When I plug any peripharys into usb ports the computer freezes up completely,the only way I can cure the problem is by turning off the main power switch.The only port working is the one with a 4port hub already plugged in.The device manager says all ports are working and recommends that the printer should be plugged into free port but then it does not work
and freezes up the computer.:confused:


Peter Prewitt

Does the system freeze when the USB devices are connected while the system is turned off, and then turned on?

"The only port working is the one with a 4port hub already plugged in."
Please elaborate.

If that happens to be a powered hub, then you may have a power supply that can't supply enough power to handle the additional draw the USB ports require...please provide complete system specs and what you are trying to add.

Also many printers require the drivers to be installed FIRST and at sometime during the install process it is plugged into the USB port...

Everything has been working okay until last week,all ports were fine with the printer plugged into a seperate port,the hub in another,and a further hub used to plug in extra dvd burner or mp3 player.The computer would not shut down properly 1 day,I then had to shut down by holding in the [power button,but could not get computer to load up again,I had to unplug all the peripharys to get it to boot up again,and then the other ports would not work

"The computer would not shut down properly 1 day, I then had to shut down by holding in the [power button,but could not get computer to load up again, I had to unplug all the peripherals to get it to boot up again, and then the other ports would not work"
Probably...
When you shut down improperly...
The file system was corrupted, so that some files [ones in use at the moment of shut-down] didn't link back to the file tables, and therefore those files [driver files for your hardware peripherals?] don't work anymore [even though called into use by the registry settings].
Did Windows [which version?] automatically scan the file system at the next Startup?
Seems like if it did it was unable to return the file system to the way it had been [good working order not restored].
What kind of file systems are in use on the partitions? [particularly on C:]
FAT[32] or NTFS?
I normally scan my FAT32 file systems on all partitions at regular and frequent intervals using the EBCD "Microsoft Scandisk", and that will often find and fix problems in the file system [I'm surprised just how often problems are found].
Sometimes it will find "Lost clusters" and/or "Lost chains".
It will then recover a lost file [or fragment] and name it as "File000x.chk", sometimes in a folder it names "Found.000".
Sometimes I'm lucky enough to correctly guess the file type and be able to open and view its content, then rename it correctly to recover it.
Mostly I have no idea what it was previously and just delete it.

The best solution is to have a recent uncorrupted image backup of the partition to restore.
An alternative [not so good] solution is to "repair" the Windows installation [hopefully it would repair the drivers as part of that process].

Works Ok Until Anything Is Plugged Into A Free Port