Problem description:
All laptop USB ports stopped working at once. Laptop stopped recognizing any USB device plugged into any USB port.
Possible cause:
1. Software problem.
2. USB controller failure.
Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:
1. Uninstall all USB related entries in the device manager. Restart the laptop and let it re-detect USB ports and install drivers. Test USB ports. If it doesn’t help, move to the next step.
2. Back up all personal files and reinstall Windows from scratch. It possible that all USB ports stopped working because some system files got corrupted.
3. If reinstalling Windows from scratch doesn’t help, most likely this is hardware related failure. Apparently, the motherboard has a failed USB controller. If that’s the case, the whole motherboard has to be replaced.
Alternatively, you can use an external PCMCIA USB card. You plug this card into the PC slot and get 2 or 4 USB ports instead.
