I have my desktop computer set up in my office at home. Most of my USB devices (mouse, keyboard, printer, etc.) are connected to a powered USB hub. Apparently the carpet in this room generates a lot of static electricity, because many times when I come into the room and sit down, or even move my feet around under the desk and then touch the keyboard or mouse, I hear the sound that the computer makes when you connect or disconnect a USB device.
So far I don’t think anything has been damaged, but I don’t want to keep pressing my luck. Googling turns up a lot of advice about how to ground yourself when working on the insides of a computer, but wearing a wrist strap whenever I’m at my desk is a little impractical.
I don’t think it’s a problem with the PC, because it’s a brand new machine, and I had the same problem with my old laptop when it was plugged in here also.
Would something like running a wire from the computer case to the metal desk help? Are there other things I should look at, like the house wiring?
I don’t understand what the sound that the computer makes when you connect or disconnect a USB device refers to. Are you referring to a pop on the speakers or something like that. I wouldn’t ground the desk through the computer regardless. use an antistatic treatment on the carpet.
Unless your house is over 50 years old, it should have grounded, 3 prong outlets. If so, the computer case will be grounded through its 3 conductor cord. Likely it sets on rubber feet breaking the ground between the case and desktop. It should be simple to run a wire from a screw in the computer to one in the desk which would ground all the connected metal parts of the desk. You could also run the wire from the desk to the screw holding the outlet cover on.
Then you could ground yourself by touching the desktop. Touching a coin or key might reduce shock to you.
I’m a bit confused as well. Are you getting a static shock when you touch the mouse or keyboard? Is that the noise you’re hearing? Or is something coming from the speakers as well as if the USB is dropping it’s connection momentarily? If you’re hearing the disconnect/connect sound from the speakers, you have a USB issue and I would start by swapping out the USB hub as the likely culprit.
As for static, well, your computer case is already grounded, you can go ahead and touch that first to discharge the static from your body after you sit down. Beyond that, find something else metal that’s plugged in. The screws in a switch or outlet cover would work as well. Even the corner of your office will work if it’s drywalled. There’s a metal bead running under a layer of mud in all the corners and normally touching that will work as well.
Did the old laptop use the same USB hub? I’m still guessing the hub or one of the USB cables is the problem and would look there first.
ETA, running a wire from the computer case to the desk will ground the desk. As HD said, you might not want to do it permanently, but I could see just running a test for a day or so to see if it’s really part of the problem. Even if you can just tip the computer so there’s some metal to metal contact, that would be sufficient.
Yes, the house does have grounded outlets. The funny thing is, I never feel any static zap when I touch something, just the little sound from the computer that makes me go, “Oh crap, I should have touched something metal.”
The computer is grounded the desk is not. It holds the same charge as the carpet. The desk would ground through the computer. Ground the desk to the house grounding system without going through the computer.
Little sound as in static shock (implied by your “how to ground my computer” title and OP) or little sound as in the sound a USB device makes when you plug it in?
I think this is why we’re confused.
A static shock usually doesn’t cause your USB devices to reconnect…a bad USB cable or hub does.
desktop computers are intended to be powered from a grounded receptacle (3 prong or 3 prong adapter (if the receptacle is grounded and only 2 prong as can be in older wiring)).
change shoes or wear none, the combination of shoe and carpet makes the static.
make sure your house has adequate humidity.
touch your metal desk before touching the computer devices and then continue to do often.
use a plastic floor protector (large rectangle or T shaped) that is designed to fit under a chair and into the foot area of the desk. this will keep you from generating static as you shuffle your feet while you are waiting for the computer to do what you want.
OK, I have bypassed the hub and plugged everything directly into the computer. I couldn’t do that with the laptop, because I didn’t have enough USB ports. I’ll try this for a while and see if the problem goes away.
To reiterate for those that are still confused, there is no “static zap” or static sound in the speakers, the sound I’m talking about is the “USB disconnect” sound from Windows.
I’m hoping that getting rid of the hub will take care of the problem. I’ll keep you posted.
So, out of curiosity, what led you to make this statement “Apparently the carpet in this room generates a lot of static electricity, because many times when I come into the room and sit down, or even move my feet around under the desk and then touch the keyboard or mouse”
Anyways, I’m going to go with bad hub or a USB cord somewhere. When you grab the mouse or keyboard you’re probably bumping something and jiggling a loose connection. Hopefully it was either the hub or the cord from the hub to the computer (as in, something you eliminated) and not one of the devices that’s still attached. You might want to swap out any of the cords (that are swappable) for different ones that you have laying around the house just for good measure…Also, now that I think about it, any USB peripherals that you can get away with not using for the next few days, unplug those as well. Hate to spend all this time trying to figure out why you get the USB connect noise every time you touch the mouse only to find out three weeks into testing and reinstalling drivers and replacing cords that it’s the USB cable that goes to the scanner that hangs behind the desk that you keep kicking.
If we can go a day or three without any problems, then you plug the other stuff back in, if it’s still working, then we assume it was the hub and you can buy a new one if you need it again.
I guess in my mind I associated “walk across room, touch computer” or “move feet under desk, touch computer” with static electricity, even though there was no “zap” involved. I’ll let you know if the problem goes away. So far, I haven’t had any problems, but it’s only been a few minutes.
No, I don’t think it’s a hardware problem with the USB, I think the problem is the static as FatBaldGuy states. This used to happen to me in my old office which also had carpet that generated a lot of static electricity. I would shuffle over to my desk, and as soon as I touched my laptop, I would feel the static electricity shock, and yes, Windows would make the “USB device disconnected” sound.
I never did find a permanent solution (or even fully understand the problem). I just had to remember to discharge the static by touching a metal part of my desk before touching the computer. But since then we’ve changed offices and it doesn’t happen to me anymore.
It may have been a loose connection at the USB hub, which caused the USB devices to reset as the hub moved around (caused by movement of the mouse pushing/pulling on the cable). Eliminating the hub may have eliminated the problem.
If it is a static problem, then you are pretty lucky that you managed to reset the USB interface several times but didn’t cause any damage. A humidifier will dramatically reduce static.
I don’t think it is a movement problem, because the mouse and keyboard both have lots of slack in the cables, and the reset usually would happen when I would simply touch something, rather than move it around.
I’m thinking perhaps the hub was overly sensitive to static. It’s been over an hour and a half, and I have been in and out of my office several times with no problems, which I feel good about, as normally I would have had at least 1 or 2 instances within this time period.
If it were me, and I was really convinced it was static, I’d probably find a way to ground the desk. Even if it was the hub that was overly sensitive, you’re still sending the charge through the computer each time.
Honestly, I guess I don’t see why you couldn’t just run a piece of wire from the desk to the computer case. The charge should just travel along the case to the power supply and back to earth without interfering with anything. But if you wanted to be sure, you could run a wire from the case to the screw of an outlet cover plate or right into the ground hole of an outlet. Or better yet, right onto the ground screw of the outlet itself or pigtail it into the ground wires in the box then chip the the corner of the cover plate to get the wire out.
Unless you have something else nearby that you can ground it to.
If the outside of the case is isolated from the inside, why would the ground wire for the power supply (which is not isolated from the components also ground the case?
This is why tying a metal wrist strap to the case while working on components never made sense to me. Heck, I was taught that you’re supposed to unplug it from the wall. In either situation, how is the case grounded?
The computer itself should be grounded to the house wiring through the third pin on the power plug, so I don’t think that’s a problem. I thought it might be the desk that’s at a different potential than the outlet/computer.
To clarify, the desk is not all metal. It has a wooden top and a wooden keyboard shelf, but the legs and frame are metal, and they are touching the carpet. I don’t think there is any contact between the metal parts of the desk and anything related to the computer. That’s why I wondered if connecting the desk to the computer frame, and thereby indirectly to the house ground would remove the difference in ground potential and eliminate the static.
The case is not insulated from the outside. The case of the computer, and by extension the ground connections on the motherboard are tied directly to the ground pin of the electrical outlet.