usb problem

[Beyond]

gf's laptop connects to cable internet via usb. internet stopped working. if you plug an optical mouse into the port, while the laptop is booting the laser of the mouse is on, but when xp boots, it turns off. suggestions?

 

[Hairy_Lee]

use a different usb port. does the device appear in device manager? if not them i would say that the usb has been damaged somehow

 

[Beyond]

use a different usb port. does the device appear in device manager? if not them i would say that the usb has been damaged somehow

yeah, the problem is it's a really old laptop and only has one port. i've already checked the device manager, and it does appear working

 

[Hairy_Lee]

windows will say anything is working as long as a driver has been loaded and the values for memory I/O ranges dont conflict with anything else. considering you mentioned its an old laptop i would reckon its managing to supply power to the device on boot but it cant communicate with the device once windows has loaded so the device is turned off.
if you have a pcmcia slot you could get a usb port for it