USB devices malfunctioning at random...what's causing this?

[Knight of Time]

Hi guys.

For the past several months, I've been plagued by an unusual yet annoying problem, at random times every time I use my laptop, I hear the sound of one of my USB devices malfunctioning (it's usually between my gamepad and my optical mouse; both have malfunctioned randomly, but the former seems to have a worse case of the problem)...what could be causing these malfunctions to happen? I've looked up the problem on a search engine and noticed others have had these random malfunctions too...is it possible this problem could be some form of malware? If so, is there a specific brand of malware that could potentially be the culprit?

Thanks in advance.

[Fett One]

It could be malware but I'm not sure of any in particular that would cause this. Try running a program called Spybot (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html). Its a free download and it should delete most if not all of the malware (if there is any) on your computer. If you are still having problems afterwards, try running your anti-virus program. Between Spybot and your anti-virus program, you shouldn't have any problems afterwards, but I can't make any guarantees that this will solve it.

[Leon-IH]

Sounds like there's an issue with the USB ports.. might not be connected properly inside the computer or might just be dying.

[Telume]

Are the USB devices just randomly disconnecting out of no where or do they just not work immediately upon plugging them in?

If it's the former, it's possible that the port on the computer could be going bad OR you might have too many devices connected. Try each device after unplugging all USB devices from the computer.

[Knight of Time]

I'm quite sure it's the former...although at times when I'm forced to disconnect and re-connect the mouse, it'll not always start working right away again, sometimes having a momentary delay (I don't know why, but I have the funny feeling it has to do with whatever's causing this problem in the first place).

Right now, I only have three USB things connected to my laptop, my cooling pad accessory (in the summer, it's vital), my optical mouse, and my gamepad controller. As far as I know, only the latter two have been affected by this problem. But I'll see what I can do...if necessary, I'll edit this post (unless there's another reply) to see if the problem still happens if I only have one device in.