rfm3
Super Handyman
Reged: 05/30/04
Posts: 16108
Loc: Western NY-Guarding the Border
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Darlin daughter's computer has a USB problem
Sh ehas a Compaq Presario SR1630NX with Windows NP. Apparently no matter which USB port she puts a flashdrive into, none seem to work or recognize it. Plugging anything else into these ports does not work either.
I had her try to look at any issues running the devmgmt.msc command and she said the Universal Controller had an exclamation mark near it.
Uninstalling and restarting computer did not seem to resolve anything so is this a much more complicated problem that I cannot resolve over the phone with 1400 miles between us?
-------------------- Ray
This isn't life in the fast lane, it's life in the oncoming traffic.
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HeatPro
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/30/04
Posts: 20968
Loc: South New Jersey
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Fried or disconnected usb on-board connection?
-------------------- Friends tell people how to live longer.
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howardgillis
Handyman
Reged: 07/22/07
Posts: 765
Loc: Fort Mill, S.C.
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Quote:
Darlin daughter's computer has a USB problem
Sh ehas a Compaq Presario SR1630NX with Windows NP. Apparently no matter which USB port she puts a flashdrive into, none seem to work or recognize it. Plugging anything else into these ports does not work either.
I had her try to look at any issues running the devmgmt.msc command and she said the Universal Controller had an exclamation mark near it.
Uninstalling and restarting computer did not seem to resolve anything so is this a much more complicated problem that I cannot resolve over the phone with 1400 miles between us?
hi... You say windows NP. do you mean NT or XP well, there is a Windows NP if googled........my error, unless you meant NT or XP.
Edited by howardgillis (11/03/09 07:37 PM)
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captain150
Captain
Reged: 01/04/03
Posts: 9066
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Assuming this is XP, get her to open device manager. Get her to right-click on the thing with the exclamation mark next to it, then click "uninstall".
Restart windows.
It will try to reinstall the driver. It may or may not succeed.
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rfm3
Super Handyman
Reged: 05/30/04
Posts: 16108
Loc: Western NY-Guarding the Border
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sorry XP. typo again...typical of my L-R-L-R typing method
We did try the uninstall and restart, it did not seem to work. Since she uses this computer periodically and uses her laptop more, I am wondering if something has gone kaput. But want to rule out more of the obvious
-------------------- Ray
This isn't life in the fast lane, it's life in the oncoming traffic.
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saugen48
Retired
Reged: 12/09/03
Posts: 1699
Loc: Halifax, Canada.
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It is possible to screw up the USB ports eventually if you remove storage devices ie thumbdrives etc from USBs without clicking on the "safe to remove hardware" icon in the System Tray. This icon will appear when a device is plugged into a USB port. It looks like a USB plug with a green circle and white check mark. Right click on it and follow instructions and stop the device.
-------------------- Acer 7720 6604 T8100 4GB DDR2 NVIDIA GeF8600M GT Vista Ultimate SP2
Tosh Sat A70 2.8Ghz 1.5GB XPSP3
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kamzoil
"redundzoil "
Reged: 11/30/08
Posts: 785
Loc: the great southwest USA
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Quote:
It is possible to screw up the USB ports eventually if you remove storage devices ie thumbdrives etc from USBs without clicking on the "safe to remove hardware" icon in the System Tray.
It is possible to screw up the data on USB storage devices, i.e. thumbdrives, etc.
It is quite another thing to screw up the USB port itself. I suppose you can physically damage the port by mechanically gouging it with something hard like a screw driver. In normal use, removing a USB device without first clicking on the "safe to remove hardware" icon will not damage the port in any way. In fact, USB ports support 'hot swapping.' This means you don't even have to power it down first before you add or remove a device.
I'm not saying they don't break. I'm saying that plugging things in and out of them is normal activity and not using the "safe to remove hardware" icon will not break the port.
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captain150
Captain
Reged: 01/04/03
Posts: 9066
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Quote:
Quote:
It is possible to screw up the USB ports eventually if you remove storage devices ie thumbdrives etc from USBs without clicking on the "safe to remove hardware" icon in the System Tray.
It is possible to screw up the data on USB storage devices, i.e. thumbdrives, etc.
It is quite another thing to screw up the USB port itself. I suppose you can physically damage the port by mechanically gouging it with something hard like a screw driver. In normal use, removing a USB device without first clicking on the "safe to remove hardware" icon will not damage the port in any way. In fact, USB ports support 'hot swapping.' This means you don't even have to power it down first before you add or remove a device.
I'm not saying they don't break. I'm saying that plugging things in and out of them is normal activity and not using the "safe to remove hardware" icon will not break the port.
Yup this is true. USB ports were designed to be extremely resilient (physically) right from the beginning.
If the problem is hardware related, my money is on the motherboard.
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rfm3
Super Handyman
Reged: 05/30/04
Posts: 16108
Loc: Western NY-Guarding the Border
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oh goodie. Well I guess I will attempt to figure it when I get there in a couple weeks. Stay tuned for a post about then requesting further help at something I destroyed in the effort.
-------------------- Ray
This isn't life in the fast lane, it's life in the oncoming traffic.
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TheBrit
Handyman
Reged: 01/15/08
Posts: 1166
Loc: Kalamazoo. MI
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remember when uninstalling the usb in device manager to completely remove ALL instances, not just the one with an exclamation mark next to it. This needs to include the root hubs as well. When you no longer have the usb icon showing up in device manager then you can reboot and let it install from scratch.....
-------------------- Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.. (B. Franklin)
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