USB "Power Surge" problem (not working)

I have two USB ports on the back of my laptop that I have had no problems with ever. I have a 2.5" Ext HDD and a USB mouse that I connect into it, and thats about it. They were working fine earlier today, then all of a sudden when I plugged in the HDD it said there was a "Power Surge", something it never did before. It wouldnt recognize the drive or start it up. I tried it over and over again and it still couldnt get enough power to run it. Well, I looked all over, and all I found were things not pertaining to this problem, or ways to "shut off that annoying bubble that keeps popping up". I thought it could be a problem with the HDD until I plugged in the mouse and it did the same thing, and the mouse wont work either.

Any help...please...because I do computer work for the Marine Corps and I have gotten 3 other complaints so far about it. Is this a new virus? Bad Microsoft Update?

 

I'm guessing here, because nobody else has chimed in...

Is there any possibility that the external drive was sucking too much power from the USB port? Or was the drive separately powered?

The reason I ask is because USB can provide power to an attached device -- but not very much. If the port was overloaded, it may have finally given up the ghost.

 

Are you running it on battery power or mains power when this "surge" happens?