"now none of my USB ports will recognise my external hard drive "
Sorry - I made my last post before reading that
This is starting to sound like a failed USB chip on the motherboard. Sometimes happens if something puts an OTT power drain on the chip
However it could just be a driver issue.....
some more questions
make / model of machine
make of USB chipset (from device manager)
version of windows
It may be fixable by downloading the chipset makers USB drivers, though I'd bet against it
edit
PS - an afterthought - take a good look at each of those USB ports
Does one of them look damaged? Any chance the central tongue is missing / broken leading to a short?
Last edited by Milo Minderbinder; 18th May 2012 at 19:45.