HP 8440 Laptop, USB problems  

My laptop seems to have problems with most USB devices. It is running Win 7 professional 64 bit.

Firstly it will only take a HP external keyboard. I have tried a Microsoft KB and a Kensington KB and neither would work. A standard mouse will work OK.

Then I tried to use a Plantronic BUA200 BT dongle. Had one working after about 2 days of fiddling, then got a new one and it sits with a yellow triangle saying it needs a driver, but can't find any. The odd thing is the dongle will still pair with the headset.

So I bought a USB headset today and gets the same thing. Windows tries to install it, but says it fails to find the drivers.

Have run Windows update twice recently, so that is all up to date. USB flash drives seem to be OK.

Could this be a hardware problem ? Although it does seem to recognize devices, just can't find drivers.

If atleast one USB port is working on your laptop, you can purchase a USB hub (7 to 10 port) to connect to this good USB port and you can connect many peripherals to it. Try to purchase a USB hub with a power supply (adapter). Otherwise one USB port can not supply power to so many peripherals. This powered USB hum is cheap and will solve your problem.

rraod said:

If atleast one USB port is working on your laptop, you can purchase a USB hub (7 to 10 port) to connect to this good USB port and you can connect many peripherals to it. Try to purchase a USB hub with a power supply (adapter). Otherwise one USB port can not supply power to so many peripherals. This powered USB hum is cheap and will solve your problem.

The mouse and flash dries will work in any of the USB ports and a BUA200 has worked on the laptop in the last 3 days.

Britton30 said:

Go to Control Panel/All Control Panel items/Device Manager. Scroll down to the USB section, right click on each one, select Update driver for each one.

Tried this for a couple of devices, both for local files and searching the internet. It still can't find the drivers.

I now have managed to install a Jabra GN2000 USB headset. It is installed on the PC OK, with the latest driver.

But it is not showing as an option in 'manage audio devices' I assume I need to see it here before I can use it.

Any ideas why it won't show there ?