flash drive/system reboot

Anyone know what could cause a computer to reboot the second i touch a flash drive to the usb port? i dont even have to plug it in, right when the metal from the flash drive touches the usb port, the computer restarts.

 

If you plug the flash drive in before turning on the computer, can you use your flash drive then?

I've experienced that with my computer. It sometimes happens with the front USB ports. IIRC, it also happened when I touched a digital camera cable to the USB port. I also have two USB extension cables connected to back ports for easy access at front; the rebooting has never happened with them.

I suspect, indeed, I feel quite sure, this rebooting is due to static electricity. With my computer, this does not always happen when I touch a flash drive to a front port. So, humidity and other factors related to static electricity are probably at play here.

I know it's annoying. The only thing I can suggest is to try grounding yourself and the flash drive to discharge any static electricity before touching the USB port. You might also open your computer and inspect the wiring to make sure nothing looks unusual as far as wiring connections.

 

Youre actually very correct. It is the front ports that have the problem, the back one are fine. when i plug the flash drive into the back ports, windows installs it then i am able to plug it into the front ports with no problem.

So if it is in fact static causing it, i would assume id be able to plug it into another usb port, then remove it and plug it into the problem pc. i tried this and it didnt seem to work out.

funny thing is, the computers in the library that this is happening in are all the same. only one of the computers has this happening. i was thinking it might have something to do with driver installs, but i dont even have to plug it in for it to reboot.

it may be static, but there has to be something specifically wrong with the one pc this is happening on. ill look deeper into your static idea and post back later on.

Thanks for the reply.

 

Hi King,

One thought: The computer with the problem may be plugged into an outlet that is not grounded. Had a very important customer raise heck over someone getting shocked on my bar code scanner. Turned out that the place was wired half with self grounding outlets and half with no grounds at all. Try that machine in an outlet that has a comp that does not have the problem. MAYBE!

Good Luck, Jim

 

k i finally got around to trying stuff with this. it seems every outlet i plug into with that computer, the problem happens. could it be the power supply? ive been having problems with these power supplies. what else could it be? i can build a computer, but thats about it when it comes to hardware...

thanks

 

well now its happening with every computer in that computer lab so i think your idea is probably right usafvet. ill have to look into that and see what i can do. any ideas on how i can easily remedy this static situation?