USB port doesn’t work

Make sure you have enabled the USB ports in the BIOS Setup. Make sure your operating system supports USB; Windows 95 Version A and NT do not, whereas Windows 98 and later do have USB support. Try removing any hubs and plugging the device directly into the root hub connections on your system. Try replacing the cable. Because many USB devices require additional power, ensure that your device has an external power supply connected if one is required. Then try replacing the computer’s power adapter.

Tip

If you want to use a hub with USB devices, I recommend using a generic hub that has its own AC power source (a self-powered hub). Self-powered hubs provide a full 500mA of power for each USB port, but bus-powered hubs provide only 100mA of power (or less) per port. Therefore, a self-powered hub can be used with devices that require more power than a bus-powered hub can provide.

If the laptop has USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed USB) ports, but they aren’t recognized as Hi-Speed USB ports by external hard or optical drives designed for Hi-Speed USB, make sure you have done the following:

Enabled Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) support in the system BIOS.
*

Installed the correct Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) drivers for the chipset and version of Windows in use.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.