None of the usb ports are working

[freepims]

I am trying to help a friend out who called and said that lighting had hit his place, it did fry the printer and the computer still works but none of the usb ports are working. You can plug a usb mouse in and it will light up but not work. It's like having fire without any juice.

I read somewhere that the if the system got a shock the bios would go to restricted setttings registering all your ports useless. The article suggested going into the bios and making sure all ports are enabled then reinstall all chipset drivers.

Does this sound correct? If so which category will I find the ports to enable them. You can tell I have not been to bios school by now:)

Can someone please advice. He has an emachine about two years old running xp.

Thanks for any advice!

[TheHoFL]

Do you or your friend have a spare USB PCI port card? I would try to get a hold of one and see if the USB ports on there are working.

[freepims]

I do and thought about taking it up there and sticking it in but in another post i read where some guy did that without any luck but it's worth a try but the problem will still exist unless you just used the card.

[TheHoFL]

True, but you could then use a keyboard and mouse. Then go into Computer Management under Device Manager and double check to see if the onboard USB ports show up. If they do make sure "Allow computer to turn off this device to save power." is unchecked. You can find this option under Universal Serial Bus Controllers  by double click the USB Root Hubs. I would uncheck that option for all Hub in that section.

[freepims]

Sorry maybe I mislead you. I can use the pc with a Ps/2 mouse and keyboard and I have went into the device manager and it says all usb ports are fine...

I open system information and there are no errors and everything seems to be fine. I have tried a system restore three or four days ago at a restore point, I tried to start in last good know configuration,

Can't find anything the signifies there is a problem. It's just weird that that one mouse and everything lites up but the motherboard is not recognizing anything.

There main concern since this was a business was using the printer to let quick books print the checks etc.

In device manager it says that the usb devices are working proper, got me...

[TheHoFL]

Did you check for the power setting check box i mentioned? You should uncheck those. Also try booting into the BIOS and make sure that the USB ports are enabled. I have seen a similar issue and in the BIOS they were disabled. The ports would still work, but not properly until they were enabled in the BIOS.

[freepims]

that's where I get a little fuzzy. I know I to access the bios but in the list of categories which one will I select to enable the usbs.

Thanks for you help man.

[TheHoFL]

When you are booting your computer, it should display what kind of BIOS and the version you have. Can you please supply that information. Also is a custom built computer? If so what is the motherboard model? If not what kind of computer is and do you have access to the computers motherboard to get make and model from it?

Thanks for you help man.

Anytime! That's why i got on this forum. 

HoFL

[freepims]

I did a search on the site about setting a bios back to default settings and I can see I am going to have to find out those specs on the motherboard that you referring to.

I am going back in the morning, taking a card might try it after I find out about the other. I have been in the bios on some that said hit f5 or what ever to set factory defaults but I didn't see that on this one today. I downloaded the hardware manual before I left but forgot to email it to myself, that's nothing new.

I guess I'll sleep on it and let you know what happened when I get back.

Take care and thanks again...

[TheHoFL]

In the BIOS, try setting it back to "load fail-safe defaults". That usually will get rid of a problem you are having. Then one by one add any other settings you ma want.

[JJ 3000]

Clear CMOS
Open the computer case and look for the CMOS battery.

Take the battery out and put it back in after about ten minutes.

Make sure you are grounded before touching any internal components. Static electricity can fry the motherboard!
While you are in there, I would also, blow out the dust with a can of compressed air.

[ALAN_BR]

If the printer was fried by lightning, then high voltages were involved, and insulation broke down.

If the printer was connected via USB to the computer I would EXPECT devastation of the hardware interface, the BIOS is the last place I would look.

If the Hardware manager reports the USB ports are O.K., that means simple tests of commands / responses are O.K. - it is unlikely to have validated every signal path through to and including the actual contacts that engage with the external world - which can withstand more electrical abuse than transistors, but were never intended for lightning strikes ! !

Regards
Alan

[freepims]

Thanks to everyone for their help. I tool a pci card and put it in the machine and it worked fine. My friend was satisfied with that so that's were I left it.

I did install CC Cleaner and on the first pass I got 1918 MB of junk so I went ahead and give it a good cleaning. I can't believe how people just let the trash keep building up. Of course there were another three programs that were screaming for updates so I took care of that.

It would probably blow our mind just to know how many machines are junked when they just need a little TLC.

Have a great weekend, what's left of it!

[TheHoFL]

Glad to hear that your friend was happy with the solution of using a PCI USB card.


Have a great weekend as well!