USB causing computer to freeze

[tapper1999]

Hello all,

I want to start off saying that I feel really dumb about posting this question. I have worked on and off in the IT field for the last 14 years and this one is stumping me...

I guess you could say that my skills have started to rot away. I have a slack data analyst position and have turned a screw driver on a computer is like a year. MMMM brain beginning to mush...

Here is my dilemma and I have googled it to no result. My neighbor has a home built machine that she has been having problems with since it was built last year. I didn't build it, but being a nice enough neighbor I thought I would lend her a helping hand.

The computer has an ASUS M2N68-VM mainboard. This specific version does not have the DVI or HDMI built in. Surprising how all google searches point directly to that board.

The person who built it installed a x64 5000+, a 7300 GS video card, 4gb ram, 80gb hard drive, and a cheap Lite-On DVD drive. If I remember right, she paid 1k for it May-ish 2009. HA HA, but I digress.

So here is the problem. The neighbor claims that since November, the computer randomly freezes up when inserting a flash drive or when connecting her EasyShare camera to the front USB ports on the front of this custom tower. She claims that she hasn't had the problem before that.

So I take a look at the computer. It is not just the front ports. It is all ports. When the computer freezes it locks the keyboard and mouse. Explorer seems to be frozen completely. Its not every time a device is plugged in.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[obobski]

check for:

viruses
spyware
malware
jacked up jumper/BIOS settings relating to USB control
USB devices with drivers that exist but shouldn't
USB devices with drivers that don't exist but should
that her two devices actually work on a known good computer
USB case wiring isn't buggered

probing questions:
what OS?
background garbage?
any updates or events in the system's history that are noteworthy? (getting hit by lightning, fire, trying to give your machine a sip of your soda, etc)

 

[tapper1999]

Viruses:
The computer was running the free version of AVG 8.5. There was nothing in the log files of any type of infections. I upgraded to the free version AVG 9.0.

Malware:
The user was complaining about how the computer was locking up. I immediately thought that the computer had some sort of malware. I ran comboFix. In the log, it reported that it found MyWebSearch and Coupons.com. It had removed both.

Jumpers:
I did not get the opportunity to check the physical jumpers. I don't really think it is the physical jumpers because the user stated that it had worked prior to November.

Devices:
In computer management, all the devices are reporting that they are working properly. Meaning no question marks next to any items. Both the flash drive that she uses and the EasyShare camera work on a test laptop that I had brought with me. She usually uses the ports on the front of the computer. So I plugged in the camera in a rear port. Windows recognized it and installed the drivers. I went to plug in the flash drive via a known working USB extension cable. Just plugging in the cable and not the flash drive caused the system to freeze.

OS:
The computer is running XP that has auto updates turned on. All crucial updates have been installed. She is also using a USB keyboard and mouse. She is running Google Search, VIA HD sound manager, AVG, Kodak EasyShare picture software, and HP Printer software for her all in one printer.

Sidenotes:
I installed Speccy. It reports back that the 7300 GS video card is running at 77-80 degrees celcius. I think that is rather high. Could it possibly be the power supply? Also the computer boots to a f1 to enter the bios, and f2 to load defaults. She claims that it has done that since she purchased the computer. I went into the bios and reverted all changes back to factory settings and the machine still boots up to the same f1 or f2 button.

It is rather puzzling. Any more ideas?