Will USB drivers reinstall without Internet?

[a_b_]

I've got intermittent faults with my desktop computer's USB ports. Some of them will not work with my USB stick, some of them work with it only some of the time, some of them won't always work with any device at all. They used to work fine, and I haven't done anything particular to the computer (installing updates), and the problem seems to be getting slowly worse over time, so it looks like some kind of wear and tear but who knows what.

I found a web page ( https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dead-usb-port-heres-how-to-diagnose-and-fix-it/ ) which recommended that I should try uninstalling the "USB Host Controller" from each port and restarting the computer, upon which they'd be reinstallled automatically.

However. The victim is an old Windows XP machine which isn't connected to the Internet. *Will* the drivers be reinstalled in this case, or does it mean Windows will reinstall them *from the Internet*? As well to know before nobbling all my USB ports completely in the expectation that they will fix themselves...

 

[Barty1884]

Windows has native functional USB drivers it will install....... But more specific drivers would not without an internet connection.

 

[a_b_]

Windows has native functional USB drivers it will install....... But more specific drivers would not without an internet connection.

Ah, thanks Barty1884. Can you clarify what you mean by more specific drivers? And are you sure that's true of Windows XP as well as the newest versions of Windows?
But I'm pretty sure we've never installed any USB drivers on there besides what it came with, and since it's got no Internet it can't have installed any by itself, so that sounds like it should work after all, if I'm guessing right what you mean.
Unfortunately there are no manufacturer specifications to check, as the machine was custom-built for us by a local computer dealer and repairer, who's since shut up shop.

 

[Barty1884]

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/ff538820(v=vs.71)

Yes, XP inclusive, will have native functional (albeit basic in some instances) USB drivers.

What I meant by more specific, would be where devices needed more specific drivers; Card readers, printers etc (in some instances, not all).

You may have an issue where, if you boot with no USB devices connected, a newly connected device may not be detected. In that case, you're probably in suspended state:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/314634/why-doesn-t-my-computer-detect-my-new-usb-device-when-i-m-running-wind


As for being custom-built, you should be able to determine the motherboard being used? Should be a model number physically ON the board itself.
If you can find that, you can probably source drivers from the board vendors own website (on another system that's online) and then move then over to the XP system.