Computer Monitor Shuts Off When USB Device Inserted

[Brian556]

Sometimes, but not always, when I insert a USB device, such as a card reader into a USB port, the monitor shuts off, and won't come back on. The only way to get the computer working again is to unplug it, and replug it. The power button will not shut it off when this problem occurs. I have dome some research on this online, and some people says it's the Windows USB "selective suspend", which allows the computer to wake up from sleep mode when a USB device is inserted. I have disabled selective suspend, as the people on the computer message board suggested, but that did not solve the problem.

Has anybody else had this problem? I'm wondering if it is a software problem with Windows 7, or a hardware problem.

[Stratuscaster]

Type/brand/model of display?
Type/brand/model of PC?

Does the display have any USB connection to the PC (like for a card reader, perhaps?)

On-board graphics or dedicated video card?

Connected via VGA, DVI, or HDMI?

[SidS1045]

If I were a betting man, I'd say it's the power supply.  Plugging in a USB device draws some current from the power supply, and if it's near capacity without the USB device, causing the additional current draw by plugging it in might send it over the edge, and the video system may not then have enough power to run.

[Roadrunner75]

I have a computer with Windows 7 where about every 4-5 times I plug in an external hard drive into the USB port, the computer immediately reboots.  And when I leave the drive plugged in continuously, after awhile it will only show the folder structure, but no actual files.  Which leads me to unplug it and plug it back in, resulting in.....reboot....

Good times...

[Brian556]

Computer is home-built
Display is Acer
Power Supply is 500-watt, which is more than I need
It is when I plug in the external card reader that this happens.

[kkt]

Replace card reader, or borrow one from someone else long enough to test if that helps?

[Stratuscaster]

On-board graphics or dedicated video card?

Connected via VGA, DVI, or HDMI?

When you plug in this card reader, is it into the front USB ports, or those on the rear?

Power supply could still be a potential issue.

[Brian556]

This problem has now expanded. The new problem has nothing to do with USB insertion. Two times recently, the monitor has failed to wake from sleep mode. The computer wakes up just fine.  I have had to unplug the computer to solve it. I'm thinking since the problem has expanded, its a hardware rather than software problem. I'm wondering if its graphics card related. My motherboard has onboard graphics, so I could just disable those and get a PCI graphics card.

[GCrites]

I had a very similar problem with my W7 laptop. Upgrading to Windows 10 fixed it.