Hi I have a Dell dimension 8200 with xp pro. HP SCANNER 6300C HP DESKJET 970CSE My two usb ports stopped working. Both my Scanner and Printer stopped working after about 1 1/2 years connected w. computer. I have uninstalled usb host, all usb listed under device manager then and rebooted, no help. I uninstalled my scanner and printer and usb ports, etc. rebooted then d/l new drivers then connected. I have done this in many different sequences. I have used original installation CD for both and with thr wizard. I was able to get the scanner working(don't remember how after 13 hours of trying) so I decided to move it to the second port and put the printer on the one port that I thought worked due to scannr working. I was able to get the printer to print a test page and that was all. I tried to get my printer to print from command promt no luck. I went through the entire gamut of xp pro trouble shooting for both. I switched them around, uninstalled, installed, drivers, etc. I went into device manager and changed the power setting so that xp will not turn off the power to my scanner and printer when I am not using them. Under device manager it still shows an unknown device after they are both uninstalled and not connected. Before they both showed up as unknown. The scanner cannot be found. The printer does not print. I have done nothing to my computer for 3 or 4 months. I cannot connect this proplem with anything else. The usb is connected directly to the mother board. I also heard that there was some kind of problem with x pro nvidia and usb ports but can no longer find it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Susie

If you've done all that, then I don't know what help you think we can be. Have you considered the possibility of it being a hardware fault? sounds very likely to me.

Only one thing I don't see you tried, but you may have just not mentioned it: Go into the BIOS and make sure all ports are enabled. Whenever I had probs with my USBs it was always an incorrect BIOS setting. Also, try deleting your old chipset drivers and reinstalling the latest chipset drivers; USBs are usually controlled from chipset. Other than that, I never heard of a USB port mechanically failing, but Hooner may have a point. Heck, if it's mechanical it can break! That also reminds me - If your prob is the extended USB ports at the front of your unit, open the box and trace the wires running from the ports to the plugs in the maainboard; pull 'em out and replug them in, they may be a bad connection.

Upgrading to USB 2.0 EHCI Host Controller If you have a computer that supports USB 2.0, and if you have a preinstalled USB 2.0 driver from the OEM, you continue to use the earlier preinstalled drivers for USB 2.0 even after you install SP1. To upgrade to the USB 2.0 enhanced host controller driver in Windows XP SP1, follow these steps: Make sure that Windows XP SP1 is installed, and that you have restarted your computer (if requested). For more information about Windows XP SP1, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Microsoft Windows XP http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/ Open Device Manager and view Devices by Type. To open Device Manager, either run devmgmt.msc from a command prompt, or follow these steps: Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage. Expand System Tools, click Device Manager, and then click Devices by type on the View menu. Right-click the USB 2.0 EHCI Host controller, and then click Update Driver. You can find the USB Host controller entry under either of the following locations: Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Other Devices, where it will be labeled as Universal Serial Bus controller with a yellow exclamation mark next to it. Click Install the software automatically (Recommended), and then click Next. Click Finish when installation is complete. You may be prompted to restart your computer to finish the installation. back to the top Confirming Driver Versions To confirm that you have the latest USB 2.0 drivers from Windows XP SP1, make sure that you have the following (or later) driver versions: Date Version File name 29-Aug-2002 5.1.2600.1106 Usbport.sys 29-Aug-2002 5.1.2600.1106 Usbhub.sys 29-Aug-2002 5.1.2600.1106 Hccoin.dll 29-Aug-2002 5.1.2600.1106 Usbehci.sys