I have 2 USB ports on the left side of this Compaq C304NR. They work fine most of the time except when the plug of my external HDD is wiggled from side to side. My flash drive has a wider base which prevents it from wiggling without coming out so it never happens to it. My crappy Microsoft 27something MHz wireless optical notebook mouse never disconnects at all because it has a cheap plug which in this case means it's a little tighter fitting than normal, but not too tight to cause my problem. The connection never really stays disconnected, so it never really causes problems. Even when I'm transferring files to and from it while wiggling it and then compare MD5 sums it never fails. But now the real nerve wrecking problem is that most of the 250GB drive is a TrueCrypt file and it will dismount from the slight disconnects. The file never gets corrupted but it's certainly not ideal. I wouldn't even know of this problem if it wasn't for the dismounts. The cable and plug is fine as I've tried different ones and also examined the solder joints between the mobo and ports. I will bend or solder whatever is needed later to increase tension between the contacts but I was wondering if this was a fairly common problem or if I'm an unlucky victim here. I always treat the ports and plugs properly without stressing or overusing them.
Ensure that Power Management for each USB port is disabled.
Go to Device Manager then each USB Root Hub and disable the Power Management there.
Hmm, seems the bottom port works better even though it's the one I use most.