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Finding a USB problem solution can be very simple or can drive you up a wall. Depending on your operating system and your motherboard, the solution can be different from a simple BIOS setting to a defective USB port or Card. I hope you can find the solution with the information provided here.

In order for USB to work properly there are basically six basic elements that must be present

Support from your motherboards BIOS
Support from your Operating system
Physical USB ports
A USB device itself
The correct USB cable
Operating system and/or device Drivers

Let's look at each of these

Does my motherboard (computer support USB)? If there are USB ports on the motherboard then it does, however, if there are not and you want to add a USB card you need to determine if it will work. There are a couple of programs out there that can help you determine this.

If you're using Windows 98 or 98SE, download the free USB Evaluation Utility It will examine your PC's hardware and software and inform you of your PC's USB capabilities. As a quick rule of thumb, if your PC was made during or before 1996, it probably doesn't support USB. If it was made during 1997, it probably supports USB. If it was made during or after 1998, it almost certainly supports USB.

Note that with some PCs, the USBReady will tell you that the PC supports USB, but you will not be able to find the USB ports on the PC. There were some manufacturers that misunderstood how to design USB into their products and forgot to add the sockets.

Another good one is USBDetect

In order for USB to work it Needs a Controller, since all are different you must identify which controller controls your USB. OK how do you know this and where can I find the right controller?

The first place to start is within Windows Device Manager, I have a seperate page on how to get into Device Manager but I will concentrate on USB only here. From the Windows Control Panel select System Properties, then you click on Device Manager. you will then see a Window that looks like this:

Note: If you have a windows key on your keyboard pressing the Windows Key + Pause key, brings up Device Manager, or you can right click on "My Computer" then go to "Properties" you can get to Device Manager.

You now see at the bottom Universal Serial Bus controllers; This displays each of the USB devices, controllers, and hubs currently detected by Windows. By clicking on the + sign next to USB it will expand so you can see what has been dected. Yellow or Red marks next to an entry indicate that there is a problem with that device.

For each USB port you should have two entries 1) USB Root Hub 2) USB Host Controller

You can tell very quickly if you have USB 2.0 by the Host Controller, you should see the word(s) Enhanced.

There are a variety of USB host controlls; Intel, SIS, AMD, VIA, Lucent. NIC, CMD, Creative, Kensington,, Logitech, Microsoft, 3COM.\, Adaptec. or other Onboard PCI to USB Host Controller. If you Driver is not on the motherboard CD that came with the computer or the Floppy/CD that came with the USB device, then you can go to the manufactures web page and find them. I have listed some of the popular ones HERE.

If you are having problems with USB the first step is to clean up the Device Manager. From the initial installation to suddenly not working, removing USB and then rebooting will cause Windows to reinstall them and most times solve your problem. You should remove these in SAFE MODE. Enter Windows SAFE MODE by holding down the F8 or Ctrl key just before the Windows Graphic User Interface, (the colored start screen or GUI), displays on the monitor. If you see the Windows GUI you missed your opportunity and you will need to cycle through, shutdown and try again. If by chance you are using a USB Mouse you may not have a Mouse, if you have both a USB mouse and KEYBOARD do not remove them as you will not be able to go any further. If you can switch one of the devices (Keyboard or Mouse top PS/2.) If no Mouse using the Keyboard navigate to the Control Panel by using the TAB, ARROW keys, CTRL | ALT |ENTER, navigate through START | SETTINGS |CONTROL PANEL to SYSTEM.

Using the arrow keys navigate to each and every USB entry and remove both copies of duplicate entries any redundant, and or obsolete entries. Then reboot normally and Windows will recognize the device and reinstall a single driver(s). Now go back to Device Manager to ensure the entries are there. A good detailed guide is located HERE.

USB Support in BIOS

When you 1st boot up you need to get into SETUP, this varies by motherboard, your screen will tell you how to get into SETUP, usually you hit a F key or the DEL key to get in. Once in SETUP navigate and look around each menu item, you should find entry(s) for USB. Make sure they are enabled, then SAFE and EXIT. This can also solve a lot of USB problems.

Physical USB Ports

USB ports can be present on the motherboard or you can add USB with a USB card. See HERE.

USB HUBS

They are numerous USB hubs available, these HUBS can add many USB ports to your system. Examples are: