Desktop Mysterious USB


My computer, the desktop, started fritzing out again today, after nearly running for 24-hours fine since the heatsink re-seating. Temps were fine though.

I determined after several BSOD incidents that it was my mouse, USB driven thing with a tail. All my mice are USB driven, any around that are for the computer, that is. I have that one I was then using, a Microsoft Optical type. I have a Microsoft USB mouse/keyboard combo hub Wireless version which I had used with my laptop, before it died. We also now have a USB wireless Kensington, which came with Frank’s ebay won Vaio earlier this week.

I determined after awhile that not having anything plugged in, the computer worked alright, for as long as I tried it that way. Plug something into a port that it hadn’t been plugged into before, and Windows recognized it and installed the hardware automatically, it’d work for a bit, then freeze and fritz me out to a series of BSOD’s for awhile. I had also at some point uninstalled one of the USB drivers in the Device Manager. In any case, I was able to use my keyboard if I could get Windows to load alright. But I am a mousey girl, I do best with a mouse (compared with a keyboard-only approach to computing), better though with a laptop touchpad (I miss my old laptop days with a nice touchpad!).

I concluded USB since the problem wasn’t exactly new … it was sort of the same thing happening the other day when I re-seated the heatsink on the processor. I knew that needed to be done, but had no idea what else was up for sure. We know we want to replace the videocard, and will, but I didn’t think the “freezing” thing was the video card exactly. To pinpoint it, what’s the thing that I was doing when ever the freezing occurred? Opening … doing …. ah, yes, clicking with the mouse, different things, something on the Desktop, something in a program, never the same thing always exactly, just different normal mouse functionalities …. then blitz, frozen, or BSOD.

I had another USB module I could install, mb places to plug the cord into as well. So I went ahead a bit ago and installed that piece of hardware. So far, it’s working alright. The USB that went fritzy is onboard USB modules. What went bad, I don’t know, I just know I’m trying to see if the new hardware pieces work alright, and I’ll just avoid the others until I need them, which I haven’t as of yet.

We are having nasty looking storms loom out there awhile, then come overhead and blow over with nary a drop of water coming down from the sky. One of them had lightening and right when one of those flashes went off my computer rebooted instantaneously, it wasn’t a BSOD as all my other errors caused, it was an actual instant re-boot, which must have been a power loss occassion, just a coincidence that it happened right in the middle of my BSOD experiences of this July Summer 2005 day. It’s getting very, very dark again, so I best finish this up and Shut Down.

I am nearly breathless hoping that the system won’t fritz out on on me before I can get a new video card, and maybe a new processor to, just to up the stability. It’s an Athlon XP 2100+ … been awhile since we got it, it’s worked hard. Still running, but you never know when it’ll give up the ghost. I know the motherboard would be happier with a new video card, something to play nice with the Nvidia chipset. ATI is what we have. It’s also an old 7500 model. Well, old, that’s relative to the computer age. I can recall with clarity the day we bought it at Best Buy. I was so excited to be getting a new card, something better than that Rage little 3D card. It was a big day. I can recall when I was Two years old though as well, so it’s no gauge as to when something happened to be able to vividly recall the event. Ah well and good, as it’s just a thing of the past, the card is old. It’s got 64mb of memory, and that’s ‘ok’ but far from powerful for today’s graphical needs.

I really hope the USB problem is able to stay down and not affect the other USB things I’ve got going now. I’ll have to check deeper into it later, when I can afford to not have the computer running, therefore not until we get a second laptop, one to replace my old dead Vaio GRV550. 🙂


One response to “Desktop Mysterious USB”

  1. Frank turned off my desktop Thursday night, the day I made the changes in this post. I didn’t know he did. In the morning we were going to leave for Charleston, I turned the computer on … and it wouldn’t post (beep) to BIOS even. Fans turned and board lights on though. Clearing CMOS did nothing. I hadn’t time to go further.

    So today, our first full day home, I went through everything, and it seems to be worse, like the BIOS chip is fried. Like maybe that was the REAL problem, and the USB problem was only a symptom of it.

    I have some options, if I can find receipts it’ll be cheaper, without not expensive but cost more, or get the part from the mb site and replace it for a smaller charge, but … it’s precisely blechy that this happened now, when Frank just got his *new* laptop, and I had use of the desktop full time again, my only ‘puter access. I have been ill over the weekend and hated having to come home to figure out the computer problem and have nothing to just compute on. It’s no fun doing fixes when you aren’t feeling well. I got bad food on Friday, coupled with overheating issues, we figure. So today I’m getting better, but drained and just want to lay around, but my mind is compelled to force my body to act some, but it’s sooo tiresome. Ugh. And it’s my birthday today too. 🙁

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