Member Avatar for icehammer

I have a 845-series intel board. used to work absolutely fine till two days back. Now, out of the 6, only 1 USB port works - as in, if i connect my usb drive, it will light up - showing that it has got power, but it doesn't show up on my computer as a drive - neither in the device manager.

why???

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Dani AI

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As notes, a Windows reinstall can fix driver-level USB problems; because already tried that, the next step is a focused, ordered diagnosis to separate OS/driver issues from BIOS/configuration and actual hardware failure.

  • Open Device Manager and use View -> Show hidden devices. Look under "Universal Serial Bus controllers" and "Disk drives" for error icons or ghosted entries. Right-click and uninstall suspicious USB Mass Storage or unknown-device entries, then reboot.
  • Open Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc). A device that powers but does not mount can appear there without a drive letter; assign a letter if visible.
  • With all USB devices unplugged, uninstall every USB controller/root hub in Device Manager, reboot, and allow Windows to re-detect them. Have an alternate input method ready if the keyboard/mouse are USB.
  • Check BIOS: confirm onboard USB is enabled, try loading BIOS defaults, and, only if the vendor notes a USB fix, consider a BIOS update (back up current settings; updating carries risk).
  • Inspect hardware: test rear I/O vs front-panel ports, reseat internal USB header cables, and look for damaged connectors or leaking/bulging capacitors.
  • Use an OS-agnostic check (boot a Linux live CD/USB) to see whether the flash drive is detected outside Windows. If the drive is never seen, consider adding a PCI USB controller card or using an external powered USB hub as a workaround.

Caution: avoid powering or probing ports if unsure about shorted pins; for BIOS updates or board-level repairs, seek hands-on help.

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Member Avatar for raybay

Your only easy choice is to restore windows. We have never seen USB ports fail on the board series, but sometimes Windows will foul up, particularly if you are using Windows 98 or Windows ME... and a reformat and reinstall fixes it.

Member Avatar for icehammer

Hey..

i'm using win XP... already tried reformatting and installing, no use...

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