How to Troubleshoot a USB Port

If you have an optical mouse, plug that into the USB ports. If the optical light does not come on the ports are dead. You will have to call the vendor that made your computer like Dell. More than likely they will have to replace the motherboard. Hopeful it is still under warranty. If not then just go buy a USB 2.0 card for about $30 and that will bypass the issue.

If the optical mouse light come on and it works, the USB port maybe an older 1.1 versions and the USB adapter may not be compatible with the ports. In that case just go buy a USB 2.0 card for about $30 and that will bypass the issue.

Also check with the computer vendor and check to see if the have any firmware updates for the BIOS or driver updates for the USB ports. Then check to ensure that you have all the Windows Updates.

Once you have done this and it is still not working, but you do get a light on the optical mouse then uninstall/reinstall the USB drivers.

To do this:

• Right Click on My Computer on the Desktop
• Select Manage
• Expand the Device Manager
• Uninstall everything under the Universal Serial Bus Controller
• Then reboot.

If this fails then USB ports must be damaged in some way. Then just go buy a USB 2.0 card for about $30 and that will bypass the issue.


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