Cant charge my Ipod or download pics from my digital camera.?

Question

On my computer at home I cannot charge my Ipod or camera. I cant even download pics from my camera.I have had it 6 months now and have NEVER been able to. My computer at work is the exact same, and I can charge my ipod there and download picture from my camera.(my computer at work and the computer at home were purchased together along with 8 others). When I plug them into the USB ports nothing happens. The computer DOES NOT even acknowledge anything is plugged into the computer. Can these ports have gone bad? Can these ports be changed? What should I do? Im not that familiar with trouble shooting computers. Someone said that, maybe the ports are not enabled... . Well, if they are not, then how do I do that. Please give as many suggestions on how to correct this problem as possible. Thanks alot

Answer 1

It is possible to disable USB ports - this is how it's done: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823732/en-us
You can follow these same steps to see what the deal is on your computer and to re-enable the ports, if necessary.
If the setting of the USB port is 4 (disabled), change it to 2 (Auto Load).
And if you get confused by anything in this screen, back out without making any changes at all. Messing things up in the registry is a sure fire way of creating more trouble than you started with.

Another possibility is that you have a loose cable inside your computer. Actually, this is just as likely - or even more likely... yep, I'd start with this.
Open up the case and see if the USB port is actually connected to anything. Gently press the wires in place at both ends to be sure.
If the port is not connected at all, and if you can't figure out what plugs in where, open up your work computer for reference.
Make sure to always unplug the computer before opening it up.
(With my last computer, a cable to my hard drive wasn't connected properly when the store put it together. Either that, or it magically popped out during transit.)