All of the USB ports on my computer—two on the front and two on the back—randomly stop working at the same time. This happens while gaming and sometimes even while watching YouTube. The HDMI output and internet connection remain active, but the USB devices usually take about a minute to come back. What could cause every USB port to shut down together, and how can I troubleshoot it?
2 Answers
Because the front and rear ports fail simultaneously, this is more likely to be a USB controller, chipset driver, or motherboard power-management issue than a single faulty port. Update the motherboard chipset and USB-related drivers, then restart the computer so the changes fully apply. Also check Windows power settings and disable USB selective suspend or any option that allows Windows to turn off USB hubs to save power.
If the problem continues after driver and power-setting changes, the motherboard’s USB controller may be crashing or briefly losing power. Check whether the issue happens with different devices and look in Device Manager or Event Viewer for USB, chipset, or hardware errors. If a restart is required before the ports return, that would make a controller or motherboard fault more likely.
I updated the chipset drivers and disabled the USB power-saving settings as far as I could tell. I’ll need to see whether the ports disconnect again to know if that fixed it.