Chosen Solution

The USB slots do not work on the front of desktop

Hi, Three things to check to see if you can get them working: i). Plug in a USB mouse or a mobile phone into each of the front USB ports and check if they show that power is being supplied by the port to the device, i.e. USB mouse laser light turns on or mobile phone shows that it is charging. If they don’t, go into Device Manager and check if the USB ports’ Power Management setting, allow the computer to turn off this device to save power is checked (enabled). If it is, uncheck it (disable it) save the change (click OK) and restart the PC. To get to the setting in Win 10: Press the Win key + x key (both together) and click on the Device Manager link. When Device Manager opens, scroll down to Universal Serial Bus Controllers - click on the > symbol to the left of the category to expand the list - scroll down and right click on USB Root Hub, then click on Properties - Power Management - the checkbox for allow the computer to turn off this device to save power - uncheck if checked - OK. Do this for all Root Hub entries shown as I don’t know which ones pertain to the front USB ports. Close Device Manager and restart the PC in the normal manner and then check if the ports work OK. Here’s an image from my PC to show you what it may look like in Device Manager when the setting is unchecked (disabled). My PC is a different make and model so the hardware entries are different but the USB power settings are the same.

(click on image to enlarge) ii). Check in BIOS to see if the front USB ports have been disabled. (hidden) Access the BIOS Setup Utility during the computer boot sequence by pressing the Esc key while Press the ESC key for Startup Menu message is displayed at the bottom of the screen, and then pressing the F10 key. If you do not press Esc at the appropriate time, you must restart the computer and again press Esc when the monitor light turns green to access the utility. When in the BIOS menus go to Security - USB Security This allows you to set Device Available/Device Hidden for front USB ports 1-4, rear USB ports 1-6, accessory USB ports 1-4. If the front ports are hidden, enable them, save the changes and restart the desktop. iii). If they have never worked (you never said whether they have or haven’t) and the above check out OK then check if they are connected to the motherboard. Here’s an image of the board layout showing the location of the front USB cable connectors.

(click on image to enlarge