USB ports malfuctioning

wineluver · 21 Mar 2018

My laptop has 3 ports. My wireless mouse was using one and stopped working. Purchased new one, inserted nano, nothing. Tried other 2 ports, nothing. Tried my wifes mouse, nothing. Tried updated drivers, says driver up to date. Inserted thumb drive, worked OK. Now, sometimes as often as every 10 seconds, the following message appears: "USB Device Not Recognized
One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click this message."
This message continues non stop. Rebooted, still there. Suggestions?

townsbg · 21 Mar 2018

I would download a bootable version of Linux like ubuntu and run that to see if it can use the ports. That's the best way to determine if you have hardware or driver issues. If they are bad you won't be able to replace them yourself but depending upon your laptop there might be a compatible docking station or you can get a usb card for an expansion slot if your computer has one. Without knowing the make and model of your laptop we can't tell you want capabilities your laptop has.

mrjimphelps · 22 Mar 2018

Go into Device Manager and see if any USB-related devices have an error triangle by them. If so, right click on each such device and uninstall it. Then right click on the top item in the right pane, and select "Scan for hardware devices" or something like that, to refresh the list.

If any USB devices still have the error triangle by them, then right click on each such device and do a driver update on it.

wineluver · 22 Mar 2018

Sorry mrjimphelps & townsbg, thought I had updated my system in my profile here. Dell Inspiron 1750, windows 7, Intel Core 2 Duo CPU 2GHz, 64-bit, 8GB RAM.
Thanks for your responses. I have already tried mrjimphelps ideas to no avail. I believe I can replace the existing DC Power Jack Board USB 2.0 Port with an original for Dell Inspiron. Do you think the problem is in the board?

mrjimphelps · 22 Mar 2018

You could try this:

https://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapt...apter~EC230USB

It plugs into your ExpressCard slot and provides two USB 2.0 ports. This would be your easiest way to get some USB ports. And it shouldn't have any effect on anything else related to USB on your computer.