Is this a motherboard issue?

[Jebby]

My USB ports have been cutting in and out,
I ussually get the "hardware disconnect beep" but not always.
Ive tried switching my devices to different ports but stays the same.
Sometimes mouse, others keyboard.
Sometimes its 5x in a minute sometimes, others 1x an hour (random)
Sometimes for a split second, others, for almost a minute.
I thought about just getting a PCI USB card but, if the problem is actually the motherboard, should I just change motherboard?

Jeb

 

[EXCellR8]

the slots are probably just a little quirky, which may happen as they get older. the connections become a bit loose or something may be half disconnected internally. if you don't want to replace the motherboard, PCI cards are inexpensive and usually have at least 4 ports.

 

[Jebby]

still there

well, I still have this problem
(although I haven't done much about it yet)

Thanks but, i dont think its loose ports.
they seem fairly in-tact and comp is only 4 yrs old.

It does it more when I'm gaming too.

I also had an issue with MS excel not starting becasue a file was missing.
Don;t ask me how.
Had to insert CD so insallter could find it. (not sure if they are at all related some how)

Could it be bad USB drivers?
I even considered a repair install form XP CD but got message saying the version of XP used is newer tahn the one on CD. Is that because of service pack?

If I uninstall USB drivers how do I load new ones with no mouse?

This is crazy. and annoying.

If I thought a new motherboard would fix the issue, I would be fine with that but. not sure
Is there a diagnostic I can do?

 

[EXCellR8]

Most USB drivers are generic, meaning they are Microsoft drivers and can control a number of different USB devices. You can uninstall the drivers from Device Manager and the computer should reassign each driver automatically (or after you restart).

To answer your question about the repair install... yes, it says that because of the service pack, but I recommend you use a SP2 OEM disk (ver 2002) and then just reinstall the SP3. OR, you could slipstream service pack 3 into your own custom OEM disk so the repair doesn't revert back to SP2.

 

[Jebby]

but if a driver is corrupt and I uninstall it, doesn't it find the corupt driver again?


- that repair sounds above me too (OEM?)
I originally thought about uninstalling SRV PK 3 and then 2 but there are all kinds of things in the programs list related to service pk 2. and I gave up

 

[Jebby]

step 1

Well I put in a PCI USB card and still the same problem
The mouse really doesnt work very well at all.
I cant trace a straight line. It moves on its own. Very little but almost like it snaps away from what I want it point at. Or my computer is lagging or something.
When I start gaming, it starts to cut in and out via hardware disconnect beeps.
The key board has been fine latley.

My heat sync fan is whistling a bit.
Could it be a heat sync prob?

I uninstalled the usb controller driver and nothing different.

The guy at the store wants me to buy a new motherboard but where does that leave me if that doesnt work either.

Is there some sort of diagnostic I can run to find out what the problem is?

(I've tried 2 mice and 2 diff keys also)

 

[mailpup]

It could be the motherboard as you suspected. One thing you could try is to perform a clean install of Windows, rather than a repair. Service pack conflicts wouldn't apply in a clean install. Of course, you would have to reinstall drivers, service packs, other updates and programs but you'd probably have to to that if you replaced your motherboard anyway. Except for your time, this effort won't cost anything.

If it's a software problem, this should take care of it. If not, you probably have a hardware problem and then the motherboard starts looking like a good candidate.