USB ports only work if I plug in last used device into one of them

Sound byte

Commendable
Jun 11, 2016
2
0
1,510
Laptop running vista, it has two USB ports on it. Recently both USB ports stopped working and had no power to them either, I couldn't see them in computer or in disk management, I tried updating all drivers and also tried removing all USB from registry and rebooting system but still no change to the problem, i tried a Microsoft fix it tool which said hardware wasn't being recognised and although it claimed to have fixed it ,it hasn't ,and after reboot I tried the tool again and got the exact same result as the first time. Then I remembered that the very last thing I plugged into the USB ports before this problem was my cctv dvr ( stupid I know but I wanted to see if I could access it this way) I realised that since I plugged in the dvr the USB ports hadn't worked ,and so I plugged in the dvr again into one of the ports and just like before nothing happened, but then I plugged in a variety of other devices into the other USB port whilst leaving the dvr plugged in at the same time and all the other devices that I tried worked straight away and they show in both my computer and in disk management and they have drive e allocated to them, how can I get both USB ports to work properly without having to plug my dvr into one port just to get the other single port working ? I've also tried startup repair and disabling the selective feature in the registry, all drivers are up to date and when I try to scan for hardware changes it doesn't help, the only thing that helps at all is plugging the dvr back into one port which then wastes that port and also is not ideal as I can't carry my dvr around with me lol, and help to resolve this would be much appreciated, thanks
 
Solution
Your suspicion that computer still thinks the cable is still plugged in even when removed is an interesting conclusion and you may be right.

1. Try hard reset, remove battery and charger and all usb connections, now press and hold power button for 30-60 seconds then reattach battery and charger and boot only and power on and then try normal usb hardware like external hdd or dvd-rom only at this time.

2. If step 1 works, immediately create a restore point for safety.

3. This step involves command prompt running in administrator, if the above steps fail and which im recommending only because i cant think of anything else.

- In command prompt type : "Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth"......NB: without quotes, this check windows...

zer0c00l587

Estimable
Jan 14, 2016
258
0
5,210
1. Try a system restore to a date prior to plugging the dvr in, if fails check step 2.
2. In control panel, hardware and sound >>>> power options >>>> change plan settings >>>> change ADVANCED plan setting.....now under USB setting set to never switch off.
3. This step is based on "paranoia"....to prevent illegal copying of data will dvr makers engineer so that when it detects its hooked to pc it should shut down usb access via rootkit install.......so run a complete antivirus and antimalware scan. Use malwarebytes or emsisoft emergency kit scanner.
 

Sound byte

Commendable
Jun 11, 2016
2
0
1,510
Hey zer0, thankyou for taking the time to reply, I've done as you said and unfortunately the problem is still here, however whilst I was following your advice I noticed that the problem appears to be the actual cable that I used to plug from laptop USB port to dvr, I have tried plugging the same cable back into my laptop USB port and the other end into various different devices when I do this nothing happens until I try any device in the other USB port at the same time as the cable is plugged in, then the non cable port comes live and shows up everywhere that it should do and even gives me the option to safely remove hardware for the non cable port only, I am thinking that the cause of the problem is that when I initially plugged the cable in and then removed it without doing the safely remove hardware option ( because the option wasn't there ) that the USB port thinks that the cable is still plugged in and maybe it has assigned that cable or if it has a serial number then that number to a specific route or port etc however if I am right then I've no idea how to tell the computer that I have removed it. When I have the cable plugged in to USB port with a device on the other end and then in the other USB port I fit another device the non cable port becomes live and in the device manager I can see the device that is in the non cable port showing up as it should, I also see that the computer appears to be trying to download drivers for the cable port however it always fails and I can see this under " other devices " showing as a unknown device with a yellow triangle on it, no attempt to either get it to update driver or to recognise new hardware appears to work, if I unplugg the cable port then the non cable port also shuts down leaving the entry for that device in device manager under USB controllers to become transparent until I plug the cable back into the other port, please help.
 

zer0c00l587

Estimable
Jan 14, 2016
258
0
5,210
Your suspicion that computer still thinks the cable is still plugged in even when removed is an interesting conclusion and you may be right.

1. Try hard reset, remove battery and charger and all usb connections, now press and hold power button for 30-60 seconds then reattach battery and charger and boot only and power on and then try normal usb hardware like external hdd or dvd-rom only at this time.

2. If step 1 works, immediately create a restore point for safety.

3. This step involves command prompt running in administrator, if the above steps fail and which im recommending only because i cant think of anything else.

- In command prompt type : "Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth"......NB: without quotes, this check windows for any corruptions affecting normal operating and usually its best run when there are no viral infections as a rule.

- If any corruptions are found and to fix them, type: "Dism /Image:C:\offline /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:c:\test\mount\windows"
 
Solution