB 2.0 (EHCI) in the Settings of your VirtualBox Guest.

2. Add your linux user to the virtual box group

Manually add the linux user to the vboxusers group:
# sudo usermod -a -G vboxusers USERNAME
Where USERNAME is the user you are currently logged in with.

To make the user work in the new group, I had to logout and login again.

Now, when I open the Settings for my VirtualBox Guest, I see all my USB devices in the list when clicking on the "Add Filter From Device" icon. However, I did not have to add a Filter to have the USB flash drive available as a Removable Device within Windows XP. Also, when I plug in my external Hard Drive, it gets mounted by Ubuntu and is also available in my VirtualBox Guest at the same time.

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