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USB ports not working

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by azarzy

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I plugged in my husband's Ipod to my 2.0 USB the other day and it wouldn't do anything. The Ipod froze up and it gave me a power surge error message. I reset the port but then my mouse (USB) quit working after that. Nothing else that runs off of a USB works either. I have tried updating drivers and uninstalling/reinstalling. The USB's show up fine with "no problems" but when I plug anything into any of them it still gives me a Power surge error message. I am to the point I'm ready to reformat the whole computer! Can someone please help!? I am frustrated and exasperated. Any help would be totally appreciated.

4 replies

by thechas

No need to format your drive or any software installations. You have a hardware failure.

Windows only knows that the communications chip for the USB port functions. The power surge error is the key here. What you have is a bad 5 volt supply for USB devices.

Other than a new motherboard, your best option is to install a PCI USB card.

Chas

by azarzy

I'll have to wait til payday but it's nice to know it's not anything major. One more question though...I don't deal much with usb's except to plug things into them. Will the PCI card work for all of my usb's? And are they expensive? I have one usb in front and four in back of my computer. They are all 2.0. Again, thanks for the help.

by thechas

Their are a number of different USB cards out there. Ranging from under $10 (US) to near $100.

Your first step is going to be to look at your manual or open up the PC.

How are the front ports connected?
Is there a USB cable?
Or a group of individual wires?

If the front ports connect with a USB cable, all you should need is a USB card with the correct number of internal USB ports.

If the front ports are individual wires, you will need to find a way to wire them up to a USB cable.
Or, replace them with a drive bay mount USB hub.

One source I have used is www.geeks.com

They have this card:
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SD-NECU2-5E1I&cat=CCD

and several different hubs:
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=CR-562-B&cat=CAS

Chas

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