Unknown Device, no USB ports working, tried everything I could find online

[treeAndrei]

I have a wireless mouse and USB headphones that worked fine up until a few days ago when they both periodically stopped functioning. 2 days ago they stopped functioning entirely. They work on other computers and nothing connecting to a USB port works with this computer. There is an Unknown Device listed under Universal Serial Bus Controllers.

Here's what I've tried:

1. Did a system restore
2. Reinstalled all 64-Bit drivers available for my system on the Samsung drivers page
3. Right-clicked and uninstalled all drivers from Device Manager, then restarted computer
4. Took laptop battery out, waited 15 minutes, then put it in and started computer
5. Downloaded USBDeview and uninstalled all drivers listed (curiously, the Unknown Device is listed as not connected and not safe to unplug), then restarted computer
6. Ran Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor with mouse and headphones plugged in. No problems found.
7. Cleaned registry using Registry Mechanic

Does anyone know what else could be done?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Elvandil]

All registry cleaners do damage. Registry Mechanic is among the worse and may have made the problem worse. All registry cleaners do is delete anything they do not understand. That means that anything related to a device that is not on the system may well have been deleted, too, making it impossible to ever install that device again.

Restore the registry, or use System Restore to get an undamaged registry back.

Are you sure there are no physical problems with the USB ports? Any electrical storms lately?

Windows Update released updated USB drivers for both Microsoft and third-parties. If your USB ports are functional, there should be drivers installed automatically if you install all the updates. If not, the problem with the ports may be physical. Also make sure that the BIOS has the correct date and that USB is enabled there (if such a setting exists). If the date is wrong, replace the battery.

 

[treeAndrei]

Power did go out about a week ago (not a storm though, not local at least). I didn't think much of it because I figured it's a laptop and will switch to battery power if anything, and because the problem started a few days after the power outage. But based on what you say I'm going to give it to the store if I can't find a software solution.

I made a backup of the registry beforehand, so I'll restore it. I'm not sure how to confirm the BIOS date and enable USB with it. Sorry.

Thank you for your answer

 

[Elvandil]

Make/model of machine?

When you boot up, it may tell you on the screen what key to press to enter BIOS setup (sometimes called just "setup" but has nothing to do with setting up Windows). It is often Del or F2, but varies by model.

There are not very many good software reasons why the problem you are having should exist. Windows is usually very good about installing USB drivers, and if you have all the Windows updates, especially, the problem would seem to be hardware-related.

A power failure is not usually enough to cause problems. But power surges do occur at the beginning and the end of power failures, so it is possible that it had something to do with it.

If you want to try one more thing before going to a shop, checking to see if the USB ports work with another operating system would help eliminate Windows and software as the culprit. You can make a bootable CD or USB stick and see if USB devices work there. There are many choices in the Live USB program, but Parted Magic would be my recommendation. The program does all the work in making a bootable CD key and even downloads the OS for you, so it is easy to use no matter your confidence-level.

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Parted Magic disk partitoning tool (Bootable CD image)
If you prefer a bootable USB key, download and run Linux Live USB Creator. Choose the Parted Magic distro, and it will download it and automatically create a bootable USB key.

This CD (or key) contains many useful tools. You can partition, recover files, recover lost partitions, make disk images (by several different methods), transfer files between media, scan for viruses (It can serve as an Alternative Trusted Platform for search and elimination of rootkits and bootkits), examine and benchmark hardware, access the internet, and much more.
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A CD of this type (or USB key) could be invaluable to you later. If Windows would not run for some reason, you could still boot up and get all your files.