USB won't detect anything?

Question

The computer is a Dell Inspiron 1150 running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service pack 2. Recently it was working fine however during its last use an IPOD was attached to it and while everything worked fine when the computer was later shut down and then turned on the next day the USB ports weren't working.
I have gone into the device manager and all the USB devices claim that they are working properly. I have tried uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling the drivers from the Dell website. I have also updated the BIOS. I even updated teh chipset drivers from the Dell website to no avail.
I have also run several of the Dell diagnostic tests and they claim that the USB ports are functioning normally.
I looked online and I have seen similar problems. Does anyone have a solution to this becuase the only other option that was presented to me was a suggestion of wiping the memory entirely and reinstalling the operating system. I would like that as a final resort.

I used the help feature in windows and it said disable the selective suspend feature of the USB hub driver. However when I went into the regedit the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\USB file wasn't there. I think this is the problme so any ideas on how I get that file back.

Answer 1

Berfore trying system restore etc, let windows "refresh" the USB driver subset.

Go into device manager (Right click My Computer, select PROPERTIES, HARDWARE, DEVICE MANAGER)
Scroll down to the Universal Serial Bus tree, click the + at left to expand the tree
RIGHT CLICK any idem that is either a USB CONTROLLER or USB ROOT HUB and select DELETE (it only removes a reference the files to use it are still on the system)
NOW reboot the PC and let windows do it's "found new hardware" thing for a few minutes.
Reboot again and try a USB device. This usually fixes unresponsive USB systems.

Answer 2

1111
the USB enabled has to be selected in your BIOS

2222
in XP click start >help and support > type in usb not detected.

in the results the device in the usb may not necessary be under USB in device manager. eeg if its a keyboard it be under keyboards.

in the search results find list of troubleshooters and click on USB.

33333
try this
XP – system file checker
====================
System File Checker (SFC). This can also be run in Safe Mode should you prefer.

To run SFC, close all applications such as Office, Messenger, Email, etc, and go to:

- Start
- Run
- Type in sfc /scannow (include the space before the " / ")

What SFC does is that it attempts to fix or replace critical operating system files. Sometimes this can be done without the installation disk; however it may prompt you for the appropriate operating system installation disk. If that is the case, then you know that you definitely have major file corruption or something missing. Insert the disk if prompted. Also you should run SFC using the Administrator account.

Vista:
========
The System File Checker is an important application which scans the integrity of all the protected system files on your PC. Should it locate an incorrect version of a specific protected file SFC automatically replaces it with the correct Microsoft version.
To check your Windows protected files, proceed as follows:
1/ Start
2/ Click All programs - Accessories
3/ Right Click on the Command Prompt option
4/ From the drop down menu that appears, Click on the 'Run as administrator' option
5/ If you have the User Account Control (UAC) enabled you will be asked for authorisation prior to the command prompt opening. You may simply need to press the Continue button if you are the administrator or insert the administrator password etc.
6/ In the Command Prompt window, type: sfc /scannow and then press Enter
7/ A message will appear stating that 'the system scan will begin'
8/ Be patient because the scan may take some time
9/ If any files require replacing SFC will replace them. You may be asked to insert your Vista DVD for this process to continue
10/ If everything is okay you should, after the scan, see the following message "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations"
11/ After the scan has completed, Close the command prompt window

Answer 3

In "Device Manager" don't look at the USB port, but rather at the USB host or USB hub (whatever they named it) and reinstall the driver for them. The USB ports might be OK and the "Device Manager" will report that, but if the USB hub hasn't the drivers properly installed, they won't work at all.

Answer 4

If none of the other answers worked, try to remember when your USB ports were working. Then use system restore.

If Windows XP starts
1. Log on to Windows as Administrator.
2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.
3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.
4. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the most recent system checkpoint in the On this list, click a restore point list, and then click Next. A System Restore message may appear that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make. Click OK.
5. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.
6. Log on to the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Restoration Complete page appears.
7. Click OK.

Answer 5

A lot of people have trouble with their ipod, if you can't see your ipod in the itunes library it might be wise to keep the songs already uploaded on to it and use the AC charger, I put my ipod to original specs and now it has a frowney face. try using a new ipod they have some at $100 for the nano.
I will be on my 4th ipod as I had the original and they seem to go out in a year or two.

Answer 6

did you remove your devies properly? Give it another reboot and see how it goes. Have you tried different ports?