Why have the usb ports have stopped working on a computer how can you fix this?

Answer 1

I experienced this problem this moning, the answer was not that difficult to track down.

I am running vista x64 and the answer came from HP Advisor. Upon starting the computer I plugged a memory stick into the card reader but the operating system did not find it. I went to my computer to see if I could find it as a drive that was now plugged in and I would load it from my computer. I noticed that there were no drives showing except the hard drive and DVD drives. All the USB and Media drives were absent. After several attempts at trying to find the Media card I had plugged in, I thought, try the HP advisor (the media reader was supplied by HP). After finding it in the FAQ It was a matter of starting Media Centre to check if in fact the media card had been read. The next step was to shutdown Windows and unplug the power cord. Wait a few seconds. Reconnect the power cord. Start the computer again while holding the start button for five seconds. Once the computer restarted and the windows screen came I went to My Computer and there were my USB and media reader drives.

Answer 2

The Most common issues for usb ports to stop working is that the port its self is damaged. The damage can occure in multiple ways, either the port was defective, or a device used shorted out the port.

Now if this occurs on a laptop their is very little you can do, other then having the USB board replaced or repaired.

If this occures on a Desktop PC, you cannot repair the onboard USB ports but you can get a USB PCI/E card to extemd your ports.

As well you can also get a hub to regain some lost ports.