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If your USB hub randomly disconnects, shows “Device not recognized,” or your webcam/mic cuts out, it’s usually one of four things: power, cable, port, or driver/power saving settings.
1) Power fixes (most common)
- If you’re running an external drive, webcam, mic, or capture card: switch to a powered USB hub.
- Try a different USB port directly on the PC (rear motherboard ports are often more stable than front ports).
2) Windows settings
- Device Manager → Universal Serial Bus controllers → for each USB Root Hub → Properties → Power Management → uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device.
- Control Panel → Power Options → Advanced → USB settings → disable USB selective suspend (or set to Disabled).
3) Cable and port sanity checks
- Swap the hub cable (cheap cables fail first).
- Avoid chaining hubs (hub into hub).
- Keep high‑bandwidth devices separated (webcam + external SSD on the same cheap hub can fight).
4) When it’s the hub itself
Some hubs are just unstable. If you’ve tried power + settings and it still drops, replace it with a powered model or a simpler 4‑port USB 3.0 hub.
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