[SOLVED] Strange USB Port Issues

[Barndtanamo]

Hi All!

I'm not sure where to stick this thread. So please direct me if there's a better place.

My Windows 10 PC has 6 USB 2.0 slots and 2 USB 3.0 slots.

A few days ago I noticed transfers from my external HDD to my flash drive were incredibly slow. They only really worked when connected to the 3.0 slots. Otherwise it was taking 3-4 hours to transfer 10 GB. Didn't think much of it.

But then my NEW EXPENSIVE webcam and mic started getting choppy audio on calls (very frustrating).

After trying much troubleshooting I found the mic still works fine when connected to the 3.0 slots.

Whats weird though is lower power items like my mouse receiver, and my USB Wifi adapter all work fine when plugged into the 2.0 slots.

Why would this be? It's very frustrating because there are only 2 3.0 slots and they're on the back of the case.

Is it a sign the mother board is failing?

The PC is low end and getting on in years. Although I have made some upgrades.

Any theories or advice is appreciated. I'm stumped here.

Let me know if you need more information.

At the very least, is my thinking correct that it's probably NOT the webcam and it probably IS the USB ports because of the data transfer issues as well?

Thanks!

 

[Ralston18]

My thought is that you are attaching too many USB devices and that there is not enough power being provided or available to the USB circuits/ports.

Consider an independently powered USB hub.

You plug the hub into one USB port on your PC, provide power to that hub via a wall charger, and then plug extra USB devices into the hub instead of using all of the PC's USB ports.

There are quite a number of USB Hubs available and you need to take a close look at what any given USB Hub will actually do.

Google for more information about USB Hubs.

For example:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-reasons-need-usb-hub-maybe-dont/

There are other similar links that will be found.

 

[Barndtanamo]

That actually makes a lot of sense and I did not consider that! My power supply is ancient and low power. I'm really pushing these old bones past what they were designed for lol. I appreciate the perspective.