So the thing was functioning fine for about a week, then the keyboard started being unrecognized on the port that i had it on after a restart. If i change it to another port, it's fine until the next reboot then that port's gone too and the port that i used before still doesn't work. So now I'm out of ports and i'm wondering why the hell it's doing that. The same problem happened with my keypad i had before.

Funny thing is the keyboard's non-standard functions still work (volume control, program shortcut keys) but the normal keyboard stuff doesn't. For example, the keyboard has an F-lock that when disabled, gives the F-keys new functions like save and undo. But when i enable it, the same keys do nothing.

It would help to know the model and such information, ut was it plug and play? Try downloading the drivers for the keyboard, maybe it is a problem with your usb plugin, try getting a USB-to-Standard converter. I'm

It's a Logitech Elite keyboard and it's likely plug and play as it works fine, just not after restarts. The drivers were installed from the beginning and are still active.

don't worry about the ports. just plug it into a different usb plug. :p one of my plugs shorted out somehow. i thought my external harddrive was f*cked up because it would load slow, screw up a file transfer and then it stopped being recognized off and on, then just off. i sprayed some compressed air into the plug next to it, plugged it and boom, all good. :p

hopefully thats all it is, if not it sounds like it could be a hardware issue.

your running WinXP? If so run live update there was some USB bug fixes a few weeks back. Its like a normal thing now. Just let it update your system with the fixes. If you already have them then Id try shutting the computer down pulling the plug (to clean the memory) then plugging the power back in and rebooting. Then try and see if that helped. If not then its Hardware or driver related.

keep the compy on. we havent turned ours off for like 3 months

That's generally not the best thing for a cocmputer, it makes the hard drive wear out more quickly.

damnit... really..... is that why my games run slow?

That's probably not why your games run slow. Did they always run slow? It is probably that either your computer just was never that fast (i.e. 400 mhz), or that you don't have enough RAM, and thje programs that you have installed run some background proccess, which is using most of it up. You could also have Adware or Spyware that is running in the background. Get a good *free* anti adware/spyware program, like AdAware SE, or just google around, and scan your computer. If that doesn't work, try enlarging your virtual memmory, google around for instructions on making a larger Paging File. If that doesn't work, try buying more ram for your computer, it costs fropm 20-40 dollars. Also, before you run your game, right-click on all icons in the lower-right hand corner of your screen, and hit 'Exit' or 'Close'. If that doesn't make it run fast enough, go into the Performance section of the window that comes up when you hit Rightclick-Properties on My Computer, and set your computer from Best Appearence to Best Performance, in WIndows XP this makes everything look like a window from Windows 2000, slightly like Windows ME. If that doesn't work either, go into Ctrl+Alt+Delete, and end *a few* programs that you see running, but don't close proccecces unless you know what they are.

Well it depends on what you use the computer for. Generally you can leave the computer on for months at a time but that’s mostly for servers or firewalls. Normal gaming PCs should be shut of at least 2 times a week and defrag and scan disked at least 1 time a week (I shut my PCs off every night). If you don't do it then you could notice things starting to fail or brake faster then they would normally if you keep your PC off (ex. computer fan, chipsets, mother board...).

If you have a cable DSL/Cable modem then you should be shutting your computer off every night for the soul purpose of stopping hackers and adware/malware. If you happen to get malware unknowingly and you keep your PC on 24/7 for months then that would allow the malware to download more and potently slow your PC down to a crawl. If your computers running really slow right now then there’s a very good chance you are already infected with adware, malware, Trojans. Try scanning your computer with Spybot S&D, ad-aware, AVG free viruses checker. Do it in safe mode and in normal mode to help remove anything unwanted.

If you have no adware and your pc is still somewhat slow then you should be asking your self these questions.
1) Was it like this when I got the computer?
2) Have I downloading something very big latlee?
3) What do I have running in the background?

If it wasn’t this slow when you first got your PC then it could be any number of problems. If you downloaded something very big or a number of files that are big and they have been sitting on your computer they could be causing your computer to slow down dramatically. If you happen to have a dvd or cd burner try burning some stuff on cds then defragging your system. That should speed it up a bit. Try shutting your computer off and unplugging the power to release the stored memory.

Are there a lot of weird processes running in the background (ctrl+alt+del)? If so then you could use ad-aware’s process watch to see if there malware or Trojans. Or search on google for what they are and if you need them to determine if it’s ok to kill the process and delete the file.

Also make shore you clean your temp files and temporary internet files folder once a week. This will boost your computer’s speed dramatically.

But not to get to far off track did you manage to run windows update? And did that help your USB troubles?