Are you good with computers?

[swirlish]

I think my computer is dying a slow death. But I don't blame him, I've tortured him enough and he's always tried his best. He is a good computer, I just don't have *any* harddrive space so I have to frequently ignore when he's trying to tell me Windows needs more space to run. Oh well.

Two things.

1, Can an USB port be broken? Or both? My computer doesn't react when I plug in my mp3 player *or* my USB mouse (the mouse doesn't light up either). Although, it did recognize my webcam and was fine with that. So, anyone have any ideas? How do you fix those? Is it expensive?

2. I was trying to be smart and wanted to get rid of the page where Windows asks for a password and/or I have to click the little picture to log in. So I looked it up online and followed the instructions in the administrator tools. I shouldn't have done that. Now everytime Windows starts, it says "The system couldn't log you in because you don't have a password" or something like that even when I asked it to NOT ASK FOR A GODDAMN PASSWORD! When it starts up, that message pops up and if I don't click okay quickly (which gives me the page with the little picture), it freezes on "Windows is starting". I frequently have to restart the computer and be ready to click the okay button. HELP?!?!?

If anyone can give me any hints at all, I'll be so grateful. I love my computer and I don't want him to die.

[Milvus]

1) I don't know. Maybe your computer needs some more memory to recognise the things you plug in. Free up some space when I ran out of space I bought an external hard drive. It costs a bit though, so maybe burn some stuff to DVDs?

2) I am going to do a qua and say re-install windows. Or try a system restore (system restores are my response to everything). You just have to remember when you did this to your poor abused baby and set the system restore before that date. And hope you didn't clear your memory of the resore points since then. System restore first, and if that won't work a re-installation. And don't mess with the password screen next time I would say

[Jomomma]

System restore is a good thing

[maisie]

1] sometimes if things aren't getting recognised in the USB it can be a problem with the plug and play system and the drivers for that. I had it happen to me after i had my computer in hiberbate or stand-by a lot without shutting it down but shutting it down properly seemed to restore it.

as for 2] try reinstating it like it was before, i'd try that, windows is super sensitive i managed to wipe all my xp settings and resorted myself to classic view only by just changing a few small settings other than that try system restore, when it works, it's great!

[swirlish]

System restore.. Okay.. and how would I go about doing that? And will it make everything disappear and stop working?

maisie, can I do something about those plug and play thingies except rebooting? You said it could be the drivers, if I recall correctly, it's possible to reinstall drivers? What kind would I need and where do I find them?

Sorry guys, but I'm this bad with computers

[Milvus]

I always forget how to system restore so I go to help and do it there

[maisie]

if you are running xp type system restore into the help and support search box and it will detail for you step by step how to do it, you basically have to choose a point in time back to restore your system to, anything you have installed (program wise) since that date will go but that's the point because those installations can be what's upset your system. but files and folders you have made since then will stay the same.

if you want to do it without help and support it's 'control panel' -> 'administrative tools' -> 'system' and then system restore. Alternatively you can start your computer up in safe mode and then select the option to carry out system restore.


Your device manager, which controls the drivers for your devices (like USB ports and plug and play) is in the same system folder as system restore, but it might be worth trying to system restore first, pick a date just far enough back that you know your system was working.

hope that helps,

[sine nomine]

so the computer doesn't react at all when you plug it in?

try this:

go to control panel > system > hardware > device manager

in device manager, click the plus sign next to mice. look for your usb mouse there. if it exists, try right-clicking and removing it. then plug the mouse in and see what happens. if it's not reacting at all, though, i don't think this will help. it's worth a shot, though.

the next thing would be to try to establish what's not behaving properly, the mouse or the coputer. take your mouse to another computer and plug it in there. if the other computer sees it, then there's something wrong with your usb port or with the way it's set up. before worrying batou that, though, we need to figure out where the problem is.

(you have no idea how many times i went through this sort of thing on the phone in my lasst job. )

deb

[Jomomma]

if it's not reacting at all, though, i don't think this will help. it's worth a shot, though.

Keyboard not recognized. Press F5 to continue

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry
Just thought it was funny

[dangermouse]

How many usb ports do you have? if you have any other ports with things in take them out and try the devices that aaren't working there.

as said before its best to try the devices on a different machine as you can work out what the problem is. if its the ports then theres not much you can really do with them, unless the pc is still within warranty of course.

You can always buy a usb pci card to stick in the back if it turns out to be the usb ones on your motherboard are faulty.

[swirlish]

deb, I tried what you said and my mouse isn't there. I'll see when/if I can take it to another computer and try. Thank you so much, keep the ideas coming

dangermouse, I have two USB ports and none of them will make my mouse work. Sometimes the mouse blinks just when I plug it in, but then dies again.

So there's no way of taking just the USB ports out and replacing them? This pc is old and not even mine, so no warranty.

[sine nomine]

you probably can't replace.

if some things work, it might be worthwhile to see if it will recognize a usb hub. and corti's suggestion about doing a system restore (if you're using xp) is a very good idea, too; it's possible that some setting got changed. xp tends to do things without consulting you.

deb

[sine nomine]

i just remembered something else we used to try at wds:

go back to the device manager and click on the plus sign next to Universal Serial Bus controllers (it may say something slightly different). right click on each thing under there and choose uninstall. when they're all gone, right click anywhere in the device manager window and choose scan for new hardware. windows will reinstall them.

it may help. it also may not.

[swirlish]

wohoo! that must have helped, deb! The mouse still isn't working, but I'm suspecting that might be because the actual mouse is broken somehow. It blinks a bit when I wiggle the plug, so there seems to be what is called in swedish, a "glappkontakt", a plug that's.. wonky? That's okay, I can buy a new mouse!

But I tried plugging my mp3 player in now and it worked! Yay!

Thank you so much. Though you had me worried, because when I had uninstalled all the USB things, it wouldn't let me right-click. I panicked slightly until I found a menu that said "search for plug and play" (in swedish) and hoped that would be the right thing.

Thank you!

[sine nomine]

it's one of the laws of tech support: when in doubt, start ripping out things that might be the cause.