[th3]

Well, I offered to update the 'better half's' XP to SP2 as she has no I/Net at home.....

XP etc is all legit, have the codes etc so didn't expect it to be a problem except that it has no Network card get out my old USB router and use that

No joy, for some reason no USB ports are showing up (checked via Device Manager).

There are 4 ports, 2 front and 2 back - AMD Athlon, DVD and CD RW so it's not like it's a really low spec machine.

Is there a way to get them enabled?

I'm not experienced in opening the case so if it involves this then I will need some clear instructions.

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Remove all USB leads from the PC

Click start then right click my computer, click properties, harware, device manager, look down the list to universal serial bus controllers, click the + next to it, left click an entry to highlight, right click it, click delete, confirm delete, do this until all entries have been removed, reboot.

Plug one USB lead into the PC, if it recognises it, install another lead and so on

[Retired Tech]

Remove all USB leads from the PC

Click start then right click my computer, click properties, harware, device manager, look down the list to universal serial bus controllers, click the + next to it, left click an entry to highlight, right click it, click delete, confirm delete, do this until all entries have been removed, reboot.

Plug one USB lead into the PC, if it recognises it, install another lead and so on

[th3]

Keith,

Thanks for you help!

The problem is that there are no USB controllers listed in Device Manager.

Does this mean that they are not connected - even though the ports are physically there...??

[Retired Tech]

That's the most likely reason

Turn all the power off to the PC and then remove the power lead

Open the case and look for wiring from the ports to the motherboard, avoid touching metallic parts

If you do not want to open the case, try to find a repair shop which will estimate it free, in case it is something else

[th3]

Ok case opened, Ports at the back are connected to the MB by way of a 'cube' about 1cm sq with word 'Foxconn' on it. There is a similar box above to which the Keyboard and Mouse connect and these are fine.

The front ports appear connected to the MB too....

Been thinking about it and I do remember using USB on it previously to back up my Mobile phone...so they did work!!

Sometime ago I did have a BSOD problem which I resolved with an XP repair...it was to do with drivers (unmountablediskvolume or similar).

Edited to add....

I didn't notice this before but when I plug in my USB router the power button lights up fine (front and back ports) so I am thinking it's not a connection issue now.

Edited by th3, 02 January 2006 - 07:37 AM.

[Retired Tech]

Did you re-install from microsoft update as the repair will have removed all the updates and SP2

http://support.micro...kb/873169/en-us

http://support.micro...kb/329632/en-us

http://support.micro...kb/310575/en-us

[th3]

Keith,

Machine has only ever had Windows XP home SP1.

Never been connected to the I/Net so no updates have ever been applied.

Assuming I get the USBs working again then I was going to connect and update to latest pack.

It won't be going on the I/Net once returned to the other half either.

[Retired Tech]

You could download this to your PC, burn to disc then load it on the other one

http://www.neowin.ne...howtopic=409564

It more or less loads everything but SP2, I have a link for the SP2 CD somewhere if you want to put SP2 on

[th3]

I tried AutoPatcher, it doesn't make any difference!!

Beginning to think I might have to do a full re-installation

Anyone else got any bright ideas?

To recap....

USB not shown at all in Device Manager
Power ok via all USB ports
Previous BSOD problem resolved via XP repair
USB ports have worked previously
No I/Net connection (never has been)
XP Home SP1 disc and codes are ok

[Retired Tech]

Start at the top then check after each step

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD and get an onscreen blue progress bar, when the bar goes, reboot.

Click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, click more options then clean up restore points, click confirm, click OK. Then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type prefetch then press enter, click edit then select all, right click any file then click delete, confirm delete, then reboot

When it gets to the desktop, the system files and the hard drive will be as they should

Download and install Tune Up 2006 Trial

Run disc clean up then registry clean up then click optimize to run reg defrag, which needs a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to optimize the computer, select computer with an internet connection from the drop down menu, this also requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to accelerate downloads, select the speed just above your actual connection speed, this requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to run system advisor

If no change, the next thing to do would be a repair install, this will leave data and settings intact

XP Repair

If you are unable to run XP Repair

Alternate XP Repair

Use the last one, Windows Installation CD to repair the current installation, which uses a slightly different method


After running the repair it will be necessary to install all Windows Updates

Microsoft Update

Beyond this, it could be a hardware fault

[th3]

Ok wishing I hadn't done that last set of steps.....

I now have 2 x Windows XP installed and both seem to be new ones....

All old user accounts and data missing from startup menu.

Under disk management it still shows some 50% usage of the disk so all may not be lost but if it is so be it.

What would you suggest is the next step?

2 x WinXP installed
USB ports still deliver power but remain unrecognised by XP
No old system restore points (even though there were some) and restart last known good is no good either

Edited by th3, 02 January 2006 - 05:53 PM.

[Retired Tech]

When you ran the repair did you press to install without repairing, it should now ask you which one you want to load when the PC boots, also if you repair it should ask which one

[th3]

Confident I opted for repair.

I now have a choice of 2 but they both appear to be clean installs.

That said the first time I had a choice it opened up a clean install then the old install but no matter which option I now choose I can't get the old install to start up....

[Retired Tech]

Is sytem restore an option

If you search for a file which was there before this does it give you access denied

[th3]

Mixture of news....

System Restore only offers todays date...so no it's not an option unless there's another way to use it

Having done a search for all music the files are there and can be accessed