BleepingComputer.com: Usb Ports Driving Me Nuts

I am using a Dell, and have replaced the RAM to increase it to 1GB. it has a P4 processor and i run XP SP2. I have 6 USB ports on my computer, (2 in front and 4 clustered on teh back) all of them are connected directly to the MoBo. I have a usb mouse, an external Harddrive, and an ipod as the only devices using USB connections. The mouse plugs into one port on the back, and works fine, but in any other port it is not recognized and will not light up (it is an optical mouse).


my hard drive and ipod both work, but only if just one of them is plugged in at a time. for example, today i had my ipod charging, and turned on my external HDD (its off when not in use). my computer gave me a pop up that said "device not recognized, unplug device, and plug back in; if still unknown, replace device." (not exact words, but close enough). i will unplug my ipod, and turn my hdd off then back on and it will work staying plugged into the same port it was plugged into. once that is working, if i plug my ipod in; i get the same messages about it not being recognized and will work once the hdd is turned off again. this holds true on any of the 5 ports (the other one is the only one the mouse works in) and it is starting to really irritate me becasue i do not know how to fix it.


I am thinking i need to pull the USB drivers from teh internet and reinstall them; but i dont want to do that unless it will help and is the only option. also, i run nightly virus and spyware scans using Kaspersky and AVG antispyware and both come up negative except for the occasional cookie.

any help is appreciated.

This topic may help you http://www.usbman.com/Guides/Cleanup%20Dev...Safe%20Mode.htm