USB No longer working

[J.Jack.J.]

I had this problem just over a year ago, and I took my laptop back to
the shop -- they told me to take Vista back to the factory defaults.
But when I did, there was a failure in the installation process and
they told me that they would have to replace the computer --
apparently it was the motherboard -- on warranty. I hope it is not so
major this time. Here goes.

The USB ports have become very intermittent, spontaneously reading the
plugged in storage device as having been unplugged, then spontaneously
reading it as having been plugged in, with the sound that alerts you
to that operation (this is exactly what happened last time, except
over a prolonged period). Now my USB external hard drive isn't being
read. It shows in the device manager, and the sound that alerts to
when it is being plugged in or disconnected pings as it should, but in
computer > manage > storage it is 'unknown' and 'unreadable'. My
memory sticks can be read, though. And the USB mouse works in all the
ports.

I have tried the main things advised in this post:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...6f408444b1b542?lnk=gst&q=USB#746f408444b1b542
such as the registry key for switching off the suspending power to
USB; and I have uninstalled the root hub for 'mass storage device', in
device manager then turned my computer off and on again, all to no
avail.

My other computer has recently conked out (always, if one of them
conks out, within days the other one always does!) so I can't use it
as a control, but I don't believe that it is the external hard drive
that's faulty.

This is an Advent (PC World own-brand) laptop; may be there is
something about the design of the computer...

Any help would be much appreciated.
With thanks in advance.

 

[totfit]

I had this problem just over a year ago, and I took my laptop back to
the shop -- they told me to take Vista back to the factory defaults.
But when I did, there was a failure in the installation process and
they told me that they would have to replace the computer --
apparently it was the motherboard -- on warranty. I hope it is not so
major this time. Here goes.

The USB ports have become very intermittent, spontaneously reading the
plugged in storage device as having been unplugged, then spontaneously
reading it as having been plugged in, with the sound that alerts you
to that operation (this is exactly what happened last time, except
over a prolonged period). Now my USB external hard drive isn't being
read. It shows in the device manager, and the sound that alerts to
when it is being plugged in or disconnected pings as it should, but in
computer > manage > storage it is 'unknown' and 'unreadable'. My
memory sticks can be read, though. And the USB mouse works in all the
ports.

I have tried the main things advised in this post:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...6f408444b1b542?lnk=gst&q=USB#746f408444b1b542
such as the registry key for switching off the suspending power to
USB; and I have uninstalled the root hub for 'mass storage device', in
device manager then turned my computer off and on again, all to no
avail.

My other computer has recently conked out (always, if one of them
conks out, within days the other one always does!) so I can't use it
as a control, but I don't believe that it is the external hard drive
that's faulty.

This is an Advent (PC World own-brand) laptop; may be there is
something about the design of the computer...

Any help would be much appreciated.
With thanks in advance.

What are all of the different USB Devices that you are trying to use.
One of the devices could be bad (especially printers) and this often
causes problems with all of the usb ports. Use one device at time and
make sure each works properly. If you plug one of the devices in and
begin experiencing problems, it could be that the device that is your
problem. Start here first.

 

[Mr. Arnold]

I had this problem just over a year ago, and I took my laptop back to
the shop -- they told me to take Vista back to the factory defaults.
But when I did, there was a failure in the installation process and
they told me that they would have to replace the computer --
apparently it was the motherboard -- on warranty. I hope it is not so
major this time. Here goes.

The USB and motherboard were blown out twice on my HP laptop. The
machine was on extended warranty so it was fixed each time.

I suspect that's what has happened to the laptop with the USB is that
the motherboard is taking electrical hits, it and the USB are about to
go out, and you're you're plugging the laptop into a electrical outlet
without using a portable surge protector at all times to protect the
laptop from electrical surges.

You can get one of those one plug portable surge protectors cheap But
the laptop may have damage now.

 

[J.Jack.J.]

The USB and motherboard were blown out twice on my HP laptop. The
machine was on extended warranty so it was fixed each time.

I suspect that's what has happened to the laptop with the USB is that
the motherboard is taking electrical hits, it and the USB are about to
go out, and you're you're plugging the laptop into a electrical outlet
without using a portable surge protector at all times to protect the
laptop from electrical surges.

You can get one of those one plug portable surge protectors cheap But
the laptop may have damage now.

But the wiring in the house has all been totally modernised and all
sockets tested.
The only worry is the fact that the 2-pin plug keeps getting unplugged
from the adaptor; maybe the lose connection there is to blame?
(But that wasn't the problem last time).

 

[Paul]

I had this problem just over a year ago, and I took my laptop back to
the shop -- they told me to take Vista back to the factory defaults.
But when I did, there was a failure in the installation process and
they told me that they would have to replace the computer --
apparently it was the motherboard -- on warranty. I hope it is not so
major this time. Here goes.

The USB ports have become very intermittent, spontaneously reading the
plugged in storage device as having been unplugged, then spontaneously
reading it as having been plugged in, with the sound that alerts you
to that operation (this is exactly what happened last time, except
over a prolonged period). Now my USB external hard drive isn't being
read. It shows in the device manager, and the sound that alerts to
when it is being plugged in or disconnected pings as it should, but in
computer > manage > storage it is 'unknown' and 'unreadable'. My
memory sticks can be read, though. And the USB mouse works in all the
ports.

I have tried the main things advised in this post:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...performance_maintenance/browse_thread/thread/
7371cf23dc8db926/746f408444b1b542?lnk=gst&q=USB#746f408444b1b542
such as the registry key for switching off the suspending power to
USB; and I have uninstalled the root hub for 'mass storage device', in
device manager then turned my computer off and on again, all to no
avail.

My other computer has recently conked out (always, if one of them
conks out, within days the other one always does!) so I can't use it
as a control, but I don't believe that it is the external hard drive
that's faulty.

This is an Advent (PC World own-brand) laptop; may be there is
something about the design of the computer...

Any help would be much appreciated.
With thanks in advance.

Boot with a Ubuntu CD, and see if USB devices behave properly in
there. If they worked while using a Ubuntu LiveCD (which doesn't install
any software), then you might conclude your hardware wasn't broken.
Ubuntu just boots from the CD and you can start working. You'd look
for their equivalent of a file manager, click the drive icon and
see if the NTFS or FAT32 partition(s) were visible and you could
see your files. Modern Linux LiveCDs have support for both NTFS and
FAT32, so the file system type is not a problem with regard to your
external hard drive.

If you have a PCMCIA or PCCard or ExpressCard slot on the computer,
you can buy a USB card for the slot. Then connect your external
hard drive to that. That may be sufficient for you to avoid
paying for a new motherboard. If the PCMCIA slot doesn't work right
either, then there is likely an internal power problem with the
laptop. Laptops have various low voltage regulators for powering
things (as the battery is some higher voltage, and the logic chips
inside cannot run directly off the battery). If it was a problem
with an internal regulator, that would be a motherboard change out.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Jim]

I had this problem just over a year ago, and I took my laptop back to
the shop -- they told me to take Vista back to the factory defaults.
But when I did, there was a failure in the installation process and
they told me that they would have to replace the computer --
apparently it was the motherboard -- on warranty. I hope it is not so
major this time. Here goes.

The USB ports have become very intermittent, spontaneously reading the
plugged in storage device as having been unplugged, then spontaneously
reading it as having been plugged in, with the sound that alerts you
to that operation (this is exactly what happened last time, except
over a prolonged period). Now my USB external hard drive isn't being
read. It shows in the device manager, and the sound that alerts to
when it is being plugged in or disconnected pings as it should, but in
computer > manage > storage it is 'unknown' and 'unreadable'. My
memory sticks can be read, though. And the USB mouse works in all the
ports.

I have tried the main things advised in this post:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...6f408444b1b542?lnk=gst&q=USB#746f408444b1b542
such as the registry key for switching off the suspending power to
USB; and I have uninstalled the root hub for 'mass storage device', in
device manager then turned my computer off and on again, all to no
avail.

My other computer has recently conked out (always, if one of them
conks out, within days the other one always does!) so I can't use it
as a control, but I don't believe that it is the external hard drive
that's faulty.

This is an Advent (PC World own-brand) laptop; may be there is
something about the design of the computer...

Any help would be much appreciated.
With thanks in advance.

Are you plugging the external drive into a hub ? I can only plug my
drive into a socket not thru a hub . ( Advent )

 

[Mr. Arnold]

But the wiring in the house has all been totally modernised and all
sockets tested.
The only worry is the fact that the 2-pin plug keeps getting unplugged
from the adaptor; maybe the lose connection there is to blame?
(But that wasn't the problem last time).

Maybe, you have taken the machine else where and plugged it into an
electrical outlet which caused the machine to take hits. That was the
case with my machine when I took the machine to work is when the trouble
began for me.