Desperate plea for help, USB ports not working

[jadedev]

I don't know this is the correct thread but I am desperate.

I am a newbie. I bought an used ACER Veriton 5600g Celeron 2.0Ghz, 512Meg, 40Gig. It has Win XP Pro SP2. It's have two USB ports in front and two at the back. None of them are working. I tried an ioptical mouse, the light comes on but the PC doesn't detect it. I tried a flash drive, nothing as well.

I've enabled the USB settings in the BIOS. But when I look in Device manager, click on properties, I get code 45 (this hardware device is not connected to the computer).

I've googled back and forth but can't find any answer to this. Has anyone come across this before?

[MatthewHSE]

Sounds like drivers aren't installed or aren't installed correctly. Did you get any CD's with your computer? If not, you could try searching Acer's website for drivers or other information. Who knows but that you might even be able to call their tech support and get some answers - it's worth a try.

[jadedev]

I've right click in Device manager to update driver and Windows go to the net to get the latest drivers and returns to say there is nothing newer around. So I assume it has the lastest server.

I am concerned that a wire might have come off during transportation. How do I check?

[jadedev]

Hi,

In device manager, you can right click to uninstall a driver. What happens after that? Can I re-install a driver?

[MatthewHSE]

I am concerned that a wire might have come off during transportation. How do I check?

Open your case, find the USB ports in either the front or the back, and trace any wires coming from them to make sure both ends are connected securely. It's unlikely that the back USB ports have any wires connected to them since they're probably built in to your motherboard.

In device manager, you can right click to uninstall a driver. What happens after that? Can I re-install a driver?

Certainly, but make sure you have the right drivers for your hardware first so you can reinstall them.

Have you checked the Acer support site?

[jadedev]

I've opened the casing. The front ports are connected to a circuit board. There is a pin set called USB1 and there is a bunch of wires coming off it and it's connected to the motherboard, but it's labelled USB3 on the M-board. Can't see anything labelled USB1. Is that normal?

The back port are fused onto the m-board. In this case, they should work right, but they don't.

In Device manager, a flag has been raised on "PCMCIA and Flash memory devices". The guy who sole me the PC reckon drivers for those are missing, that is why the PC didnt detect my flash drive.

USB drivers are pretty standard right? I can just download them from MS website, correct? I am a damn newbie in this.

[jadedev]

hi guys

I had to re-do the BIOS settings and now the USB ports are working, my flash stick is recognised and I can open the files.

But when I plug in the USB mouse, the PC still doesn't detects it. Does that mean the driver for USB optical mouse is missing?

[kaled]

I've never used a USB mouse, but it may need to be enabled in the bios under "legacy emulation" or some similar title. In other words, the bios may have to perform translation work so that it is detected as a standard serial mouse by Windows.

Kaled.

[jadedev]

i had to download a mouse and keyboard software from MS web site and everything is now fine.

Thanks for all your help guys.