Advice on fixing faulty USB ports.

Factual Questions
1

My computer acts wacky from time to time. I’ve finally realized it has something to do with the USB ports. Examples (all of these connect with USB)

  • The keyboard will stop working or act sluggish. It doesn’t matter if it’s the wireless or wired keyboard.
  • The mouse (Logitech MX 1000) will suddenly go spastic and not respond at all. It might decide to start scrolling, all by itself.
  • The D-link wireless network stopped working (it works fine with cable from the router, but the connection through the dongle doesn’t work).

Thinking that a´keyboard, mose and network stop performing at the same time is too much of a stretch. It seems that it’s more probable that it’s where they connect, i.e. the USB ports on the back of the computer.

So far, I’ve updated the USB drivers, but it hasn’t helped. Oh, and yes, all these things have worked in the past.

Any suggestions about where I should sart troubleshooting net?

2

Dunno; you could just be experiencing a set of more-or-less unrelated problems; take the mouse, for example; unlike a PS/2 mouse, the operation of the device is quite distinct from the USB communication protocol, so problems with the USB would be far more likely to cause it simply not to appear attached, or to stop it functioning intermittently, than they would be to make it jump about.

However, you’ve got problems with wireless networking, wireless keyboard and wireless mouse; apart from the odd-man-out of the wired keyboard, I would say your problem sounds more like RF interference, either as RF noise from some other nearby device, or interference between the various wireless devices you are using on the computer.

3

Which is why I unplugged the wireless keyboard and hooked up my old wired. And disconnected the wireless network thingie and connected the (butt ugly) cable (which is now snaking and collecting dust across my livingroom floor). Still the problems persist. Ghosts in the Machine?*

*I hate cables and wires. I love gadgets, but hate all the eff-ing wires.

4

Is it running WinXP? If so, it could be a problem with a bunch of conflicting device entries in the device manager; you could try what I recommended here. It’s something I have found to be useful in a lwide range of device/hardware-related problems.

5

Alternatively, spend $10-$15 and buy a new USB 2.0 PCI card. I’ve found that the newer cards tend to perform better than the older on-board ones even when the older ones are working.