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Hey. Lately I have a very weird problem with Windows 11 or the desktop (Dell Optiplex micro tower) itself. The thing is that whenever I'm plugging to my desktop (no matter what USB slot) either sd card or pendrive (usb key) or external hard drive then I receive very strong lagging in the system. Things go white screen, nothing works on desktop (no mouse nothing) or to the extremes, sometimes stuffs from sd card are missing completely. Sometimes it ends up that everything slow down when I try to open files or folders, sometimes I have to wait good minute until the hard drive or pendrive or whatsoever is appearing in File Explorer, sometimes I cannot even unplug safely the device because Windows is blocking for good few minutes. I tried to verify with other device but it's not really a problem there (although I didn't check it regularly, as for my desktop it happens quite randomly here and there and sometimes it's day by day an issue. I verified the external hard drives/pendrives/sd cards, even formatted them to see if it would make any difference. The thing is that this desktop tends also to out of nowhere disconnect them or even make an error in Disk Manager like "this view isn't updated, restart the Disk Manager" and other stuffs. The worst is just that sometimes files are missing and it freezes whole system, sometimes it doesn't even show at all that i plugged anything there.
Now what I did from the point of system: System is updated, all drivers are updated, there are no viruses. It tends to work better until I plug anything to it. Another issue is how any plugged device is interfering terribly with Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard or Microsoft Mouse - I cannot even use them then.
Desktop specification: intel core i5-13500T with intel UHD 770, 24gb RAM, 500gb NVME hard drive, Windows 11 25H2.
I even tried to reinstall system but it didn't do any difference after 2 days of working fine... Seriously, is it a problem of my desktop or devices or Windows or?
Thanks in advance.
Did you try a Clean Boot or entering Safe Mode to see if the problem persists?
This problem seems hardware-related. Perhaps a problem with the power supply or motherboard related to USB power.
To be sure it's not a hardware issue, you can perform a clean installation. If the problem persists after that, some component of your computer is faulty. But first, tell me if Safe Mode or Clean Boot worked for you. This is an important test.
Hi!
It could be a problem with the USB ports, power supply unit (PSU), chipset driver, or interference from an app...
The worst is just that sometimes files are missing and it freezes whole system This could also indicate a problem with your hard drive or with Windows itself.
I even tried to reinstall system System reinstalls may not solve the problem, as they use the system itself to try and repair the error. The correct approach is to perform a clean installation using a USB installation media, but if the problem is with the USB ports, you won't be able to do that.
Do you use any USB peripherals, such as a printer, Wi-Fi adapter, or Bluetooth device? Excluding keyboards and mice, which are Bluetooth.
This is a problem that requires some testing to isolate the possibilities.
The first test you should perform is to check if the problem occurs in a Clean Boot and in Safe Mode. Clean Boot
WARNING: Re-enable these services after the tests are complete, otherwise some programs will not work.
NOTE: This procedure is not a solution, just a test. It disables all third-party services and programs. If the problem is solved later, enable the programs and services that will start with Windows again.
Safe Mode
To exit Safe Mode, access msconfig again (Step 01) > In “General”, check the “Normal Startup” option > Apply > Restart the PC.
Do you use any USB peripherals, such as a printer, Wi-Fi adapter, or Bluetooth device? Excluding keyboards and mice, which are Bluetooth.
I use only special adapter to the microsoft keyboard (photo) that required usb stick to work (supposedly bluetooth-like) and a mouse that is also from microsoft but works on bluetooth without any usb stick to work with.
In fact right now I'm testing a cable keyboard + cable mouse to check if it is a problem. So far it seems better but -- the issue with the usb drivers is that sometimes when I was using the bluetooth keyboard + mouse it was happening everytime I was plugging any usb pendrive/sd card/hard drive, and sometimes it didn't appear for a few days or so and then it reappeared again. So for now I cannot say anything if the cable keyboard + cable mouse would fix the problem because maybe I just happened to have again good time with plugging usb pendrive/sd card/hard drive after few days constant errors. Time will tell and I will update you.
In fact I wanted to figure out what could cause this problem to know in advance when it appear again, unless the key was the malfunctioning bluetooth keyboard or bluetooth mouse...
Also, I'm gonna figure out your advices and see if it makes any difference.
Thanks a lot for an answer :)
Thanks for your feedback!
This type of keyboard and mouse is called wireless. The "USB stick" is a wireless receiver. The keyboard and mouse communicate with the receiver, and the receiver communicates with the computer.
There's a chance the keyboard is interfering.
Continue testing with the wired keyboard. If the problem no longer appears, connect the wireless keyboard and mouse and see if the problem occurs.
I await your feedback again!
I will be testing and so far I had only once an error, we'll see the next days because sometimes even with wireless receiver, not always it was working that bad.
Anyways, I'd want to know what if the keyboard is interfering due to the wireless receiver. could i use a bluetooth mouse and then buy a bluetooth keyboard or it would interfere too? I've seen some mini PCs / micro towers or All in One PCs that were having as standard pack a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Would it mean they also suffer similar problems? or All in One PCs are more problem-proof than micro tower one?
Edit 2: By the way, I just reminded myself that for example front panel of USBs has this weird issue with the front usb panel (2 slots), that when i plug one 2.0 usb pendrive and it's for example working or just being there plugged, and then i plug next to it another 2.0 usb pendrive then the previous one gets suddenly disconnected for a moment just to be automatically re-connected again. Therefore I have to be careful because I lose data if i copy something on the pendrive. I don't know if it has any connection anyway though?
Hi! What's your feedback so far?
Since the keyboard uses a USB dongle to communicate with the computer, and this communication is wireless, there may be signal interference or a problem with the dongle itself.
Regarding the front panel, this is normal. The front panel provides less power to the USB ports because it's a separate USB board, while on the rear panel, the USB ports are soldered directly onto the motherboard.
Update: for few days I used the wired equipment so far was okay until today. Plugged one usb (pendrive) and wanted to copy the data to other usb (pendrive) so i plugged another pendrive next to the one, and the first one got disconnected and 'cancelled' therefore not letting me copy data on pc when i wanted to send the data to other pendrive. I don't know why because both are 2.0 usb. Edit: I used usb flash drives from common brands such as Sandisk, Kingston, Philips and Goodram, never no-name. It happen to any SD cards, external hard drives, usb flash drives...
To sum up:
Problem is exactly explained in the first post. The Micro Tower Dell Optiplex does randomly these things:
This type of intermittent problem is difficult to test. As a final attempt to discover the problem, you can do a clean installation of Windows. If the problem occurs even after a clean installation (which is a clean and intact system, completely installed from scratch), your computer has a faulty component.
Of course, if Clean Boot or Safe Mode don't work for you the first time (since your problem is intermittent), this is the quickest way to find out if it's a problem with Windows or your computer.
I've tried everything including reinstalling system. With reinstalled system it usually works good for 2 days and then back the issue.
Did you reinstall the system using the Factory Reset option? Or did you perform a clean install?
To perform a clean install, you use an installation media (USB stick) with the Windows installer. You wipe all hard drive partitions and then install Windows from scratch. This is different from simply reinstalling using the options within Windows itself.
I did reinstall system by the pendrive using Media Creation Tool.
If you did a clean install, then the problem is hardware-related. It could be your motherboard, power supply... I recommend taking your computer to a service center.
