I think your avatar says it all. 😛 Honestly though...I don't know man...why not turn your comp. off when you're at work, bub?

Er... it was off. I don't leave it on during the day when I'm at work. 😮

I should probably point out that I performed a system restore to before I had installed Direct X and when the ports were working fine... but the error is still there. I think my mobo's crapping out on me. 🙁

Oh...heh. Goodboy! *gives a cookie* But yea that system restore could surely have something to it with it. Then the Direct X install too. AHH so many variables! lol

ahh, takes me back to the days of my old WinME computer, the two dead mother boards.. half the USB ports not working after it was 'fixed', the power supply falling off.. *nostalgia~!*

back up your files and don't trust it to remain alive, that's my only advice. o-o;

Did you check your event logs?

I looked it over but I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

The restore and DX10 wouldn't have done a thing to your USB ports. Maybe on how Windows runs/reads the sound card/chip, but not have your usb crap out on you like that.

It's either your mobo dying, or your usb ports just fried on you, (yes, for no reason; this does and has happened to a lot of people, myself included). The sound dying could be an incredible coincidence with your DX10/restoring mishaps.

Have you tried ALL your usb ports? (Front, and back?) If they're all junk, the best thing you could do is to find a friend or someone who has an extra usb hub, (internal to install on your mobo, obviously), and see if those works. If they do, your usb is obviously kaputz. Buy a new one. (They're cheap to buy, too, if you can't find a friend with one). If the new ones to your mobo ALSO don't work, no matter which usb connector you connected it to, (USB1, USB2, USB3, etc...), then it's your mobo going kaputzki. Buy a new mobo and if your system is old, get ready for a hella upgrade.

Yeah, all six ports are kaputz. Hm, don't know anyone with a hub I can borrow.

Well, thanks to the heads up. You've given me something to look into. However, the more I think about it, the more I feel it's time to chuck this 5 year-old Frankenstein's Monster of a PC and start again from scratch.

Yeah, all six ports are kaputz. Hm, don't know anyone with a hub I can borrow.

Well, thanks to the heads up. You've given me something to look into. However, the more I think about it, the more I feel it's time to chuck this 5 year-old Frankenstein's Monster of a PC and start again from scratch.

All six? Front AND back? Front are usually connected separately to the mobo, ones on back are literally hard wired onto the mobo...

Sounds like it's a dead mobo. I could be wrong. I seriously doubt System Restore or DX10 might've messed with your USB drivers. So, wait till one of these guys reply; I don't think they do. At this point, however, doing one more system restore at least a day before the last one you did, (or, if you installed DX10 first THEN did a system restore, go a day or two before you installed DX10).

See if that helps. It can't hurt, as you're already boned.

All six? Front AND back?

Yep.

Sounds like it's a dead mobo.

Not so much dead as starting to go lame. Obviously I'm still here which means the computer powers on and I can use it (to a degree). Speaking of booting up, I just remembered something: in recent weeks I've noticed the comp would take longer than usual to boot... sometimes it wouldn't show the Windows XP loading screen at all, remaining in some kind of limbo state between initial startup and the point where my CRT monitor "clicks" during a resolution change and HD access kicks into high gear. It does this once every 6-7 boots. I can't believe I forgot to mention it before, it could very well be related to the problem I'm having now.

Anyways, I went ahead and performed another system restore to an earlier point but it changed nothing. Yeah, I'm boned.

*looks at screenie*

You installed DirectX 10 on an XP machine.

...

DirectX 10 is only compatible with Vista and Win7, same as DX11 which comes with Win7 as standard. No official XP port of DX10 exists. I'd heard of an unofficial port but now I guess I know never to use it. 😛

New PC time for you.

Indeed. :

Oh, by the way, DX10 and Vista very heavily modified the audio system backend from the XP/DX9 variant (there's no longer any way to directly access the audio stream like there was in XP). so that's probably got something to do with your dead speakers.

I'm running Win7 right now and having intermittent trouble with my sound. I blame the fact I'm on a BETA driver. :/

I would have thought Microsoft had some kind of system check for Direct X to go "You're using Vista/7! Update for you! Lulz" or "You're not using Vista/7! Do not pass go! Lulz"

They do, which is why I assumed an unofficial driver was installed. 😛

At any rate, PC can't pass GO and collect £200 no matter what you do now.

Okay, now that I'm convinced the PC is borked this thread's purpose is over. I already have a new PC on its way:

Case
Monitor
Mobo
CPU
Memory
Hard Drive
Power Supply
Graphics Card
DVD Burner

... and retail Windows 7 Home Premium to top it all off. This will be my first time building my own rig. I'm... nervous. Fortunately, I've found a nice tutorial to give me the basics, and these components came with the highest recommendations (for a meaningful budget).

WAIT!

Let's have a funeral for your dead mobo.

Ahem...

** solemnly **

We are gathered here today to say our last farewell to Psx's motherboard. Psx and his board had good times and bad times together.

Is there anyone who would like to add a few words to the no longer functioning deceased?

...

Let's proceed.

** burial, sounds of crying machines heard **

END.

Good luck with the building, Psx.

Hey man building a new computer is fun stuff, but remember to follow the enclosed instructions TO THE LETTER

Just remember, static is not your friend.

Okay, now that I'm convinced the PC is borked this thread's purpose is over. I already have a new PC on its way:

Case
Monitor
Mobo
CPU
Memory
Hard Drive
Power Supply
Graphics Card
DVD Burner

... and retail Windows 7 Home Premium to top it all off. This will be my first time building my own rig. I'm... nervous. Fortunately, I've found a nice tutorial to give me the basics, and these components came with the highest recommendations (for a meaningful budget).

Congratulations and welcome aboard to building your own comp; the ONLY way to own a computer. I see you've already got your parts, (you're going to love that MoBo, as it's so freakin' worry free. I've built a bajillion PCs before, and this was my easiest one yet, and I built this in June). Nice choice on processor, but at that price I would've gone with the Athlon quad core, priced a few bucks below what you just got. Granted, it's L2 cache as opposed to L3, and your Phenom is rated at a higher speed, but Athlon's are pretty sweet at OCing, (the ranges they usually have are nice), and at a quad core, you would've been set for any sort of changes programming might come out with as more and more start supporting quad core this and quad core that.

If you plan on playing Left 4 Dead on your new rig, make sure you disable one CPU, as for whatever reason that game does not like a dual core setup.

Your graphics card? Boo. I've just never been an ATI fan as they were always crap for me, and would work for... well, nothing. This was years ago, mind you, but if Voodoo were still around, I would go Voodoo over ATI.

Other than that, dude, you really don't need a tutorial on how to setup a rig.

1. Just follow the manual diagram. Everything is listed as what connector piece is what. Use your head, obviously. SATA connectors (hey it's your hard drive!) PCI-E connector (hey, your graphics card), Ram (duh), Pin connector (your power supply), etc etc. Just follow the mobo manual. Trust me, you do not need a tutorial.

2. Akari is correct. Static is very much not your friend. Take off your socks, or you can do like Largo and build your computer naked. Either way, before you touch any components, always make sure you have one hand on your metal case to discharge. You don't have to hold onto it as you build your computer, obviously, but make sure you do so before touching any extra piece. If you don't feel safe, you can always buy a static discharge strap, (usually comes with a kit, though, for PC building, which isn't bad either because all of your screw drivers and evertyhing will be demagnetized, so bonus). You can find one of those at Best Buy, I'm sure, (I would say CompUSA but they're gone, too).

If I sound like I'm making a big deal to all of you out there who build their own rigs also, I have a reason to be all "omg static noooo". I've actually burned a rig before. It's the crappiest feeling ever. So, better safe than sorry.

3. In your mobo manual, pay attention to the instructions on how to setup the case's power pins, reset pins, hdd pins, etc. That's pretty important.

Other than that, carry on! Have fun. And have fun paying it off!

Posts like yours make me miss Computer City even more (there were two that I could reach very easily).

HELLO WORLD

I wonder if the problem with the other was a bad capacitor