Problem wierd fault on work pc

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OK, so when i got to work the other day the usb mouse, printer and barcode scanner wouldn't work from when i turned the pc on in the morning, installed a ps2 mouse so that i could actually use the thing and found that the CD drive and usb ports wouldn't work at all, i disabled usb and uninstalled the usb drivers. windows then automatically detected them and installed the drivers again. i checked the cmos and all is well there as far as i can see. turned out there was a virus so i got rid of the virus and re scanned with an upto date checker. nothing was found but they still didn't work. I done a destructive system recovery and windows re installed itself as normal. now the cd drawer opens and shuts both by pressing the button on the drive AND the eject option in software but it won't read a disc and i still don't have USB ports. I'm lost, any ideas? i don't know if it's hardware or software based.I'm running windows xp with sp3.

 

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Since it seems you have eliminated software and corruption being the cause then I would think you have a hardware issue.

if the BIOS isn't locked what do voltages and temperatures say?

Have you tried a spare cd drive?

Is there any chance that Static Electricity could have damaged the system? i.e has someone been inside the system without taking proper precautions?

Do you have a spare power supply you could swap out with the one thats in there now?

 

Has USB been disabled in the BIOS?

 

i can see the CD drive in bios, the device manager says all devices are working as they should, unfortunatley i don't have spare parts available but the boss is mate with a guy who owns a computer shop so might try that route. I didn't pay attention really to the temp when i was in the bios but i saw it had a reading that didn't look that high (about 30 degrees C). the pc was fine when we shut down the night before and i'm the only one that opens them up cos i work with a bunch of technophobes. If i swaped the PSU would that show up a fault with powering the USB and the CD? should i swap with one that gived out a higher wattage? I checked the bios and usb is enabled in it. we did have about 5 things running off the usb but you're supposed to be able to run upto 128 in a daisy chain so cant see that being a problem.

 

Maybe also try resetting the BIOS via the jumpers on the mobo.

 

ah that's a good idea, i'll see if the boss is up for that, as i've now moved the printer et al to another computer to be shared from there. as far as he's concerened it all works exactly the same as before so he doesn't seem that bothered. i just want to find out for my own records

 

You may have tried this......but meh....

Are you getting any errors in windows in the event viewer to say if the usb drives have failed at any point?

Also, going along the lines of changing the PSU as suggested by GBL

Have you tried plugging each USB device in one at a time? and seeing what happens. Whilst you can run upto 128 devices in a daisy chani, its possible that one of the devices is pulling too much power, and causing the others to fail, which could also afect the Cd drive. I think normally you would get a little notfication saying there was a power issue.....but you never know.

Im sure theres a area in the device settings which tells you how much power each usb device is currently using.......

 

I have tried the one device at a time thing and 2 of the devices are powered with their own psu, i've also checked the event log and nothing was shown. I even went down the road of looking in the usb sockets to see if anything was damaged inside and causing a short but no joy. very wierd.
Haven't tested a new psu yet as i don't have access to one but if i do get my mitts on one, i will be trying it. The boss isn't bopthered as we still have use of the devices over a network but it's more foor my own personal curiosity

 

Get a multimeter before purchasing a psu as they are cheaper. If you do get a psu make sure you get a good make of psu.

Here's a list a good makes:-

Seasonic (the best)
Corsair HX or TX series (made by seasonic)
Coolermaster (newer models)
Thermaltake (toughpower series only)
OCz extreme models
PC Power & Cooling
CWT
FSP (only models that have FSP before the model name they make generic brands which have AX before the model number which are crap)

Okayish power supplies:-

Antec (used to be great but in the last 3 or so years they started using cheap suppliers for their capacitors which have caused lots of problems).
Enermax (used to be great they did what Antec are doing but they have learned and their PSUs are now getting better again).

Here's a list of power supplies to avoid :-

Huntkey (have a habit of exploding and you usually have to take 40% of what the wattage/amperage says on the label)
Rosewill (nearly as bad as huntkey. Again take 40% of what the wattage actually says on the label)
HEC (often found in prebuilt systems like Advents and the like, they are known for giving out dirty power).
Coolmaster (see the clever ploy in the name resembling a good make)
Hiper (just crap)
Kingwing (crap)
Winpower (crap)

Plus many others.

Just so you know a failing power supply can cause all sorts of weird errors from what look like software faults to what look like hardware faults. Get a multimeter on the psu and test it, books like the Mike Meyers AIO will say +/- 10% in tolerance is acceptable but in my opinion if you are anywhere above or below 5% then your psu is struggling to cope.

 

Remember that a cheap multimeter or even an expensive one that hasn't been calibrated in a while may not be very accurate. Mike is saying for example that the 5V line can be +/- 10% out which is 0.5V... you are saying if it's 0.25V out you need to change the PSU. I would suggest that Mike Meyers is taking into account, that many people do not own a Fluke meter.

Source http://www.logwell.com/tech/oscilloscopes/meters.html

 

just thought i'd update you all. i finally had a quiet 5 mins to check out this PC and i opened her up and found that the power supply is only 250w. the pc was running about 4 usb items plus all the other bits inside the pc. I'm not sure, but that seems a little low for the load i was putting on it. Im not very good yet with the electrics side of this as i'm only doing my a+ and haven't had a chance or need to look at this side of things. Not sure how to figure out how much power all my compnents need to run properly.
I am getting round the USB thing by getting a PCI USB card but think i might need a meatier power supply to bring the cd drive back to life. any tips on how to use a multi meter to check the power is getting to the drives and mobo ok?

 

Take ya pick from here to get an idea of how much power your PC requires
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pc...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a