USB Ports Frequently Dying

Computer Forum General Hardware
1

I have been having this issue for 2 weeks, and I will attempt to describe in detail the problem and everything that has failed to correct it.

Several times throughout the day, the devices in my USB ports lose power. My computer is a hp pavilion 734n running Windows XP, owned for about 3 years. There are 4 USB ports (2 in the front, 2 in the back) and I only have 2 devices connected: a Keyboard (Logitech Media Keyboard Elite) and a Mouse (Logitech MX518 Optical) both purchased separately.

Sometimes it is just the mouse that goes out temporarily (5-15 seconds) and frequently, and I hear the hardware disconnected/connected sound; other times both go out and I do not hear the hardware sound, and they do not regain power until I reboot my machine. Replugging into different USB ports does not have any affect.

Looking at the bottom of my mouse, if I unplug it from the USB port and replug it, I see the light flicker for a fraction of a second before it stays off.

When the devices have lost power, the Device Manager does not indicate any problems, and continues to show devices connected to those ports.

I know that it is not my mouse or keyboard at fault; I have tried plugging other USB devices into the ports during these occurrences to no avail. I have also plugged my mouse and keyboard into other machines and they work fine.

  • I have all drivers updated for USB ports, for mouse and keyboard. I have all the necessary software installed for these devices, and I have performed a Windows Update.

  • I have unchecked “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” for all devices and ports.

  • I have tried uninstalling all USB Root Hubs in the device manager and rebooting.

There may be more I’m forgetting, but I will update my post as necessary. Looking forward to some responses.

2

hi there, u may want to try updating the bios firmware.

3

how many watts is your power supply? How many things do you have drawing power from the motherboard? xp pro or home? I assume SP2 is installed.

4

what antivirus, firwall are you using ?

and have you tried scanning for adware, spyware / malware with Ad-Aware & Spybot S & D try those & post results

Edit: yeah & as xboarder said is th OS XP SP2

5

I updated the BIOS, no change.
The power supply appears to be 200W
XP Home, SP2 installed.
I scan for viruses and spyware regularly with ZoneAlarm, Ad-Aware, and Spybot

How many things do you have drawing power from the motherboard?

Not sure how to answer this question.

6

200W is low, what brand & model is it ?

and what are your system specs ?

7

The power supply is Hipro hp-a2027f3

Here’s a link to the full system specs from cnet reviews; the only change I think is I have more RAM, 1gb total.

CNET: Product reviews, advice, how-tos and the latest news

8

yeah, i think this is a PSU issue, PSUs actually have their output wattage degrade over time

wattage doesn’t mean much, as a decent brand 300W PSU can supply more power than some generic (crap) PSUs rated as 500W

i think you need a new PSU, for help chooseing a decent one their is a list of good & bad brands in Big Bs PSU Sticky

i would think a decent branded 350W ish PSU would be best for you, to allow yourself some upgrading breathing room, personally i have an Antec TP Trio 550

most crap PSUs only have 1 12V+ rail, generally decent PSUs have 2 or more rails (mine has 3, hence the Trio) although there are exceptions

just stick to the decent brand list in Bs Sticky

BTW: it’s easy to do it yourself

Edit: look at my specs by clicking “My Computer” on the left