Dell Dimension 4700 USB port problems

I have a Dell Dimension 4700 with Win XP. I also have a Dell printer which only has a USB cable to attach and communicate with the PC. I also have a digital camera dock which only uses USB cable. Neither of them are communicating with my PC. I have contacted Dell and have done everything they have asked: removing and reloading drivers, reinstalling WindowsXP, getting a brand new printer and USB cable sent to me, still nothing helps. Is there anyway the USB ports themselves are fried??? HELP!

 

I'm not a guru, but the first thing I would do is go to your device manager and see if anything is strange there, ie question marks, exclamation marks etc. then take it from there.
Bronson7

 

Oh, one other thing that's quick and easy is to boot up in your bios and see if your usb is enabled, if Dell gives you that option. But start with the device manager first. With my limited knowledge/experience, I hope that helps.
Bronson7

 

I have also checked in device manager under universal serial bus controllers and there are no exclamation points or question marks, just one item that says unknown device and the rest are universal host controllers and root hubs. I can only conclude that it is the actual usb ports themselves in the tower.

 

In device manager, under ports, LPT1, does it say the device is working properly? Also, I know this is a silly question, but is the software installed for your cam and printer? I'm asking because you're showing an unknown device. Hey, silly things happen. I've done a lot. Have you unplugged the printer's usb cord and reconnected with the printer and pc powered up to have the pc recognize the printer? Could be bad ports but that's pretty rare. Did you check the bios? That's the extent of my knowledge. Hopefully someone will be around shortly to help out. Do you have any other usb devices you could plug in, ie flash drives etc?
Bronson7

 

Everything says its working properly. I have uninstalled and reinstalled all software, unplugged and replugged in all plugs, restarted, checked bios, respooled spoolers, but they still arent recognized.

 

I pretty much did everything there was to do, even going into the boot to utility partition and doing an extended test of my pc which took 2+ hours and everything was working fine. Now, Dell tells me it must be a "software issue" with something called a "handshake" and it will cost me $99.00 to get there techs to guide me step-by-step. Im so pissed its not even funny. I'm sending this damn thing back. Sorry for the language but im frustrated as H$@!