Windows 10: Disable External Device Through USB

I have an external device without an on/off switch connected to my computer that stays lit up even when the pc is locked or asleep. I would like to disable that one specific USB port when my computer is asleep so that it gets no power or be able to manually disable it so it shuts off without unplugging it every time. I have already tried to go into Device Manager and Disable the USB ports, it makes me have to restart my computer. Hibernating the computer does not work either. The only thing that works is flipping the power switch on the power brick.Not only does this waste electricity, but al

:)

 

USB device not working on Optiplex 9010

I did plug in external HDD and went to device manager.
There is none of unknown devices in the list (picture below)


OK disabled and enabled USB 3.0 root hub and then pluged in external HDD,here is exclamation mark I got:




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yep..solved the problem with your suggestion...thx a lot...

 

Disable Touchpad and use External mouse

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand that you want to disable the TouchPad of your laptop and want to use an external USB mouse.

To use an external USB mouse, please connect the USB mouse to any USB port on your laptop and it will be set up automatically.

To disable the touchpad you can try the following steps and check if that helps:

1. Press and hold Windows + X key on the keyboard.
   
2. Select Device manager from the list.
   
3. Expand Mice and other pointing devices.
   
4. Find Synaptics SMBus TouchPad/ELANClickpad touchpad.
   
5. Right click on the driver and select Disable.
   

Hope it helps.

Please reply with the status of the issue, we will be glad to help you further.

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

What has happened to the additional drives that appeared in the Windows Explorer for external USB devices

Hi Alan,

Welcome to Microsoft Community. Your interest in Windows 10 is much appreciated.

For better understanding please answer the below questions:

• Does the USB drive shows in the Device Manager?
• Is the computer detecting the connected USB devices?
• Have you checked the USB drives on the different computers?

I would suggest you to try the below methods and check if that helps:

Method 1:

Check if you are able to see the USB External DVD drive in Disk Management. If you are able to see the USB External DVD drive in Disk Management, follow the steps to assign the drive letter:

• Press Windows key + X.
• Select Disk Management.
• Right-click the drive that you want to change, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.
  

Do one of the following:

• To assign a drive letter if one has not already been assigned, click
  Add, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK.
• To change a drive letter, click Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the letter that you want to use, and then click
  OK.

Method 2: I would suggest you to un-install and reinstall USB controllers and check. This method resolves steps where the currently loaded USB driver has become unstable or corrupted.

• Press Windows key + X.
• Select Device Manager.
• Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
• Right click a device and click Uninstall.
• Repeat for each device. Once complete, restart your computer.
• Your USB controllers will automatically install.

Keep us posted if you face any issues on windows in future. We will be glad to help you.