USB ports on XP stopped working...

[Rupert160]

Recently my front ports on my XP Box stopped working. However the back
ones are fine...
I figured hardware might be an issue, so i've wiggled all wires with
the top off and replaced it and still the front USB's don't work.

I've done the following microsoft fix...

Remove and reinstall all USB controllers
To remove and reinstall all USB controllers, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, and click Control Panel, and then click Performance and
Maintenance.
2. Click System, and then click the Hardware tab.
3. Click the Device Manager button.
4. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
5. Right-click every device under the Universal Serial Bus controllers
node, and then click Uninstall to remove them one at a time.
6. Restart the computer, and then reinstall the USB controllers.
7. Plug in the removable USB storage device, and then test to make sure
that the issue is resolved.

however not successful. Every device under the Universal Serial Bus
controllers node are "active" and "working properly". however my
ipod/camera etc still don't run on the front. If it helps i'm using a
Gigabyte K8NNXP mother board. They were working fine before I installed
some camera software. I've since uninstalled it but no joy either.

 

[Justin Brown - SYNACS]

Hard Fix: If you're into the detective work and have time to kill, you
could explore other avenues like checking the BIOS (maybe there's a
setting for enabling front USB ports), downloading the latest chipset
and USB drivers from Gigabyte, and worse case scenario just pull the
USB motherboard headers and run a volt meter across the USB pins to
check for +5V power on the two opposing pins (see
http://www.frontx.com/cpx101_2.html for a basic visual). Just be
cautious if you use the last option. Matter fact, don't. It's easier
just to do the Easy Fix.

Easy Fix: buy a USB hub and velcro it to the side/front/top of the box.
Use 1 rear port to connect it, and plug cameras and Ipods into hub.