I have a few things that I use my USB ports for. I have a cable that sync's my phone's information, I have a wireless mouse, and I have an adapter for a wireless xbox 360 remote. I usually disconnect all these when I need to take my laptop to work. I came back home one day to plug them back in and all of a sudden nothing was being recognized by my computer. I can not use any of my ports. I have a Sony Vaio if that helps.