USB ports dead

[Sir Cromulent Sparkles]

I was just wondering if anybody has ever had a problem with USB ports becoming inoperative due to power failure.

I usually plug my USB modem into the front of my computer but decided to plug it into the back of my computer to allow me to plug less frequently used items into the front 2 USB ports. When I did this the system immediately came up with a warning relating to it being unable to power USB ports and the computer immediately locked up and I was unable to even restart it.

I then had to reset the computer with the tower itself and when the system came back on I realised that the only USB ports that I had available were the two at the front, whilst the 6 at the rear are now all dead.

I will do a little searching through device manager and try to see what I can find but this is a very strange thing to have happened.

My computer is not new (about 1-2years old) and I have had the same devices plugged into the rear on multiple occasions so this isn't a case of the computer having rejected them before. Puzzling stuff.

[Sir Cromulent Sparkles]

I'm not quite sure what to do but this page seems to be helpful........

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dead-us...se-and-fix-it/

[Agent Smith]

They're probably physically dead i'd guess. Power issues can kill USB ports in my experience.
Installing a usb card into a spare PCI slot will give you more USB slots.

But first, it's worthwhile uninstalling the usb drivers from the device manager, and restarting windows, whence it should reinstall//initialise them.
Doing a bios reset wouldnt hurt either.

[Sir Cromulent Sparkles]

I have gone ahead and uninstalled usb drivers from the device manager but when I rebooted the problem remanined as only the front 2 usb ports reinstalled themselves.

I have put an order in for one of these................. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4-Port-US...item27dd5e2e2f

In the meantime I will try the bios reset.

[Rincewind]

The other thing you might be able to do is get more on the front/back with just some plugs.

The front USB are connected to a plug/plugs on the mother board usually located towards the bottom of the case. So you can buy a plate with USB plugs on it that plugs into these plugs (assuming you have one free). The two varities you can get is a plate which replaces a floppy drive (assuming your case has a floppy drive bay which is free). The second kind is a plate which replace a PCI slot cover (again assuming you have one of those free. This will enable you to access any spare USB interfaces your motherboard might have.

If you don't have any of those then you should still be able to buy a USB PCI card which will have something like four USB plugs on the back of the card and so will add them to the back of your case.

The plates I'm talking about look like this...

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99280A16GL.jpg

The first is USB3 but you get the idea.

[Sir Cromulent Sparkles]

Cheers Rincewind. That looks a like a much tidier option.

[Agent Smith]

I have put an order in for one of these................. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4-Port-US...item27dd5e2e2f

Haha - i have that item (to replace a great USB hub i gave away with a mB Pro with only a single working USB slot). Despite being budget build quality, they work quite well - or mine does