Sometimes there are not enough free USB ports on the computer. To connect all the devices you have at the same time, their number must be increased. This can be done in three ways.
Instructions
Step 1
The first method involves the mandatory de-energization of the computer. Purchase special brackets with USB connectors. Install them on the back of the system unit instead of expansion cards. Locate the connectors on the machine's motherboard for additional USB ports. Find the pinout of these connectors in the instructions. Make sure that it is the same as on the counterparts at the ends of the strap loops. If necessary, rearrange the contacts in the mating parts. Attach the brackets to the motherboard. After turning on the computer, be sure to check the correctness of the connection on all additional ports so as not to damage the expensive equipment connected to them. For such a check, you can use any low-value device, say, an unnecessary USB flash drive with a large number of damaged cells.
Step 2
To add ports using the second method, which also involves powering off the computer, purchase a special USB adapter designed to be installed in a PCI slot. If the number of slots and the power of the power supply allow, you can even buy several of them. Each of them has from two to four ports. Install them in free PCI slots. This way, you can even add USB 2.0 functionality to older motherboards with USB 1.1 interfaces.
Step 3
The third way is to use a USB hub. They come without and with external power supply. Use the former if all loads are low-power. Use the latter, for example, in conjunction with removable hard drives. USB hubs can also be connected to laptops, and models with external power supply can be used to protect the motherboard of a computer (especially a laptop) from failure during power overload. Never connect devices to an externally powered hub before supplying it to it.
