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Regarding USB Ports...

18 years ago

I think I see what the problem is with my printer that I was asking about earlier in the week - my USB ports have all died.

Does anyone know if it's possible to restart them or replace them somehow?

I am not not able to use my Kodak, I Tunes or print anything.

Very annoying...really don't want to spend $$$ on a new machine right now.

Anyone???

Thanks

Suzan J

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Comments (3)

ravencajun Zone 8b TX
18 years ago
humm well if all of them have died I would wonder why that is, if only one had gone bad that would be less questionable. You can certainly replace them, they are on a card that you plug into the pc slot for USB.

did something happen to the pc prior to this usb failure? power failure, lightening, something strange in the pc itself? add any new programs?

you might get the free belarc advisor tool and have it analyze your system and see if it shows anything strange.
http://belarc.com/

a few things I would try:
shut down the desktop and unplug the power cord for 30 minutes, power cycling* everything. Restart with nothing connected, then connect each USB component.*In power cycling I mean power off all peripherals that are connected to the pc, this would include printers, routers anything electrical that is hooked to the pc as well, leave all off and unplugged for the 30 mins.

In your device manager under USB controllers what is listed? are there any yellow icons with ! point in them? (right click my computer, properties, hardware tab, device manager)

this is an example of what you would get to replace your current card.
USB2.0 PCI CARD

Question> when you have been using your usb ports, at the time you unplug anything from them are you always using the safely remove hardware icon down in your sytray by the clock? This is essential, to click on that and select the item you want to remove, then wait till it says you can safely remove item.
sjarz
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for all that information Raven, wow, you are quite the fountain of knowledge!
I haven't been using the safety icon in my tray but I will watch that from now on.
It was a power failure that killed my usb ports - and I got just what you suggested, the PCI card, installed it yesterday and all is well.
Thanks for all the great ideas and suggestions. Things are functioning normally (well...) here again.
Suzan J
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ravencajun Zone 8b TX
18 years ago
Good be absolutely sure you do use that remove safely icon or it can kill the usb ports and more if you don't, it can make your usb drives un-usable.
Safely Remove Hardware

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