USB Not working

I am running Windows XP SP3 on a HP Compaq nx6325.

Earlier this week my USB ports stopped working. I thought an upgrade of the Bios may do the trick, so downloaded the upgrades from the HP. I have installed the upgrades and now find that not only do my USB ports not work, but I cannot get wireless connection (HP Wireless Assistant will not load) and my Quick Launch buttons crash and dump at restart.

On top of this (and I guess this is for another forum) for a few weeks I have had problems with system.exe and iexplorer.exe taking 100% CPU for extended periods and explorer.exe racking up Other I/O to 10s of millions.

I don't want to do too much more without some guidence.

Any help gratefully received.

Regards
Eddie

 

Look in Device Manager and report back here as to whether you device manager reports something wrong with your USB ports (such as a yellow exclamation point next to the device).

 

I have 3 USB Ports on my laptop.

Under the “Universal Serial Bus Controller” heading I have 5 items. "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller", 2 x “Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller” and 2 x “USB Root Hub”.

The Device manager shows a problem with "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller". The device status is "This device cannot start (Code 10)".

The Troubleshoot advises to delete it and reinstall. I have done this with a rescan within Device Manager and it then starts correctly (but USB ports still do not work). At this stage a third “USB Host Controller” starts. I have rebooted to search and it comes up with the same error.

I also have the yellow exclamation mark for a "Standard Floppy Disc Controller", with the same status "This device cannot start (Code 10)".

There are also errors with my Ports "Communication Port (Com1)" and "ECP Printer Port (LPT3)”. The status of both of these is "This device is disabled because the firmware of the device did not give it the required resources. (Code 29)".

When I delete the Ports I have to reboot and the problems reappear.

Regards
Eddie

 

The com1 and LPT1 port issues are easy - they are simply not enabled in the BIOS. So that's not a problem. If you need those ports to work, just go into the BIOS setup and enable them.

The USB port issue is more complicated - in fact I have no idea how to rectify it since you already deleted and reinstalled the device.

Maybe someone else here can point you in a more fruitful direction now that we have some diagnostic info.

 

The BIOS has the COM Ports set to enabled. Actually, everything is set to enabled on that screen.

I have also noticed that my battery is not detected. That uses a COM Port too I believe.

Any ideas?

 

I'm stumped.

 

The Malware guys can not find a Malware issue and advised I came back here. http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=231027&goto=newpost

Yesterday I had to reboot as the system.exe was taking 99% CPU. I used a utility called Process Explorer and saw that it was HAL.dll that was taking all of the CPU. Does that help?

The USB & COM Ports are my main problem, are the the high CPU and excessive disk access a sympton or a cause?

Is this the correct Forum to be in?

Regards
Eddie

 

Please note that the system.exe taking 100% CPU or the explorer.exe racking up enormous amouts of I/O Other are intermittent. They are not doing it at the moment. However the USB and the Wireless connection not working are constant.

1. I run Symantic Antivirus 10.1.7.7000, regularly run Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and use the Windows Firewall. Since raising these questions I have also installed SuperAntiSpyware.

2. Booting in Safe Mode makes no difference. The USB and Wireless does not work and Device Manager has the same items in error (see answer 4 below).

3. Yes and they are all enabled.

4. Under the “Universal Serial Bus Controller” heading I have 5 items. "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller", 2 x “Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller” and 2 x “USB Root Hub”.

The Device manager shows a problem with "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller" only. The device status is "This device cannot start (Code 10)".

The Troubleshoot advises to delete it and reinstall. I have done this with a rescan within Device Manager and it then starts correctly (but USB ports still do not work). At this stage a third “USB Host Controller” starts. I have rebooted to search and it comes up with the same error.

I also have the yellow exclamation mark for a "Standard Floppy Disc Controller", with the same status "This device cannot start (Code 10)".

There are also errors with my Ports "Communication Port (Com1)" and "ECP Printer Port (LPT3)”. The status of both of these is "This device is disabled because the firmware of the device did not give it the required resources. (Code 29)". When I delete the Com Ports I have to reboot and the problems reappear.

5. Last time the system.exe was taking all of the CPU I ran Process Explorer and saw that it was HAL.dll that was taking all of the CPU.

6. I have done as requested with no difference to the USB or Wireless connection (i.e. not working). The Device Manager is the same as in 4. Should I turn the items back on?

Thanks
Eddie

 

In addition to the problems below, I cannot view details of my battery.

In the Control Panel / Power option there is no Advanced Tab.

Regards
Eddie