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burnsk8er2000	Give USB ports more power? See, I cannot use my USB drives and my printer at the same time. The printer is so huge, it sucks out all the power. What can I to give my USB ports more power so I can actually print what I save on them? 4 answer(s)
	Best Answer: A powered USB hub should handle the job and reduce the load on the PC. View more answers to this question.
More Answers Interested Dude A powered USB hub should handle the job and reduce the load on the PC. dze maybe a new power supply with a higher rating on the amp rating on the 5 volt, but have u tried plugging them into seperate usb headers? dont have two devices plugged into the same header, which is 2 ports stacked together. zypher1083 You cannot add more power to USB ports, it is set in the design. However, I am surprised that neither your printer or hard drive came with an external power supply as they both tend to draw more power than USB provides. thebestnamesarealreadytaken0909 all good answer so far, but if you are using the usb ports built into your computer directly and not an external hub, then your actual PSU may not be powerful enough, so consider buying and installing a bigger one, for example if your PSU is currently 400W consider a 500W or better still get a 650W PSU with PFC. also make sure the devices you want to use are correctly installed. if theyt are then consider moving the file you want to print from the external hard drive (by making a copy of it say use copy then past it to your windows desktop) now print from the copy once printing is completed delete the copy you made, remembering to empty the recycle bin regularly. that is if you do not want to spend any money on buying new hardware like the hub as suggested by someone else or by replacing the PSU as i suggest. see a store like www.dabs.com best value in the uk. your printer should not be sucking any power from your USB port, the printer should only be using the port as a data link as the printer should have its own power supply. you could always try just using one external drive at a time, say plug your printer in a usb port at the back of your computer and then the drive you want to print from in a USB port on the front of your computer. this may or may not work in your situation but you have nothing to lose.