I know this is not the "proper" fix, and I don't even know if it will work, but tonight instead of shutting down the computer, I'm just going to put it to sleep and turn off the monitor and speakers. Then I'll "wake it up" tomorrow and see if it still stays running.
What exactly shuts down in "sleep mode"? Do the fans, hard drive, and other mechanical devices shut down?? In other words, what continues to "wear out" in sleep mode? Bill T.
Bill,
First, you probably don't have to worry about parts wearing out in sleep, or at all really. Sleep shuts every thing down, but maintains electricity running through the RAM so you don't have to load Windows again on boot. I personally shut all my machines down when not in use, because I like having that fresh run of Windows, but do whatevers easiest. Also know that its always good to restart the machine after installing software or hardware, that requires an actual 'install'.
On with your problem, there could be many things wrong with the adapter, or its configuration, it sounds like its not getting enough power on start up, or you USB configuration isn't allowing it to be picked up properly. Most everything will get the power light when plugged in, even if its not enough power to run that hardware, but it still can't properly function with it. My suggestion is to try and get it the most power possible. Do you have jumper cables....
Just look at where the adapters plugged into, and try and plug the guy into the computer's mainboard, by the keyboard and monitor inputs on the back. If its in the front or top by the camera card readers than your probably not getting picked up because the machine not loading the peripheral bay, do to its cabling configuration.
But like I said, there could be a thousand things wrong with it, but give this a try.