Another PC Annoyance

[Moxio]

As some are aware, I've been gone for about 2 months. During this time, I had no access to my computer (I was not at home at all).

Before I left, my computer was pretty much in pristine shape. Games ran fine, etc.

However, upon my return, my PC is having a problem that's completely annoying and unreliable: not ONE of my USB ports are working (4 in back, 2 in front).

According to device manager, all my USB controllers/hubs are in working order, but when I plug in a digital camera USB cord or my external hard drive, things are different. There's absolutely no recognition that anything external is plugged.

Does anyone have any ideas to solve this? Any help would be much appreciated.

:) -Lance

[Strell]

Go into Device Manager, click on Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Tight click on each USB root hub, choose properties. There should be a Power Management tab. In there, you should see a box that mentions something like "Allow the computer to turn this off to save power." If it's checked, uncheck it. Do it for all the ports and then reboot.

If it doesn't work after that, right click on all of them and uninstall them. They should reinstall automatically upon reboot, but if you are able to have the driver specifically located somewhere, it wouldn't hurt.

If none of that worked, try a system restore (start->acessories->system tools->restore) and take it back to a time when it was working (any date that is in bold, so pick one from 2+ months ago if it was working then). Might be a good idea to back up files before doing this, but they shouldn't be harmed/touched with just a restore. You *could* restore it to a week ago, and if it didn't work, pick an earlier date, etc, and keep going back, but you might as well just pick a date far back just to begin with.

All else fails, scan for spyware/viruses/etc.

Still doesn't work? Do all the scans inside Safe Mode, test the ports in Safe Mode, and then test inside normal Windows.

Still doesn't work? Format, reinstall Windows (after backing up, of course).

Still fails? Physically dead ports.

Remember, kids. If it's not Scottish it's CRAP!

[Moxio]

Thanks, that helped a lot! :)

[BaZoOKajOe]

Well...Strell summed it up pretty damn nicely....Even learned something new myself. :)

Hope your problem gets fixed...

[jughead]

didn't want to make a new post bout this problem. Ok I am getting some memory for my comp. Unfortunately I do not know if you can mix different quanities of memory into seperate slots. I have checked the motherboard manual and the only thing that it says is that it supports up to 3 gigs of system memory. I am pretty sure I have PC2700 512mb stick. I was wanting to add a gig to to it. What do YOU think?

[Moxio]

Mix and matching different sizes / brands of RAM is fine, as long as they are of the same type (PC3200, etc.)

[Strell]

You can mix different speeds of ram as long as they are the same type. What that means is that you could have DDR ram of different speeds. For example, you could put in DDR 2700 (PC 266 Mhz) along with DDR 3200 (PC 333 Mhz) and it would function. However, the higher speed ram will perform at the lower speed. So if you had a gig of each, you ultimately end up with 2 gigs @ the lower speed (266 Mhz). So it's best if you keep the speeds the same, but it's not absolutely required (just highly, highly recommended, and since the price is pretty negligable you might as well).

Brand mixing won't cause a problem. I can't recommend a brand outside of Corsair, though you could google around.

Really the only other thing to check is how your motherboard will accept it. I mean, if you have 2 slots, do you HAVE to have Ram in each? Do they have to be in pairs (i.e., 1 gig and a 1 gig and not 512 and a gig)? But if you are good on that front, should be good all around.

[jughead]

Really the only other thing to check is how your motherboard will accept it. I mean, if you have 2 slots, do you HAVE to have Ram in each? Do they have to be in pairs (i.e., 1 gig and a 1 gig and not 512 and a gig)? But if you are good on that front, should be good all around.
that is what I am asking.

[jughead]

I have a 512 stick in one of my two 128 pins. Can I put a gig in the other one?

[argyle]

What they've said is normally yes, but you should check for your specific motherboard to be sure. Look up the manufacturer & model of your MB & check their website. If it's a pre-bought pc (Dell, etc) then you should be able to look up the pc model on their site & get the info you're looking for.