How to Fix USB Device Not Recognized problem in Windows and reactivate USB Ports

So you wake up one morning and noticed that your laptop USB ports are not responding. Relax; you're not the victim of a hack. Chances are they got shut down by the computer in a bid to conserve power.

This was the case with my Acer Aspire e 15 Smart Laptop, which I’ve had since August 2016, a gift from a friend. I went through the same emotions but I eventually got it fixed, thanks to this article entitled “How to Fix USB Device Not Recognized in Windows”. 

So here’s a quick way to get your USB ports up and running again.

Go to Device Manager by right clicking on the corner icon as shown below for Windows 8.

You'll see a yellow triangular caution symbol beside the Generic USB hub symbol. Now to get to the root of the problem (get it?).

Right click on USB Root Hub and select Properties.

A floating menu for the USB Root Hub will appear, from which you select the Power Management Tab. Deselect the checkbox that says Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power and select Ok to save.

By now, the yellow triangular caution symbol should have disappeared. Right click on Generic USB hub and select Update Driver Software.

Another floating menu will appear to choose the software. Select the option Browse My computer for Driver Software.

On the next floating menu that appears, select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.

Select Generic USB Hub and click Next to continue the installation

Once the installation is finished as show below, shut down the computer and restart it. You'll be able to access all of you USB ports and the problem will never happen again, as the option to allow the computer to turn off this device to save power has been deselected.

Sharing is caring, so share this article with friends in need who thing they've been hacked...when in reality they've computer has gone to sleep.