Cheap Bluetooth USB Dongle killed All USB Ports . USB not visible in Device Manager , Help!

monkeyactive

I picked up a cheap USB Bluetooth Dongle on Amazon to see if it would be a workaround for a laptop with Buggy Bluetooth connectivity.

I plugged it in to a USB port, it lit up.

A few moments later the USB mouse stopped working.

The Cheap dongle was no longer lit up.

All my USB ports (3) are gone now it seems after trying various sticks and devices.

I did some quick googling and found advice to go into device manager and uninstall all the USB controllers then restart the laptop.

I did this . No Change but now in Device Manager there is no USB listed even with show hidden devices.

Is it possible that the Cheap dongle just fried the USB hardware ?

Any hope here?

Appreciate your ideas

LambshankRedemption

Possible, yes, but quite unlikely.

What version of Windows?

In device manager, right click and is there an option for "Scan for Hardware changes"?

1. Click Start, and type devmgmt. msc in the Start Search box and hit enter.
2. Device Manager opens.
3. In Device Manager, click your computer so that it is highlighted.
4. Click Action, and then click Scan for hardware changes.

monkeyactive

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121433187#Comment_121433187

windows 8.1

Thanks Ill try this and see

Yes I tried that and no change unfortunately.

Still have dead USB Ports and no USB category to be seen in device manager.:(

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121433208#Comment_121433208

Let me know what happens.

monkeyactive

No Joy I'm afraid. Still have no USBs and no sign of them in Device manager.

DopeTech

Got much on the laptop? A factory reset would rule a lot out.

monkeyactive

Yes Might have to try that . I reckon I can remove hard drive , put in a sata box , get the files I really want off of it then reinstall it and do a factory reset

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121433292#Comment_121433292

Even if you put a paper clip in, I can't see it shorting out the entire USB controller, but it could happen I suppose.

Can you burn CD's on your computer?

monkeyactive

No cd drive

The sata enclosure box idea should work I hope if it's as straightforward as just removing the HD, into sata box , upload files to another laptop , return HD

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121434186#Comment_121434186

Should be

(famous last words)

DopeTech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121434186#Comment_121434186

Is usb being seen in bios?

smuggler.ie

Files can be transferred to another computer/NAS over local network or uploaded to cloud storage, if external enclosure is problem. Just set the network share...

monkeyactive

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121434378#Comment_121434378

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121434378#Comment_121434378

Thanks for the ideas folks

In Bios I see under advanced tab

usb emulation enabled

Usb wake support disabled

No mention of the word USB elsewhere in Bios

DopeTech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121435414#Comment_121435414

Check under boot devices in the bios and see if it’s listed. Have a usb key plugged in at the time of booting.

monkeyactive

This is wierd

After checking bios but not changing anything and rebooting the issue has resolved.

From what I was reading the act of restarting the laptop should have reinstalled the USB ports but it didn't work the last 7 times I tried.

Thanks Appreciate all the ideas folks

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436587#Comment_121436587

It might be that in the past rebooting the laptop, it was doing a soft reboot, or fast reboot. When you went into the BIOS, it did a full boot and therefore did all the checks and therefore found and reinstall the USB controller.