How to fix USB port

Sometimes you can fix your USB port without going in for repairs.

USB, or universal serial bus, technology has been great at eliminating the guesswork around hooking up devices to a computer. With USB, you are able to plug in any device into your computer and it works -- except on the rare occasions there's a problem. Whether it's USB flash drive, webcam or printer the first symptom that there is a problem is that the computer does not even acknowledge that the device exists. Here are some things to try if you want to fix a USB port.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Computer with a broken USB port

1. Establish that the problem really is with the USB port. If the computer reports a new USB device but says that it cannot use it, typically the problem is with the device's driver and not the USB port. Reinstall or upgrade the device driver. If this does not solve the problem, try inserting the device to another computer. If the device works, most likely the problem is with the computer and not your device. Also, plug a different device that is functioning normally into the suspect USB port. If any device works in the USB port, then the port is not the source of the problem.

2. Try rebooting the machine. Rebooting a computer resets all of the software to the default state and will clean up many issues. The start up process also checks all of the devices on the computer and can sometimes fix a USB port. First shut down the machine. Connect the USB device up to the computer and start it. This reboot will sometimes fix a bad USB port.

3. Try attaching the USB device on to another USB port on the same computer. If the device now works, the old USB port probably has a hardware or BIOS issue. Skip to Step 5 to try to fix a bad USB port through the BIOS. Fixing a hardware problem on a USB port requires working on the motherboard, which is typically more expensive just adding a new USB ports.

4. Uninstall your computer's USB device bus manager. The device manager controls the USB access and sometimes gets corrupted. Fixing the USB device manager requires administrator rights on the machine. Click on the Start button at the lower left-hand corner of your screen. Type "device manager" in the text box. The device manager appears and lists all of the devices on the computer. Click on the arrow next to "Universal Serial Bus controllers" to drop down the list of USB controllers. Right-click each item in that list and choose "Uninstall" from the context menu. Once all of the devices have been removed, restart the machine with the USB device connected. Upon reboot, Windows reinstalls the USB device manager.

5. Check the BIOS if Step 4 did not fix the problem. Restart the machine and enter the BIOS setup screen. The procedure for doing this varies by motherboard. Check your computer's documentation or support website, or the documentation that came with your motherboard, for this inforamtion. Check to make sure all of the USB ports are active. If they are, reset the BIOS settings to the defaults. The BIOS reset may fix the USB port. If it does not consider upgrading the BIOS. The process for upgrading a computer BIOS varies by motherboard. Visit your computer manufacturer's website for detailed instructions.

6. Repair your operating system. Sometimes the USB drivers can get corrupted and break the USB ports. You can reinstall the system files onto the computer, fixing the USB port. Perform a full backup of the computer before doing this, in case of data loss. Insert your Windows installation disc and select the Repair Windows option from the onscreen instructions.

Tips & Warnings

• Older computers came with USB 1.0 technology. Newer devices use USB 2.0 technology. You can't use a USB 2.0 device in a USB 1.0 port. Ensure your technology is compatible before determining that there is a malfunction.

References

• Microsoft: USB Port May Stop Working After You Remove or Insert a USB Device