usb ports not recognising anything

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by flower power, May 2, 2006.

  1. flower power

    flower power Private E-2

    Hello,

    My name is Zoe, Im laurie's daughter to anyone who knows her (i think that she posts her problems on here a lot) lol :)

    Im having difficulties with my usb ports and my disk drive (cd/dvd) The ports will not recognise anything that i put in them, ive tried all different devices, and the cd drive wont even open. This all started just after i was downloading music from cd's onto my sony software for a walkman. When i pluged my sony walkmen device into the usb i realised that it was not recognising anything! I followed the help and support advice and the device manager says that everything is working properly! The next step, it advises, is to remove and reinstall the device driver. I just wanted to get an oppionion on it before i did this. I have four different usb ports and they are all not recognising anything that i put in them. If any one has any advice? Thank you.

    Im not sure if this was the right place to post this so ive coppied it to the support forum? Im not sure what comp specs you need so heres everything
    windows xp 2002, Advent laptop, Mobile intel (R). Pentium (R), 4 CPU 3.20 GHZ 1.05 GHz, 512MB of RAM:confused:
     
  2. flower power

    flower power Private E-2

    My disk drive (CD/DVD) is working! I tipped up my laptop to get rid of some crums and it came to life!!! :rolleyes: But still the usb hubs are not working. can anyone tell me if it is safe to remove and reinstall the device manager? Is this easy to do?
     
  3. Mada_Milty

    Mada_Milty MajorGeek

    Typically, yes, it is easy to do. You just have to make sure that you have drivers! Windows XP has a decent driver database, and can often install them automatically, but it doesn't cover everything. I'd try it, and if you didn't have the drivers, then post back, and we can help you find them!

    To remove and reinstall them in device manager, please follow the steps below:

    1. Hit windows key + r (or click start --> run)
    2. Type 'devmgmt.msc' without the quotes
    3. Expand 'Universal Serial Bus Controllers'
    4. For each item there, right-click it, and select 'Uninstall'
    5. Restart your machine.

    When windows re-loads, it will try to automatically install the devices you just removed. If after that, there are yellow exclamation marks in devmgmt.msc, post back and we will help you.
     
  4. flower power

    flower power Private E-2

    Thank you Mada Milty, but that didnt work :rolleyes:

    I uninstalled all the usb controllers and it automatically reinstalled them when i turned my computer back on.. but they're still not working. Not responding to anything i plug in. Is there anything else i can try? thanks x
     
  5. flower power

    flower power Private E-2

    I called the pc world support number and they didnt sound like they knew what they were doing?? but theyve asked me to send my computor in to them. The problem is that i have 1 month left of university and i cant do with out my computor for that long. Does any one have any more suggestions for fixing usb problems?? Many thanks, Zoe x
     
  6. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Probably a stupid comment, but ...... have you tried anything else in those ports, like a usb printer? Or a USB keyboard/mouse? Usually, unless the port is fried, the only times you have problems with them is if they are needing a docking port in order to connect, or using a USB2 device on a USB 1.1 port.
     
  7. flower power

    flower power Private E-2

    Thankyou but i did try lots of different usb devices in the ports and none of them are recognising anything. Ive got all kinds of other holes in the back of my comp, does anyone know whether i can get a different lead that will conect a usb device to something else? [​IMG]
     
  8. maybeok

    maybeok Private First Class

    Re: USB Question

    Check to see if you have on board the "USB Storage Toolbox"

    Found in two places ---
    1] = Programs = Menu =
    2] = Control Panel = Add/Remove = Programs = [as "USB Mass Storage Toolbox"]

    If you do not have this programming available possibly may be the fault??

    I am pretty sure it is an associated program with the USB ports
    Yes I may have to be corrected?
     
  9. bigbazza

    bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

    If you have a serial port on the back of your machine (some do, some don't), then you can get a serial to USB adapter (I think), if the earlier suggestions don't work

    Serial port has 2 rows of (male) pins, top row has 5, bottom row has 4.

    Regards to laurie_b

    Bazza


    ===

     
  10. bigbazza

    bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

    I am sorry, FP, I gave you the wrong advice. I was thinking of the PS2 port for your mouse. There is a PS2 to USB converter that comes with the current crop of PS2/ USB mice, but I don't think you can use that converter to plug in other USB devices.

    Sorry for the misleading info. I was thinking of PS2 mice and got confused with serial mice.

    Scrub this suggestion. Bazza
     
  11. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Last stupid suggestion ...only other thing I can think of .... check your cmos settings and make sure the usb devices are enabled (though I can't imagine how they would have become disabled). Only other thing you might do is to see if you can put in a pci/usb card.
     

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