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Oct 2 4 , 2 0 1 3 , 0 3 .0 4 PM IST
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MATCH 30

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USB Ports | USB In Laptops | USB | Dead USB | USB Host Controller

Did you plug a USB drive into your computer

yesterday, but today it doesn't show up? Y et that
drive works in the other USB ports on your
computer. The problem may be the port! This is
one of those computer issues that happens so
rarely, we tend to blame the USB drive itself; just
plug it in somewhere else and carry on.
However, USB devices are still on the rise in
popularity and show no signs of slowing down.
USB flash drives, USB chargers for your phone,
USB devices are still on the rise in popularity and
USB to connect your iPod, USB coffee warmers,
show no signs of slowing down.
USB is everywhere! So you NEED all your ports
working. Here's what you can do to check out
your USB port and some tips on fixing it.
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Physical examination
The first thing that you want to do is to see if the USB port is physically
damaged. A simple test is to put your USB Flash Drive into the port and
see if it wiggles up and down really easily. Be gentle doing this! Y ou
don't want to create a hardware problem if you don't already have one.
If you're not sure how sturdy the USB port should be, do the same
thing in a port that you know works and compare the two. If it is
definitely loose, you'll probably want to move right to the end of this
article where we talk about dealing with USB port hardware issues. If
not, follow the steps we have here.

Restart computer
Before you get carried away with Device Manager, try the old tech
support standby - turn it off and turn it on again. Sometimes that works by forcing the operating
system to scan for hardware, like the USB port, and makes it work again. If that doesn't work,
then it's time to get into Device Manager.
Check Device Manager
Y ou can launch the Device Manager in a few different ways, but here's the quickest one: Click on
the Start menu and type devmgmt.msc then hit Enter. Device Manager should start up right
away. Y ou'll see the following window:
*Device Manager: Device Manager shows all the categories of devices that can be installed in
your computer. At this point in time, you want to look at the Universal Serial Bus controllers
entries. Click on the arrow head to expand the selection. Y ou will see something like the window
below:
*USB controllers: This might not make much sense to you, but there is some useful
information here. See where it says Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced
Host Controller? That is the specific type of USB Host Controller for my computer. The key words
are USB Host Controller. Find those in your Device Manager. If you cannot find any, this may be
our problem.
Click on the Scan for hardware changes button in the toolbar. Y ou can see it highlighted in the
image below. This will force your computer to check all of your hardware again. If you're lucky,
this will pick up the USB port, and you'll see a USB Host Controller in the list. If not, then the
problem isn't fixed yet.

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*Scan for hardware changes: From here, things get a little tougher. Y ou'll still be working in
Device Manager for now. If you are working with a desktop computer, with your mouse and
keyboard plugged into USB ports, you may need to manually force a restart with the following
steps. Uninstalling the USB Host Controllers will disable your USB devices.
Under the Universal Serial Bus controllers heading, you will right-click on the first USB Host
Controller. That will bring up a small menu like this one:

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*Uninstall USB host controllers: Click on Uninstall. Repeat that process for any remaining
USB Host Controller. Now restart the computer. This will force the computer to poll for these
controllers and, hopefully, pick up the one that isn't responding.

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While you're in the Device Manager, did it seem like there were an awful lot of devices installed
that might no longer be in your computer? Sometimes the drivers stay lingering on your
computer, long after the device is gone. This is a good time to clean those out, and we have just
the article on easily removing old drivers from Windows.

more

Did that work for you? No? Let's go deeper then.

*Disable Selective Suspend feature: The USB Selective Suspend Feature is a power saving
setting in Windows. What it does is suspend power being sent to a USB device, in order to save
battery life of the computer. This is a good feature in theory, but on rare occasions the feature
does not wake up the USB Device. If that's the case, then it would appear that your port is dead.
Y ou can disable the USB Selective Suspend Feature through a registry key. It's a good idea to do
this on any computer that always has power to it, such as a server or desktop computer. Y ou
might not want to do this with your laptop, but if you do, you'll be able to turn it on again easily.
To get to the Registry Editor, click on Start and then enter regedit in the Search box and hit your
Enter key. The Registry Editor window will open. It looks like this, if you haven't seen it before:
*Registry Editor: Navigate to the Disable Selective Suspend key by clicking on
HKEY _LOCAL_MACHINE, then SY STEM, then Current Control Set, then services, then USB.
Where it says Disable Selective Suspend in the right-hand window, right-click and click Modify. In
the Value Data field enter the number 1. This will disable the selective suspend feature and power
will go to your USB ports constantly.
If the USB key doesn't exist in your registry, it's easy to create it. Just navigate to the services key,
and in the toolbar click on Edit > New > Key. Call it USB.
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*Edit New Key: In the USB key, right-click in the right-hand window. Y ou'll only have the New
option. Click on that and select DWORD (32-bit) Value. It may just be called DWORD Value on
your system. Name the new value Disable Selective Suspend. Just like above, right-click and click
Modify. In the Value Data field enter the number
1. There! Y ou have disabled the selective suspend feature. Y ou may need to restart your computer
for the setting to be applied.

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This is a good time to mention that if you ever feel the need to block your USB ports from
working, there is a tool to help with that. It's called USB Manager and we have a short article on
6
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Is your dead USB port working now? No? Then you might well consider that the USB port is
physically damaged.
*Fix damaged hardware: If it's still not working, it may very well be a hardware issue. USB
ports are pretty fragile and USB Flash Drives can act as levers on them, wreaking havoc on the
electrical connectors inside. This is seen very often in laptops, where the user will pack up the
laptop and not disconnect the USB Flash Drive. It can usually be fixed.

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The takeaway
There are several ways to try to repair your USB port. Hopefully, it's just operating system or
driver related as A
that's
A the easiest and cheapest fix. Don't dismay if it is a hardware problem those can be fixed fairly simply and inexpensively too. The point is, it can be fixed.

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Shaik Im ran (Unknow n)

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13 hrs ago

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Good Tips

VVijayalakshm i Venkataram anan (BANGALORE)

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Nice Informative article..!!!

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Good Post

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Pl. Provide more articles of this type

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