USB portsd dead

[lokumsalpha]

USB ports suddenly stopped working. I have tried disabling and removing drivers. Now only the hub shows up but the other two usb items on hardware have vanished. Ite must be a software/driver problem since the usb ports work fine when I boot into Linux. This is an HP17-ca,

[Deep_World]

Hi  @lokumsalpha,
 
Welcome to the HP Support Community!

Thanks for reaching out!

I hear your concern about USB ports suddenly stop working. Since you mentioned that the ports work fine under Linux, that does point strongly toward a Windows driver or software issue rather than a hardware fault.  

Just to clarify the situation:

• You mentioned that only the USB hub shows up in Device Manager, but the other USB controllers have disappeared - is that correct?
• Do the ports fail for all devices (mouse, keyboard, storage drives), or only certain ones?
• Have you recently installed any Windows updates or new software before the issue started?

Here are a few   steps you can try in the meantime:

1. Run HP Hardware Diagnostics (UEFI): Restart your laptop, press Esc repeatedly, then press F2 to open diagnostics. Run a component test on USB ports to confirm hardware health.
2. Check Device Manager Hidden Devices: In Device Manager, click View → Show hidden devices. See if the missing USB controllers appear grayed out. If they do, right-click and uninstall them, then restart.
3. Update Chipset Drivers: Go to the HP Support website https://support.hp.com/  for your model and download the latest AMD chipset drivers (since the HP 17-ca series often uses AMD processors). These drivers control USB functionality.
4. Power Reset: Shut down your laptop, unplug the power adapter, and hold the power button for 15 seconds. Then reconnect and boot  this clears residual power that sometimes causes USB issues.
5. Windows Update & HP Support Assistant: Run Windows Update and HP Support Assistant to ensure all drivers and firmware are current.

I hope this helps. 

[lokumsalpha]

Thank you, Deep_World.  Your echo of what is wrong is correct. I tried the things you suggested. None solved the problem. I invested  (wasted?) $40 in Fortect, in the vain hope that it could clean things up. It did tell me that driver updates all failed with error 0x800703fl. I tried rolling back to two different earlier restore points, but those attempts failed (did  not restore). I ran chkdsk /f  and chkdsk /R in the hope of fixing corrupted files.  USB ports remained unresponsive. Also, the DVD drive has gone down. I also tried to reinstall Windows 11 (saving files) but that exited with an error. 

My plan now: to move the few Windows tasks I need to Virtualbox hosted by the Debian 13 install. And delete the Windows partitions, giving the space to Debian and adding partitions beyond the current /root and /home when I next reinstall Linux.

Again, many  thanks for your detailed suggestions. I am sorry I could not get them to work.

Background: when the warrantee on my HP 17 ran out, I replaced the original DIMMs with 4x4GBs and the original HDD with a larger SSD. 

[Deep_World]

Hi @lokumsalpha,
 

Thanks for your response and thank you for taking the time to share such a detailed update with us. I understand how it must be to try multiple recovery steps without success, especially when essential components like USB ports and the DVD drive stop responding.

Since you’ve already attempted diagnostics, driver updates, restore points, and even a Windows reinstall, the persistence of the issue suggests that the Windows installation itself may be corrupted. The fact that your hardware works fine under Linux further confirms that this is not a hardware fault but a Windows environment problem.

If you have created recovery media when you first set up the laptop, or if you can obtain it from HP Support, this can reinstall the factory image and drivers.

I appreciate your patience and persistence in troubleshooting. Even though the warranty has expired and you’ve upgraded the hardware yourself, your approach is thoughtful .

If you have any more questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask. We're here to help! 

we wish you an amazing day ahead! 

 Regards,

Deep_World