USB problem

My daughter got a digital camera for Christmas and when I attach it to the USB port, my computer re-boots. I had a similar problem last week with my printer when I tried to photo copy something. I clicked to photocopy and the printer scanned the item then re-booted the computer. The printer works on a USB port as well. I ended up deleting and re-installing my printer thinking that it was a driver problem but now that I am having the same problem with my camera, I think it has more to do with the USB ports. Any ideas where to start? Re-installing the printer seems to have corrected the problem with the printer.

 

Are you connecting the camera to the computer before turning on the camera? I believe that's usually the best procedure.

I think a bit of static electricity from the camera cord might be the cause of the problem. I've experienced re-boots from connecting a camera cord or other device to a USB port during winter (in Ohio) when the air is dryer and static electricity is more likely to be present.

To test this theory, could you open your computer case and ground yourself by touching a metal part of the chassis, as explained here: Static Electricity and Computers. I suggest you also touch the end of the camera cable to the computer chassis just before connecting it to the USB port.

If this doesn't work, I may be on the wrong track here with the static electricity theory, but, as I said, I've experienced reboots where I'm sure this was the cause.

 

It did not work but thank you for the suggestion.

On a hunch, I tried to turn off the computer and boot with the camera attached and it just re-boots when the XP logo screen appears. I can not boot into safe mode either. As soon as I unplug the camera, it boots fine.

I have run spybot and my antivirus and nothing. I have run CCleaner and cleaned up.

I did a system restore to a month ago but I am still getting this conflict. Any other suggestions?

 

Have you tried different ports on your computer? Can you try that camera on another computer?

 

I have two USB ports on this computer and it does it on both. I can try to take it to work to test on another computer. This is my only system at home at the moment.

 

Only two USB ports, including front and back? What make and model is that computer? What version of Windows is installed on it?

Does the camera require USB 2.0? Does the computer have it, or the older USB 1.1? One way to tell: go to Device Manager and expand the section for Universal Serial Bus controllers. Do any of the items listed there have "Enhanced Host Controller" in the title?

 

No, none of them have Enhanced and yes the camera requires 2.0. I just tried to hook up my other daughters MP3 which also requires 2.0. I have the following listed
Generic USB hUb
sis7001 PCI to USB Open host controller
sis7001 PCI to USB Open host controller
USB Printing support
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub.

I have a P4 1.40 Ghz with 512Mb.

I am running Windows XP Pro Service Pack 2.

Is there anything I can do with this or am I S.O.L?

 

Here's a solution but it's not free. You can add USB 2.0 to your computer by installing an Add-On Card in a PCI slot. Here are two options:

Rosewill Low-Profile PCI to 2+1 USB2.0 Cards Model RC-100 [this card adds two external USB 2.0 ports to the back of your computer]

BELKIN Hi-Speed USB 2.0 5-Port PCI Card Model F5U220v1 [this card adds four external USB 2.0 ports to the back of your computer]

Of course, you should verify that you have an empty PCI slot before ordering.

Edit: Oops, I just noticed you're in Canada. Newegg.com does not ship to Canada. You can order a similar item from www.tigerdirect.ca. Here you go: USB card, Components\Interface Cards\USB Adapters

 

Thank you very much for your help. They appear to be only about $30.00 so it is not too bad. Hopefully it will do the trick or I may end up buying a new computer as this one may meet an unfortunate end in a frustating rage!

Thank you again for all your help, I will get one tomorrow and let you know.

 

I think it ended up being the power supply. I plugged in the new card, booted the computer and my system got half way through the boot process and shut down. This time it shut down for good. NOTHING! I took the card out, still nothing. No noise, no fan, nothing! The power supply is shot. I only hope that it did not fry my hard drive. Looks like I am computer shopping tomorrow when the stores open.

 

New computer up and running, with a 2.0 USB and the old hard drive a slave drive and the camera up an running fine. I did not loose anything on my hard drive thank heavens.
Thank you usafveteran for your advice. This site has assisted me far more than just on my posts.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Glad to hear you have USB 2.0 now and that that camera is working with the computer as it should.