onetrack
Many thanks, the problem is only with an Asus Eee PC "notebook" of recent purchase, it only has 2 USB ports, one on each side, and both have occasional symptoms of poor connectivity, tho' both always seem to eventually read the device I plug into them, viz. a variety of Flash drives, a camera card reader, and a Vodem - a 3G device to connect to the Internet when WiFi is unavailable.
There's no apparent loose connection that is visible from an outside examination, but I'll try cleaning all the devices I insert and have a go at the innards of the sockets as well.
Thanks.