faulty usb ports

My dad has a new PC using Vista, and has a printer connected via a USB cable, and a USB bluetooth dongle to cnnect his Nokia phone for synch'ing.
Both seem to goto sleep, and require re-establishing connection or PC re-boot.
Any ideas? I've heard USB ports can turn off when not in use.

 

I had similar problem with my first USB printer I bought drove me mad until I found this solution. This is for XP but I am sure it is similar for Vista

Click on Start and then right-click on My Computer.
Click on Properties and then on the Hardware tab.
Half-way down on the right, click on Device Manager.
Click the plus sign in front of Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
Double-Click on the first USB Root Hub (not USB 2.0 Root Hub).
Click on the Power Management tab.
Uncheck the box that says Allow the computer to turn off this device to save ower.
Click OK and repeat for all other USB Root Hubs.

 

Those boxes are already unchecked!
His Pc goes into standby mode when left for a time, might this affect them?

Most annoying thing is the printer is wireless and we can't get that to work either!

 

BUMP....can't believe there are no further responses!!!