Question Windows 10 USB Ports Malfunctioning After Reinstall?

[ascendant]

I just re-installed Windows 10 on my desktop since it had been years since I did and I wanted a clean install. However, after re-installing and getting everything setup how I wanted again, I'm having a recurring problem. Every once in a while, some of the USB ports will malfunction. Both ports in the front and back of the PC. It has happened to the keyboard, mouse, and wi-fi (I have a USB wi-fi). Not always all at once, just randomly, they will sometimes kick out. When I go to switch to another USB, it typically won't work on others either, although one time, I swapped the USB for the mouse and it did work in another USB port. Most the time though, it won't.

Currently running the "Restorehealth" to see if there are any errors in Win 10. If this doesn't come up with anything, what else could be going on here? They worked perfectly fine until I re-installed, so it does seem to be a software error, just not sure what would cause something like this?

 

[Tech Junky]

First thing that comes to mind is drivers, But, USB is basic in terms of getting it to work. Maybe check for a UEFI update from the OEM and see if it shakes something loose. The other thing that comes to mind is a IRQ conflict if there's too many devices competing for the same resources. For instance if I add a PCIE device to my setup it changes my network names / numbers and I have to go edit the conf file for them to get them working again. Funny thing though is I added a WIFI card and it didn't change anything but toggling thunderbolt on/off will.

 

[ascendant]

First thing that comes to mind is drivers, But, USB is basic in terms of getting it to work. Maybe check for a UEFI update from the OEM and see if it shakes something loose. The other thing that comes to mind is a IRQ conflict if there's too many devices competing for the same resources. For instance if I add a PCIE device to my setup it changes my network names / numbers and I have to go edit the conf file for them to get them working again. Funny thing though is I added a WIFI card and it didn't change anything but toggling thunderbolt on/off will.

Thanks for the suggestions. The weird thing is I only re-installed the software and other items that were already on the PC, and there were no USB issues prior to me re-installing. That's why I thought it might be an issue with the installation. But, I ran the "Restorehealth" and it didn't do any good

I finally have some free time to try your suggestions tonight, so hopefully one of them will help fix this issue. I appreciate it

 

[Tech Junky]

help fix this issue

Speaking of W and issues... I put in a new WIFI card a couple of weeks ago that is WIFI 7 and the drivers seem to not work the best when it comes to suspend / wake. I trashed them the other day and decompressed the EXE they came in to see if I could massage them into working better. It seems to have made a little difference compared to the EXE method of install. Still a bit quirky though but less of a PITA to deal with so far. I just used 7zip to extract the files and then pointed W to the folder where the inf files were to grab them and update the device. Similarly I picked up a 5G modem and W had some issues finding drivers vs just plugging it into my linux server and it just working of course w/o any need to do anything special. W needed a couple of inf files for the adapter and the modem to get it online though. They weren't very common though either as they were last released ~2017?

It might take a little google fu to find some good options depending on the device that's being difficult. There's usually some obscure solution though if you dig enough. Similarly I switched my phone to a plan with CircledIn.com and opted to do eSIM and they / TMO are kind of dumb and didn't send a QR to activate with. Found a posting though with one to get it to activate on the phone w/o needing to go to the store to scan the code. Still need to go tot he store though to get a pSIM though to use in my modem which is part of the intended use and drop TMHI in the process. I get better speeds using my own modem setup by 3X+ DL and by using a phone SIM instead of the TMHI once it bumps closer to 500/65 which is a goo 4X faster than using their CPE device. Plus my modem I went with has mmWave built in so when TMO unlocks the option it should hit over 1gbps in terms of speed. The modem though is capable of much more though depending on the signal it locks onto it could be as high as 7gbps DL.

 

[Brainonska511]

Did you download the latest sets of drivers from the manufacturer? This seems like it could be a chipset driver-related thing. Anything showing up in the device manager with an exclamation point?

 

[ascendant]

Have you tried to update your USB drivers, check power settings.

Here's a screenshot. Not sure why there's so many USBs listed there, but none with an exclamation point.

The weird thing is, I only installed all the same exact software I had before I re-installed the operating system. There's absolutely nothing new installed on it compared to before the fresh install, yet I never had an issue like this until the fresh OS install.

I'm really tempted to just do another re-install. While the software checker said nothing is wrong, I am thinking it might be something it overlooks? I don't know, in all my years with PCs, I've never had an issue like this before. I'm really at a loss here.

Maybe I should delete all the USBs in the device manager and let it re-install them? I don't know if it would do that automatically though, or if I will just lose functionality of my USB ports if I do that?

 

[ascendant]

Did you download the latest sets of drivers from the manufacturer? This seems like it could be a chipset driver-related thing. Anything showing up in the device manager with an exclamation point?

Like I said in the previous post, nothing with an exclamation point. I did go to the Gigabyte website to see what's there. Not much for Win 10:

GA-970A-D3P (rev. 2.x) Support | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ultimate platform fo...

www.gigabyte.com

I downloaded that USB driver set, but no chipset for Win 10 it seems. Anyway, I just installed it and rebooted, so we'll see if that helps this. I appreciate the suggestions

 

[Brainonska511]

Like I said in the previous post, nothing with an exclamation point. I did go to the Gigabyte website to see what's there. Not much for Win 10:

GA-970A-D3P (rev. 2.x) Support | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ultimate platform fo...

www.gigabyte.com

I downloaded that USB driver set, but no chipset for Win 10 it seems. Anyway, I just installed it and rebooted, so we'll see if that helps this. I appreciate the suggestions

You could try the chipset driver direct from AMD for the 970 series: https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-9-series-chipsets/970

Though, I'm guessing a number of the drivers are just built into Windows 10, given the age of your system.

 

[ascendant]

Ok, been busy because of Christmas and family in town, but I just noticed something regarding the USB issues...

It seems like it's not the USB port that kicks out, but the device itself. My internet died, and I use a USB plug for wi-fi. So, I tried swapping it into another plug, still didn't work. Then, I unplugged my phone (which was charging, so I knew the USB was working), and plugged the wi-fi in that USB plug. It STILL didn't work!

So apparently, it's something about issues with Windows 10 just not recognizing a device anymore, no matter where I plug it in, until I reboot my computer. As soon as I reboot, it's fine again.

I'm thinking since it's still a fairly fresh install, it'd probably be easiest at this point to just reinstall again? Like I said, I didn't have this issue at all prior to reinstalling Windows, and I didn't install any new software on my PC that I hadn't before the fresh install. It has to either be an error with the installation, or an issue with how something else was installed that had already been installed before. I mean unless anyone has any suggestions on this discovery I found out today, think I'm going to reinstall again this weekend

 

[Tech Junky]

@ascendant

Might be the perfect excuse for a new wifi adapter.

 

[ascendant]

@ascendant

Might be the perfect excuse for a new wifi adapter.

As stated in the original post, it's not just the wifi adapter. It's also the keyboard and mouse that it's happened to, and in multiple USB ports. It's not the devices I'm connecting to it, I do know that for sure

 

[Tech Junky]

As stated in the original post, it's not just the wifi adapter. It's also the keyboard and mouse that it's happened to, and in multiple USB ports. It's not the devices I'm connecting to it, I do know that for sure

Maybe run the upgrade to w11 then?

 

[Shmee]

Have you verified that it is a Windows issue and not the motherboard/hardware? Could do this by booting live LInux and testing.

Also, do you happen to know if you are on a different build of Windows 10 from the one you had before the reinstall? For instance, if you were on a fully updated 22H2 before which worked fine, and you had used an older installer, this could potentially cause a difference in Windows environments, though I kinda doubt this is the reason.