Rubberdinghy's Compy Problems Issue 17895

[rubberdinghy]

USB ports stopped working.

Everything in Device Manager says they are fine.

Re-installed all drivers.

Checked Bios. All enabled.

Ideas?

[Basher]

USB ports are connected internally to the motherboard. Are these the ports on the back of the computer or the front? This is a desktop?

[Basher]

Windows XP?

[Basher]

Time to head home. Maybe someone can take over to assist the Ding.

And dude, relax.

[rubberdinghy]

I finally got XP SP2 installed, hoping this would remedy my problems...

they weren't working previously either...

The ports are installed directly to the MOBO.

Maybe they are just fried....however, it still seems to charge my ipod.

[Booche]

Maybe they are just fried....however, it still seems to charge my ipod.

I thought you said they werent working?

Seems like they are working to me.

[rubberdinghy]

then what's your solution?

[Booche]

You need a solution for something that is working?

[bouche]

how many things have you tried to plug into your USB ports?

[mattm]

Try this:

Go into device manager. Go to the usb section. Uninstall everything in it (once everything in it is uninstalled it will cease to exist). Reboot.

If your USB still doesn't work then it's probably hardware.

WARNING: Do the following at your own risk (though i'd do it in a second on my own computer I take no liability for the suggestion, that being said, I've done it with other drivers before and it's worked and I don't think there's any danger except that some things may stop working and need to be reinstalled if you do something wrong, that's about it.)

One other thing you can try, is to do the above step (uninstall all usb related things from device manager) and then delete the driver files from the computer.

Driver files are located in:

C:\Windows\system32\drivers\

They are files that have .sys for the extension. If you look down the list in alphabetical order you'll notice a bunch of usb ones there. Delete em and then reboot. You might be asked for the windows disk when the system reboots or it might have exclamation points or whatnot in device manager meaning you need to run the mobo's chipset driver program again. Either way, if the files for USB have somehow become corrupt, they will be replaced this way.

If none of that works then you have two more options.

1. http://pccyber.com/?v=product&i=IO-LACIE-130813

(PCI USB 2.0 card, $30 there from PC Cyber but if you just go in and ask for one, they probably have cheaper ones, I got mine for $15, 4 ports)

2. Maybe even before buying a PCI card, reinstall windows. Backup everything you need and just reinstall the thing. I do it every couple months just because it keeps it clean but it's not hard to do at all. The hard part is getting all your programs and settings back how you had them but after doing it a couple times even that becomes pretty easy.

3. Yup, there's a 3. Buy a new computer. I just upgraded my mobo/ram/processor but used all the old parts and it cost something like $250 for a pretty sweet new machine. Granted my DVD drive is 5 years old and loud, my case was disgusting (thanks to work for a new one), etc, etc, it's the computer inside that counts. If your stuff is new enough you might even be able to get away with just a new motherboard and keep all your ram and processor and whatnot.

That is all

Edited January 22, 2009 by Guest

[rubberdinghy]

You need a solution for something that is working?

It charges my Ipod. I cannot Sync my Ipod to Itunes.

I cannot attach my camera.

I cannot attach my USB stick.

Should I try shoving a grilled cheese in there....

I tried your ideas Mattm...still nothing.

[mattm]

Hmmm, if it's charging the ipod then there's power which means it should technically work (should being a keyword here).

Personally, I would reinstall windows and if that doesn't work, just go out and buy a USB 2.0 card (don't go to futureshop/bestbuy unless they have a mad sale on them, get an OEM one from a small computer store like PC-Cyber or Sprint Computers).

Isn't much else you can do. I talked to a couple guys here and they say the same (we design, build and program custom hardware here so the guys know quite a bit about drivers and electricity in computers, etc, etc), sounds like some pins may have come un-soldered or something on those lines (can happen, or they can become eroded, etc). So you might have power but the data pins might not be on correctly. If there's a wire involved, replace it and/or make sure it's firmly in place. If the ports are built directly into the motherboard, well, you're out of luck.

PS: Good luch, problems like these suck

Edited January 22, 2009 by Guest

[TheAlphaNerd]

Have you tried the big format?

[rubberdinghy]

Not yet...I do have alot of time on my hands

[mattm]

Do it, it's good practice.

Before you do, split your hard drive into multiple partitions (2 of them). You can look up how to do that in google (partition magic works great).

After you have 2 partitions setup on your hard drive, always store information on partition 2 (say your D: drive) and install everything onto partition 1 (your C: drive).

This way you can reinstall windows by formatting C: drive all you want and your data will always be good on the other partition. Saves a tonne of time in trying to back everything up.

Things to remember when backing up:

-My Documents

-Email (email client should have export)

-Bookmarks/other files

----I use firefox and save a copy of the entire profile and then just copy all the files into the new profile and boom, all passwords, bookmarks, etc are there again, even the stuff I've typed in search boxes.

-Check programs for where they store files by default and make sure you grab the files

----quicktax stores the tax files in it's own folder I believe, though that might have changed, and there may be other programs that do that as well.

-Settings wizard

----Open up accessories in the start menu and you'll notice a settings wizard. Use it and you can save all your settings, etc, to move them to the new computer (background, windows preferences and pretty much anything you want). WARNING: I find it's better to tell it not to backup any files and just grab the files myself as it will backup files based on type by default which is way too much.

Before the format/reinstall:

-Get all the programs/files you need ready to go.

----For example, I make a drivers folder and download all the current drivers into it. I also make a progs folder and download all the latest versions of the software I use (good time to upgrade if need be). Store these folders somewhere like a USB driver (or partition 2 if you have the setup I mentioned before) and you'll save yourself some time. You'll also save yourself some headache if for some reason you lose network after the re-install, this way you have your network card drivers ready to go and don't need the internet right off...

-Get the latest service pack

----You can download an installable file with whatever the latest service pack is. Download it and keep it with the other files. This will save some update work once the new windows is up and running.

That's about it. Make sure to resign yourself to losing valuable info (that inevitably doesn't make it into the backup) and then, as nike would say, just do it.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Guest

[rubberdinghy]

So...here's an update...I find it's a little strange but it seems to work now, sometimes...

Bought a PCI USB card...plugged her in....

Didn't work right away, and the compy didn't even recognize it...took it out, put it in another slot...same thing...didn't recognize it...

I was sitting on the floor with my compy in pieces, turned her back on and waited...

It loaded, waiting for windows to recognize the new hardware. NOTHING. Check the drivers....they are all there, no little yellow question marks. Still nothing...still sitting on the floor looking for something to furiously throw through Sloth's monitor.

Then all of a sudden. "BING" NEW HARDWARE FOUND. And it started doing it's thing.

Waited. Plugged in my IPOD "BING" again! Holy shit...ITUNES pops up....slowly getting a boner!!!

IPOD SYNCS!

JEOMK!

I have no idea what I did, or what happened. but it seems to work!!!

Thanks for nothing BOOCHE!

[bouche]

if you got a boner from that, you should get an iMac.

[rubberdinghy]

Guess what...Had everything working great...

uh-oh, burning smell.

There goes the mobo.

Question...what's the deal with SATA drives?

[Booche]

Karma'd

[headymamamyrna]

No ,Copper no!

[boiler]

I think this is what you should do:

[timouse]

of course you don't need to dress so formally. i would reccommend eye protection though.

[mattm]

SATA = faster

If you get an entire new computer, go SATA with everything. New motherboards can handle quite a few SATA devices which are faster and also the current standard (in other words, if you buy a drive right now, the standard is sata and IDE, the old standard, is being fazed out).

If you just get parts and build your computer and want to keep your old hard drive/dvd drive (which should probably be fine although things plugged directly into the motherboard might have been fried, there's actually a good chance they are fine too but then who knows, it's a case by case type thing). Anyway, back to what I was saying, if you just build a new computer then you'll want to make sure it has at least 1 IDE if your old devices were IDE.

If you want a used computer and can get out to merivale there's a used computer store in the merivale mall which has pretty good prices but you can build a computer for fairly cheap if you don't have to replace the hard drive and dvd drive, just ram/mobo/processor and use the old case (make sure the new mobo fits by checking it's form factor).

[rubberdinghy]

I bought a rather inexpensive mobo and it only has one IDE, which kinda threw me off. I was expecting at least two. I've got a CD drive that I setup as a slave to my hardrive for now...I was talking to the dude at sprint and he said I could get a generic SATA DVD writer for about 32 bones. Just wondering if it was worth it.

I was surprised everything still worked.....

I've got a decent chip I think, it's an AMD Athlon 3500...things seem to be running smoothly, except the fact I can't seem to get my USB ports running at 2.0.

[mattm]

Same thing with me. I upgraded but the stupid mobo only has one IDE and my stuff is old so I have one of my hard drives sitting out due to the need for my old crappy dvd player.

I also might partake in this $32 burner at sprint (I go there or pc-cyber pretty much exclusively for computer parts) but I've also been thinking about waiting, save a few and get a Bluray/dvdburner/cdburner.