USB Ports Stopped Working

[cin5]

The fact that you're not able to get your USB keyboard to access BIOS is a bad sign - it's looking more and more like hardware failure rather than a driver issue. A screenshot of device manager from the bad PC would be helpful.

Also XP builds for both PC's (XP version/32bit/64bit/service pack etc.)

bottom right of post, next to post reply, upload a file and more options,

Both good and bad pc's have the same OS: Windows XP Pro, SP2, Version 5.1.2600,
Build 2600. Both pc's have a c:\windows\system32 folder, so I assume both are 32 bit systems.

Please see the NOTE on both pages of the uploaded file.

Process of elimination. Your PC symptoms point to either hardware or software failure. If it's a hardware failure you are wasting your time trying to install drivers. At the minimum device manager in the bad PC should show a bunch of unknown devices where the drivers were missing (you didn't include screenshot of bad PC's device manager so I'm left scratching my head).

Oops! I thought you had only asked for shots of the good pc's device manager. Okay, I try to get that to you, but when i opened those USB folders I don't remember seeing anything saying unknown devices; everything seems to be "working properly". So I guess next step is to run that Linux app.

BUT IF it looks like dead USB hardware how easy to transfer files between pcs using that crossover cable?
Is the GUI as user friendly as Windows Explorer?

 

[ClippyBeer]

Once you enable folder sharing you can use Windows Explorer or any other file manager like Total Commander to transfer files. Get the cable first and I'll help you set it up.

 

[cin5]

Once you enable folder sharing you can use Windows Explorer or any other file manager like Total Commander to transfer files. Get the cable first and I'll help you set it up.

Cool! And I can use this with my existing CAT 5 cables.
https://www.amazon.com/SF-Cable-Ethernet-Crossover-Coupler/dp/B0059DRDT4

I tried today burning the device manager screenshot Word file to a CD or DVD but it looks like XP can't do this without burning software. So I'm installing https://www.imgburn.com/ which works perfectly on the good pc.

Then I'll burn that Linux app on it too and see what happens.

 

[cin5]

I have something you could try to help you determine whether it's your hardware or Windows drivers. Slax. It is a bootable ISO that loads a tiny version of Linux that runs in RAM, no install required. I just booted my Compaq V2000 laptop which as 512 MB ram with it.

Download the ISO (191 MB so it will easily fit on a CDR) and burn it at the slowest speed possible to ensure maximum compatibility.

https://ftp.sh.cvut.cz/slax/Slax-11.x/slax-32bit-11.3.0.iso

Boot from the CD and you should see the following screen:

Select the first option and wait a bit since loading from optical media is much slower than a hard disk and you should eventually see the Linux KDE desktop:

Once Slax is finished loading plug in one of your USB flash drives and you should see a popup like this:

If you click on open in new window and are able to view the contents of your flash drive you will have narrowed it down to Windows drivers issues. If you don't see anything then it's probably time to put that computer to pasture.

I tried everything to boot from the DVD but n/g. Though I realize that it's Linux-based, I first tried clicking on it from the disc in Windows Explorer but which said I'd have to choose from a list of obviously incompatible programs to open it. Then I restarted Windows and hit F2 and tried to select from the Boot Sequence, but the only ROM drive listed was an IDE drive, but the Plextor driver is SATA. But I tried that anyway but n/g, of course. Then I restarted Windows, hit F12 and selected SATA primary device (which was not the hard drive). But Windows loaded instead. Again restarted Windows, hit F12 and selected CD ROM drive. Again Windows loads. What am I doing wrong?

 

[ClippyBeer]

Optical drives are picky that's why I've sworn off them. Burn at the slowest possible speed and make sure you are using DVD+R not DVD-R. A CD-R would be better because the image is only 191 MB. If you can't get it to boot then it's time to wait for the crossover cable. It's extremely difficult to troubleshoot PC issues without screenshots.

 

[cin5]

Optical drives are picky that's why I've sworn off them. Burn at the slowest possible speed and make sure you are using DVD+R not DVD-R. A CD-R would be better because the image is only 191 MB. If you can't get it to boot then it's time to wait for the crossover cable. It's extremely difficult to troubleshoot PC issues without screenshots.

It's a Verbatim DVD + RW. But when I used the public library computer to burn the app from my USB drive to the disc Windows 10 gave me no option to burn at anything other than one speed. I can reburn it to a CD-R, but is that related to the problem? I can make a sketch of the F12 options if that would help.

 

[cin5]

Optical drives are picky that's why I've sworn off them. Burn at the slowest possible speed and make sure you are using DVD+R not DVD-R. A CD-R would be better because the image is only 191 MB. If you can't get it to boot then it's time to wait for the crossover cable. It's extremely difficult to troubleshoot PC issues without screenshots.

If we use that cable can that slax app somehow be run to then test condition of the USB hardware?

 

[ClippyBeer]

If you can't get that CD to boot then we're at a standstill. Some optical drives don't like DVD RW which is why I recommend CDR. You didn't mention the PC was Windows 10 which has CD/DVD burning built-in. Imgburn is good but not for novices so instead I recommend CDBurnerXP (Freeware).

https://www.cdburnerxp.se/

Choose the slowest burn speed allowed. Choose 'Disc at Once', Make sure you select 'Finalize disc' Ignore the 'Set boot options' button, that's to create a bootable dics - the ISO is ALREADY BOOTABLE. I tested it on my old Compaq V2000, it booted fine, that's where I got the screenshots from.

The crossover cable will not help here, it's strictly for networking your two computers. You have one PC with working USB therefore you will be able to copy contents from/to the one with bad USB ports.

 

[Samir]

After reading through the thread, this is most likely a hardware issue. You can confirm that by booting that slax cd and seeing if your usb keyboard works. If it doesn't, then probably a hardware issue. A workaround may be to install a usb card.

 

[cin5]

If you can't get that CD to boot then we're at a standstill. Some optical drives don't like DVD RW which is why I recommend CDR. You didn't mention the PC was Windows 10 which has CD/DVD burning built-in. Imgburn is good but not for novices so instead I recommend CDBurnerXP (Freeware).

https://www.cdburnerxp.se/

The crossover cable will not help here, it's strictly for networking your two computers. You have one PC with working USB therefore you will be able to copy contents from/to the one with bad USB ports.

No, I was aware that Windows 10 had built in CD/DVD burning but apparently it’s not like other RW apps I’ve used which allows you to add files and even update previously stored ones. I kept trying to burn that Slax app “waiting to be burned” until the Library’s IT guy said I’d first have to erase the whole disc. So that worked. But still couldn’t get the bad pc to recognize the SATA Plextor drive as the boot drive. Could this be because the boot sequence section of the BIOS keeps recognizing it as an IDE CD-ROM drive, though it’s a SATA optical drive? I tried changing settings there and in the drive configurations section but n/g. Same problem in Device Manager. Could the problem be the fact that I purchased the pc from Dell as pair of RAIDEd mirrored SATA system drives running on a Promise Tech controller card, with a storage SATA drive and the Plextor drive each on the motherboard!s two SATA ports? Only the floppy drive is on the IDE interface but even when I disabled that drive in the BIOS the Plextor still wasn’t recognized. So unless someone has a fairly simple way for the BIOS to see the Plextor as a boot drive it looks pretty hopeless.

But a USB card?? I thought that somehow was not a workable option if the motherboard ‘s USB hardware is indeed damaged?

 

[cin5]

After reading through the thread, this is most likely a hardware issue. You can confirm that by booting that slax cd and seeing if your usb keyboard works. If it doesn't, then probably a hardware issue. A workaround may be to install a usb card.

And if such a card could otherwise work to provide usable USB ports it would have to be Windows XP 32 bit and PCI compatible. The pc won’t accept PCIe cards. Some weeks before I began this thread I asked Startech support about this card https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com...ARJN5G0#aw-udpv3-customer-reviews_feature_div They said there’s no known compatibility issues with it and the Intel 875p motherboard though I didn’t recall why they were hardly enthusiastic about recommending this card. Thoughts on this? IF the card comes with its own XP compatible drivers then any corrupted USB drivers on the motherboard won’t matter? Or might the card still not work for other reasons?

 

[ClippyBeer]

It's probably not a good idea to invest any money on that PC. You have a PC that can't boot from external media (USB or CD/DVD) which means if you ever have a problem with malware or hard drive failure you won't be able to load any rescue media or even re-install XP from scratch.

Try booting the Slax CD on another PC to ensure that it was burned properly. If you are able to get it to boot then that PC with the bad USB is probably on its last leg and a replacement would probably be a good idea. I checked Ebay and XP compatible PC's can be had for a modest price.

 

[cin5]

It's probably not a good idea to invest any money on that PC. You have a PC that can't boot from external media (USB or CD/DVD) which means if you ever have a problem with malware or hard drive failure you won't be able to load any rescue media or even re-install XP from scratch.

Try booting the Slax CD on another PC to ensure that it was burned properly. If you are able to get it to boot then that PC with the bad USB is probably on its last leg and a replacement would probably be a good idea. I checked Ebay and XP compatible PC's can be had for a modest price.

I agree. Time for new hardware. Thanks.

 

[xphelper]

I agree. Time for new hardware. Thanks.

Does your router have a USB port ?
If you have you can transfer the files.