Posted 27 March 2016 - 06:34 PM
So title pretty much sums up my problem. It all started after I looked at this article to get rid of icons that I didn't have anymore. I did that and a lot of old icons from programs I used to have cleared up. Great, right? Well, what startled me is I have two of the file explorers. The screenshot is here. See how one has description and the other one doesn't? Idk why I have two of them, but I just do. Right now, here's what my device managers look like even though I have my external and a test usb stick to make sure the ports are working. You can see in the picture that they are triangles with the yellow exclamation mark. As I'm typing this, my cruzer usb stick is not glowing - which is unusual because if it works, it usually glows orange.
What really irritates me is this happens at least once a day and the issue fixes itself if I restart the computer. So idk if I'm infected. Malwarebytes comes up as my computer being clean; Hitman Pro is the same. Then there's also adwcleaner that also gives me the message there's no malicious programs so idk what to do. Right now, I'm running sfc /scannow. If nothing comes up, then idk if restarting my computer will have to be something to get used to. :/
Update: The sfc scan finished and here are the results.
Edited by Wolffie03, 27 March 2016 - 06:36 PM.
Posted 27 March 2016 - 08:09 PM
If all this started after you made the registry change for the icons, run Windows System Restore - choose a restore point prior to editing the registry -
//www.sysnative.com/forums/windows-8-windows-rt-tutorials/10724-windows-system-restore-restore-your-system-windows-10-8-1-8-7-vista.html
Regards. . .
jcgriff2
MVP - Retired 2021
J. C. Griffith - BSOD Blogspot
Posted 27 March 2016 - 09:35 PM
Thanks for the article. I'll try that as a last resort but for now, I've changed the power settings when I google searched seeing someone else on a different forum having the same problems. As in the USB works for them [if it truly didn't work then the ones on top of my desktop tower that activate my mouse or keyboard wouldn't work], but for some reason the other ports that don't have a USB device inserted or anything wouldn't work until a restart.
For them, it was some simple power settings. I'll let you know within the next few days if that fixed anything. They had unchecked to allow the computer to turn the off the USB Root hub to save power and also disabled the USB selective suspended setting, so I'll see what happens.
Edited by Wolffie03, 27 March 2016 - 09:37 PM.
Posted 28 March 2016 - 10:41 AM
You should do as jcgriff2 has suggested. If a change in the registry is causing this you need to address that.
If you are trying to change the power settings this should be done in the Device Manager under Universal Serial Bus controllers. Specifically the USB Root Hubs.
Double click on one, click/tap on Power Management and remove the check for Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power. Then click/tap on OK.
Edited by dc3, 28 March 2016 - 10:41 AM.
Family and loved ones will always be a priority in my daily life. You never know when one will leave you.
Posted 28 March 2016 - 11:32 AM
Okay. That's odd. I just tested my USB stick after having already done the power options and my PC is picking up the USB stick unlike the struggle I had for the past few days around this hour. Maybe the power settings were probably the cause of that. I'll still give it another day just to make sure it's not a one day thing. Plus, my USB keyboard and mouse still work. So it's not a case of the registry but I do wonder why I have two file explorers in the icons.
[I had made a backup of the registry for the icons that I had changed before making said changes from that article, so importing the registry could more than likely fix that. I forgot to mention that. It'd be nice to know how to import those settings as a worse case scenario option.]
Edited by Wolffie03, 28 March 2016 - 11:35 AM.
Posted 29 March 2016 - 08:55 PM
So it's been the second day and my USB ports have been working all day. I guess it was just the power options that were the cause of my USB ports to suddenly stop working during the day.
If you find one of your USB devices on Windows 10 isn’t working, read on. Whether it’s a USB mouse, keyboard, pen drive, printer, or some other USB devices altogether, this guide should resolve your problem.
Note that there are 5 possible solutions here. You may not need to try them all; just start at the top of the list and work your way down.
1: Check if the device itself is faulty
2: Check your power supply
3: Check your power management settings
4: Check your USB device drivers
5: Check your USB ports
Method 1: Check if the device itself is faulty
If the USB device was working before you upgraded to Windows 10, it’s unlikely to be faulty. But coincidences do occur. It’s certainly possible that your device just happened to die right at the same time that you upgraded Windows. So it’s best to rule that possibility out for sure before spending time on more complex troubleshooting.
To check if the USB device is faulty, simply unplug it [‘Eject’ it if it’s a USB storage device] and plug it into another computer. If it works, the device is fine. If it doesn’t, then you’ve isolated the problem! You just need to buy a replacement.
Method 2: Check your power supply [laptop only]
Your laptop’s power supply delivers power to your USB ports. If, for some reason, it fails to do this properly, the devices plugged into those USB ports may stop working. Sometimes, this can be fixed quite simply:
1] Unplug the power supply and charger plug from your laptop
2] Restart your laptop
3] Connect your USB device to the laptop again
4] Plug the power supply back in
Method 3: Check your power management settings
In order to save power, by default, Windows switches your USB controllers off when they’re not in use, and switches them back on again when they’re needed. Unfortunately, sometimes this approach doesn’t work as intended, and Windows fails to switch your USB controllers on again.
To rule this out as the cause of your USB woes, just stop Windows from ‘managing’ power to your USB controllers and devices:
1] Open Device Manager [type “Device Manager” in the Windows search field]
2] Expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers branch
3] Double-click the first USB Root Hub device in the list [if you see only one USB Root Hub device, that’s fine]
4] Click the Power Management tab
5] Un-check the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power checkbox, and click OK.
6] Repeat steps 3-5 for each USB Root Hub device in your list of Universal Serial Bus controllers
Method 4: Check your USB device drivers
Your USB ports not working problem is probably being caused by driver issues. The steps above may resolve it, but if they don’t, or you’re not confident playing around with drivers manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.
Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing.
You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 clicks [and you get full support and a 30-day money back guarantee]:
1] Download and install Driver Easy.
2] Run Driver Easy and click Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
3] Click the Update button next to a flagged USB driver to automatically download and install the correct version of this driver [you can do this with the FREE version].
Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system [this requires the Pro version – you’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All].
The Pro version of Driver Easy comes with full technical support.
If you need assistance, please contact Driver Easy’s support team at .
If none of the above methods resolve your problem, your USB ports might be damaged. To find out, you can take your PC to a repair store and ask them to check. If your USB ports are damaged, the repairer should be able to replace them fairly inexpensively.