Hello Richard in AZ,
You mentioned that the computers in question are 4 to 5 years old. Have you
condidered checking the power supplies of these computers to see if they
might have degraded in power. The reason I ask this question is because
about two years ago, my computer stopped booting with my Lexmark printer
attached. It worked if I booted first then plugged in the printer for about
a week. Then one day the computer auto-restarted and froze as soon as I
plugged in the printer. I rebooted without again, plugged in the printer
after logging into Windows, and once again the computer restarted and froze.
I started without and checked the device manager, . . . no problems. (??!!!)
Then after uninstalling/reinstalling printer drivers, and even reinstalling
Windows, still no problems except that the computer soon stopped working
even with the usb mouse hooked up.
Long boring story short, the power supply was going bad after about 5 years
of faithful service first on my own home built machine and then my parents'
rebuilt machine which is now the only computer in the house.
I went to Office Depot to purchase a new power supply (though I wasn't
really sure that was it). I almost purchased a power supply tester instead.
Not wanting to risk spending more than necessary, I took a chance and got
the power supply. I took it home and all was well again.
I would suggest you may wish to go to your nearest computer parts dealer or
favorite online computer store and see if they sell power supply testers
since you have two people with different brand computers and printers having
the same or similar problem.
Here is a link to newegg.com to give you an idea of what you could spend on
a tester:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...der=BESTMATCH&Description=power+supply+tester
I know others have tried to say it isn't a power issue, but I think it may
be.
The only other possibility I can think of considering all other suggestons
posted, is that the usb ports are going bad themselves either in the wiring
connected from the port on the computer box to the mainboards or worse
possible case, the connectors on the mainboards themselves are bad. Usb
ports can be replaced with an add on pci card, or you can replace the usb
ports built into the computer box that are connected to the mainboard.
I would suggest first testing the power supplies for decreased power output
since that is your most likely problem.
If it isn't, and you don't want to mess with the usb connectors on the
mainboards, invest 5 or 6 US dollars or your currency's equivelant in a usb
port card and see if plugging into that also causes problems. If not, then
problem solved for at least one of the machines in question.
Finally, don't decide not to try something because someone else says it
won't help unless you have already tried it or you actually know a sledge
hammer will only make things worse. You are dealing with two fairly old
systems, and after 4 or 5 years, computer hardware WILL start going bad. It
is a time to either consider replacing parts as they begin to decline in
performance, or purchase a new computer and scrap or recycle the old
systems. It may also be a good time to think 'back up' if that wasn't
thought of when the systems were new because the hard drives may also begin
to have problems.
So if you think you need new cables, ide or sata cables, power supply, etc.,
chances are it won't hurt to start your emergency shopping list and set your
budget for such items.
I apologize for my lengthy suggestion. I hope you can find something that
will help among the answers you recieve.
Good luck.
--
Peace,
Jeffrey W. Bowen
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).