usb ports:not workin

[adyschofield]

hi, my ports of front of my pc have just stopped working, i have checked inside and are still conneted properly and when my flashdrive is plugged in my pc does not find it, but does if plugged in the back ports. i have also tried my flashdrive in another pc and it works fine, now i have an icon in the bottom right saying "safly remove hardware" this i have done and rebooted pc for it just to turn up again even if nothing is plugged in. also this drive did work recently i just dunno what ive done.

i am running windows xp home - 1gig ram.

i have also looked in device manager when drive is plugged in and it does not show up on there also.

tnx again

[Plastic Nev]

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help.

Go back into device manager, usually at the bottom of the list is Universal Serial Bus controllers. Click the small arrow on the left of that item to expand the list, are there any red or yellow marks?

If not, double click each item and look in the window under the general tab, does it say "This device is working properly" ? Click the tab at the top for drivers, are they there and not greyed out?

 

let us know what you find.

 

Nev.

[adyschofield]

usb ports:not workin p2

 

hi looked in dm and there are no red or yellow marks have also checked and are all working properly and drivers are good even checked each one for update and they all came bk that latest is installed. also one of my usb sticks normally flashes when plugged in, this does not happen anymore.

tnx again

[Plastic Nev]

Hi again, it is beginning to look like a hardware fault on the motherboard for the connections to the front USB ports if the back ones are still working. The flash drive that no longer flashes its indicator, may just be the indicator or it could be worse. Does the drive still actually work? try in another computer if you need to, does it flash on then?

If problems with that drive, it just may be faulty enough to have done whatever damage has been done to the motherboard for front ports perhaps.

 

If it is a motherboard fault, the only cure is a new board I am afraid. Otherwise just use the rear ports and if needed obtain a USB hub to expand the ports from the rear.

 

Nev.