Please hope my USB devices!

November 6, 2006 12:00 AM

My 5-year-old Dell stopped recognizing my USB devices. What's going on? How can I fix it?

Went for a run yesterday and when I got back my computer had turned itself off. When I turned it back on, it wouldn't recognize my (usb) printer/scanner/copier thing, my ipod or my girlfriend's ipod, though the ipods would show the "charging" screen (instead of the usual "do not disconnect" screen) when we plugged them in.

Any ideas about this one? If it helps, the computer's a Dell Dimension 2100 running Windows XP.

posted by joshuaconner to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

SO had this same model, turned out that the USB port on the motherboard had just up and died.

I bought a remaindered USB card for $5 somewhere and installed it to fix the problem. Froogle seems to think they start at $8. IMO, it'd be worth the extra $5 to buy it from CompUSA, for slightly less return hassle.
posted by Orb2069 at 4:06 AM on November 6, 2006

I've seen a very similar problem, but not on a dell. Before springing for the expansion card, boot into BIOS (on a dell, usually repeatedly hitting the Delete key immediately upon powering the PC on will get you there) and make sure that the onboard USB bus was not spontaneuously disabled.

If you're lucky (like my client was) the motherboard may have reset itself somehow and a number of settings may have changed, including the USB bus and maybe the system clock.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 6:20 AM on November 6, 2006

Best answer: I had the same problem a while ago and the solution was as simple as turning your machine right off (and pulling the plug from the wall) for 30 seconds and then restarting it. I kept trying everything to fix it and when I brought it in for service the problem disappeared (since the power was obviously off!)
posted by phirleh at 7:11 AM on November 6, 2006 [1 favorite]

I've had this exact problem. For me, the solution was:

1. Open Device Manager.
2. Remove everything under "Universal Serial Bus controllers."
3. Restart computer.

After restart, XP detects and re-adds the USB devices automatically and everything would work again. (I didn't just make this up, I did read this somewhere.)
posted by blahtsk at 7:55 AM on November 6, 2006

I've had the same problem with my Mac.
posted by onepapertiger at 4:09 PM on November 6, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks phirleh, whose answer solved the problem, and to everyone else, who provided excellent suggestions.
posted by joshuaconner at 4:57 PM on November 6, 2006