Computer suddenly not recognizing USB ports

[Davis Goertzen]

Hey there everyone, I'm not entirely sure if this is the proper place to make this thread, so feel free to redirect me if need be.

I have an HP laptop, 6830s model, which I bought new about 4 years ago. It's been mostly trouble-free for me, apart from the built-in webcam not working anymore and having to replace the battery. But starting last night, something very strange started happening.

I had ripped a CD to my Windows Media Player, and so last night I wanted to sync it to my mp3 player (Sony Walkman Video). But my player didn't show up in WMP when I connected it, so I unplugged it. That's when all of a sudden, my mouse and keyboard wouldn't work any more (Logitech wireless USB mouse, Microsoft corded USB mouse).

Fortunately, my computer still recognizes my USB external hard drive, so I'm doing some backing up with that as I speak. But, it constantly pops up a little window saying "USB device not recognized." It would even pop this window up even when there was nothing plugged in except for the external hard drive.

So now I'm wondering, is my computer on the way to dying, or what can I do to fix this?

I've done a Malwarebytes Anti-Malware quick scan, which came through clean, and I'm doing a full scan right now.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

Davis Goertzen

 

[johnb35]

This is usually caused by underpowered usb ports or they are just going out. You can try uninstalling the usb ports through device manager and then reboot to let windows reinstall the drivers. However, this procedure hardly ever works. The only other diagnosis to be done would be to do a fresh install of windows and see if everything get recognized again. But I really suspect that the ports are bad.

 

[kurby]

I had this exact problem with 6530 last week. I plugged an android into the system. after unplugging it the keyboard and mouse stopped working with a constant pop-up saying the usb device could not be recognized.

I believe either the IRQ's got messed up the the usb drivers or it was confused between the devices. I did a microsoft windows system restore an hour before the event and the problem was solved.

start>all program>accessories>system tools>system restore

 

[Davis Goertzen]

Well, John, I uninstalled all the USB devices, and then had to reboot my computer not once, but twice, before I could do anything, but now somehow all the ports are working again. Don't ask me how.

Kurby, that was a good idea to to a system restore; unfortunately, I hadn't had enough foresight in the past to make regular restore points. But I'm going to do that now.

I'm still puzzled why this happened, though. My Walkman Video has never caused that kind of problem before. Is it partly that my 4-year-old computer is showing some signs that it is getting ready to die sometime here?

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[johnb35]

Then I suspect something may be wrong with the sony walkman or the cable used. But usb port issues is one of the highest failures in systems, whether its shorting out, overvolt/undervolt or just plain went out. Be careful.

 

[Davis Goertzen]

John, you may be right about something having been awry with the player, because later on yesterday I couldn't add more music to it until I had formatted the memory on it. But all seems to be working now.

You said

But usb port issues is one of the highest failures in systems, whether its shorting out, overvolt/undervolt or just plain went out. Be careful.

What all do you mean by that? Is USB port failure sometimes a precursor of total system failure? I do generally consider myself to be pretty careful; what sorts of things did you have in mind to watch out for?

Again, thanks for all the help, guys.

Davis Goertzen

 

[johnb35]

I was just saying that usb ports are one the things that goes out first. Usually from a power surge or a bad device being plugged into them. When I said be careful, I meant we still don't know what cuased the issue, if its the walkman, I would be leary about plugging it back in. I worked on one pc once where you had to go into the bios and change the usb speed to full speed instead of high speed and it recognized devices, but once you put it back to high speed, it wouldn't recognize anything.