Plugging In A USB Cuts Power To Computer

firealarmgeek

New Member
Hello,

I'm new to the forums, and I made an account so I can have something to go to if I have problems.

So I'm having a little problem on our iBUYPOWER brand computer. It's been doing it since we bought it new, and although it's far from a big problem, I was wondering if there's a way to fix it and also if it's something I should be more concerned about and can cause damage.

Very often when I get ready to plug in a USB cable, specifically, to one of the ports on the front of the computer, the computer instantly loses power and shuts off as if the power just went out altogether. In fact, I don't even have to plug it in. It happens when I first touch the USB cable to the port itself. Some times I have seen a tiny spark when I touch it, and then it cuts off. The ports still work fine, despite this, and they never do this when I plug in my camera which has a flip-out USB. When I power the computer back on, I get the usual black screen saying that Windows did not shut down properly. Sometimes, after that, the computer does not run as fast as it usually does for about an hour.

All I can assume is that the cord is statically charged, but I can't be sure. This happens to all my USB cords at some point, and only on this computer. It's a Walmart brand computer, and it is built surprisingly cheap for how fast it is, so that may have something to do with it.

Thanks for the help in advance!
 
Touch something else before you try plugging it in and discharge yourself. Sounds like you have high static in the room.
 
Does it happen to the usb ports on the back of the computer? If not, my assumption would be there is a wiring issue going to the front ports, or possibly a short.
 
That's good advice. I will defiantly try that. And I have not tested it on the back ports, since I just leave the keyboard and mouse plugged into those.
 
Sounds like it's grounding out. If you can open the case without voiding warranty I'd see where they actually landed the front USB connector. Hopefully they didn't do something stupid like connect it to the 1394 firewire header or similar.
 
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