You can enable USB ports on a laptop through the BIOS, Device Manager, Registry Editor, or Group Policy Editor. If access to the USB connectors was intentionally prohibited using special software, then you can unblock it in a program where the interface is blocked. All methods are available to ordinary users and do not require special training.
Disabling unnecessary devices
If the USB ports suddenly stopped working and you are now looking for how to turn them on, then the first thing to do is look to see if the device is connected to the laptop too much. When using a USB hub, the laptop may not be able to supply power to all devices, causing the USB ports to become unresponsive. Before setting up USB in the BIOS, unplug any unnecessary hardware from your laptop and check if the ports work. If nothing has changed, then reboot the laptop and go into the BIOS.
Enabling ports in BIOS
To enter the BIOS during boot, press Delete, F2 or another key depending on the motherboard model. You can view it on the start screen. 
In the case of a laptop, this screen does not appear because the fast boot feature is activated. You can temporarily disable this technology in the power settings:
Restart your computer. Without Quick Start, you will see all stages of Windows boot and can get into the BIOS. If this doesn't work on Windows 8 or 10 with UEFI BIOS, try the following method:
Once rebooted, select Diagnostics, then go to Advanced Options and open UEFI Firmware Options. Click "Reboot", the next time you start, the BIOS UEFI interface will appear.
To configure USB ports in UEFI, you need to go to the “Peripherals” tab and set the “Legacy USB Support” parameter to “Enabled”. If support for USB 3.0 ports is required, activate the corresponding item (USB 3.0 Support). 
In the AMI BIOS, go to the “Integrated Peripherals” section and set the value “Enabled” for four options:
- USB EHCI Controller.
- USB Mouse Support.
- USB Keyboard Support.
- Legacy USB Storage Detect.
In Phoenix AwardBIOS, you need to go to the “Advanced” tab and go to the “USB configuration” section. All parameters inside must be set to “Enabled” for the USB ports to work. 
In all BIOS versions, to save the configuration, you must press the F10 key and confirm the selection by writing “Y”.
Windows setup
If ports are enabled in the BIOS, but devices connected via the USB interface are not detected by the system, then check the registry editor, device manager and group policy editor. It is possible that changes were made to the system through them, due to which the ports are no longer working. You should start with the Registry Editor.
If USB support is enabled in the Registry Editor, check the controller drivers in Device Manager.
If you see an exclamation mark icon next to the controller, and you are sure that the interface is supported in the registry editor, then this means that there are problems with the drivers. First try updating the software:
If updating the controller software does not help, update the motherboard driver. Download it from the manufacturer's website and install it manually. Another way to update the drivers of all controllers at once is to remove them from the system. Right-click on the controllers and select "Delete". After a reboot, the system will automatically install controller drivers, so you no longer have to worry about how to enable the USB ports - they will work just like that. 
If only removable devices connected via USB do not work, check in the Group Policy Editor to see if a read ban is set.
Find the Removable Devices: Deny Read option and set it to Disable. The problem with identifying flash drives and external drives should disappear.
Hardware damage to ports
If the laptop's USB ports or the south bridge on the motherboard are damaged, then no methods will help enable the interface. Therefore, if the connectors stop working after mechanical impact, liquid getting inside the case, short circuit or other negative factors, then you should take the laptop to a service center for diagnostics. 
In the case of a system unit, some USB ports can be replaced independently, but in a laptop there is no such possibility, because all connectors are soldered to the motherboard.
If, when connecting a device via the USB interface, it does not initialize, is not detected by the operating system and does not display any messages at all, then the reason may be disabled controller responsible for this port.
The first thing to do is look port status in Device Manager. To launch it, enter in the window Execute(Win+R) command " devmgmt.msc».
Open section USB controllers and look state USB hub or USB root hub. 
The picture shows one of them disabled. Enable it using the right button – Engage.
You can also go to the section properties– tab Power management, uncheck the permission to turn off devices to save power. 
In the same properties you can check relevance installed drivers, update them if necessary. 
If the controller is marked yellow exclamation mark then try reinstall its driver, or remove all controllers and run reboot system, after which they should automatically install and work properly. 
All ports do not work
If all ports do not work at once - reboot computer and go to BIOS(key F2 or del at startup). Depending on the BIOS type and version, the settings may vary, You should find the parameters " USB Function" And " USB 2.0 Controller", they should be in the " Enabled" Most often they are located in the “ Onboard Devices Configuration» 
Only the front connectors do not work
If we are talking about a PC, then we should distinguish front And rear connectors. The rear ones are located directly on the motherboard, the front ones are connected to it using a special plume. Therefore, when the front USB stopped working, first of all check operation of the device when connected to the rear. 
If it is working properly, then you will have to remove the cover system unit (with the computer power off), and then check correct connection front connector cable to the system board.
Correct pinout connections can be found in the description of your motherboard, but usually how to connect is clear signatures on the motherboard.
Other reasons and solutions
If you are using extension or hub Check the operation of these devices when connected to other ports or on another computer.
If we are talking about broken connector USB 3.0, check whether its special cable is connected to the appropriate connector on the motherboard.
Check drivers the devices themselves, connected through the ports, the reason may be in these devices, and not in the connectors.
If none of the methods worked, then this particular port or controller probably has mechanical damage that can be repaired at a service center.
They are universal computer connectors for connecting almost any device, from mice to smartphones and printers. When one or more of the USB ports stops working, this creates certain problems, especially for laptop users. After all, in laptops the number of USB ports is very limited (especially in cheap laptops, where they often only have 2 USB ports).
Reasons why the USB port may not work
In order to understand the current problem, you need to clarify several points, namely:
- We are talking about a computer or laptop
- Which of the USB connectors does not work (all on the computer case, only).
- After which the USB stopped working (reinstalling Windows, flooding with water, physical impact).
Let's start with the simple and banal. If the USB connector of your computer or laptop stops working after you hit it, flooded it with water or dropped it, then most likely it is damaged at the physical level and it can hardly be repaired at home. It may be necessary to replace the connector itself or its cable.
When diagnosing a USB malfunction, be sure to do a visual inspection first. This is what a broken input inside the USB looks like, in which the contact legs may be shorted.
On the left is a broken USB, on the right is a working one
In this case, all USB and even . Only replacing the connector will help here, or if these are the front USB cases of a desktop computer, then they can be used.
You can also try straightening the shortened legs.
If the external state of the connectors does not raise suspicions, then it is worth checking the BIOS settings. Perhaps USB is disabled.
Now let's look at the situation with a non-working usb 3.0 connector.
How is USB 3.0 different from a regular USB connector?
First of all, by color. USB 3.0 is blue or sometimes orange inside, while regular USB is black or white.
Visual difference between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0
If only USB 3.0 ports do not work, then most likely the problem is with the drivers, or rather with their absence. To check this option, just go to the device manager.
To do this, right-click on the “ ” icon and select “Computer Management”.
Computer management
In the window that opens, at the top left, click on “Device Manager”.
device Manager
A list of all computer (laptop) devices will open, among which there should not be a single one with an exclamation mark.
For ease of reading, we have divided the information about connectors into five groups:
- Universal connectors– these are connectors designed for connecting various peripherals: portable drives, keyboards, mice, controllers, multimedia devices...
- combined into one group with a completely understandable purpose - connecting your laptop to the World Wide Web.
- Connectors for connecting external monitors are represented quite widely not only on modern, but also on fairly old laptop models. You are unlikely to find a laptop that does not have the ability to output video to an external monitor or projector.
- Expansion of functionality. In this group we have collected universal, but quite specific features for laptops.
- Other connectors, which cannot be classified into any of the categories, as well as outdated interfaces that are no longer used in mass products.
Universal connectors
USB
The USB bus (Universal Serial Bus) is used everywhere. This success has been and continues to be driven by the connector's high throughput, compactness and durability, hot-pluggability, versatility and scalability.
Technology
The birth date of USB can be considered November 1995, when the first version of USB 1.0 was launched. This version was practically not used, but its characteristics formed the basis of the mass standard USB 1.1, devoid of some errors and “childhood diseases” of the original version of the standard.
The characteristics of USB 1.0/1.1 are as follows:
- Full-Speed Mode: 12 Mbps
- Low-Speed Mode: 1.5 Mbps
- Hot plugging of devices on the fly (Hot Swap)
- Maximum cable length: up to 5 m
- Maximum number of connected devices: up to 127
- Ability to connect devices with different bandwidths to one USB controller
- USB device supply voltage: 5 V
- Maximum current supplied by the bus: 500 mA
Currently in use USB version 2.0, the specification of which was released in April 2000. The main innovation of version two-zero is the introduction of a new Hi-Speed speed mode, providing throughput up to 480 Mbit/s.
A new, third version of USB, appropriately named, is currently being developed and announced USB 3.0. The speed parameters of USB 3.0 exceed those of USB 2.0 by approximately 10 times and amount to 4.8-5.0 Gbit/s. It is expected that the mass introduction of USB 3.0 will begin in 2010.
The USB connector is easy to recognize - it is a rectangular hole, approximately 12x5 mm in size, with a “tab” inside.
A pair of Powered USB connectors on a laptop
The rectangular connector shown in the photo is called USB type A, it is used on laptops and desktop computers and all USB devices and cables are designed for it.
Type A cable connector.
External USB devices connected to the laptop are equipped with the same connector.
However, on external devices connected to the laptop using a cable, the Type A connector is not used; Either a type B connector or the mini USB and micro USB varieties are used.
Type B connector on the other end of the cable
Mini USB connector on external device
Typically type B connectors are used on printers, scanners and external storage devices; port mini USB equipped with communicators, miniature hard drives, some cameras, USB hubs, card readers; varieties micro USB can be found on some mp3 players and cameras.
Laptops in most cases are equipped with one to four USB connectors. Only occasionally and on powerful or professional models there may be more connectors. However, a small number of connectors is not a problem, because the advantage of the USB bus is scalability: several devices can be connected to one connector. For this purpose, splitters are used, more often called USB hubs (from English USB Hub), which can be either a separate device or built into a monitor or keyboard, or a cooling pad for a laptop.
USB hub
To connect devices with sufficiently high power consumption (such as external hard drives), the splitter can be equipped with an external power supply from a 220 V network; such a hub is called active.
In addition, many compact and professional models of mobile computers can be equipped with docking stations (purchased separately) that provide additional USB ports.
Important information
- In addition to the above USB versions, there is an option USB On-The-Go, which has some expansion of functionality compared to USB 2.0, which makes USB On-The-Go more versatile and suitable for connecting various devices without using a personal computer. For example, USB OTG is used to connect cameras and printers to print photos directly.
- Wireless USB, the specifications of which have been known since 2005, allows you to create a wireless network based on USB signals (protocol) to connect external devices. The data transfer rate is 480 Mbit/s at a distance of up to 3 meters and up to 110 Mbit/s at a distance of 10 m. The only drawback of Wireless USB is the lack of a device power bus, which will still require the use of wires.
- According to the specification, a standard USB port is designed to consume 2.5 W of electricity by the device connected to it (5 V and 500 mA per port). However, modern laptops are capable of delivering higher current - up to 1000 mA per port and higher. Ports capable of delivering 5W or more are called Powered USB, and the designation of such a port on the laptop body often (but not always) contains a “+” sign.
Powered USB port designation
USB Application:
- Connecting external HDD and Flash drives
- Connecting phones and modems
- Connecting multimedia (TV tuner, sound card, webcam, photo, audio)
- Connecting external video interfaces
- Working with peripheral devices
- Connecting other non-specific devices
FireWire
A type of serial bus used to connect a computer and peripheral devices. The difference from USB is that FireWire has slightly less functionality and a completely different protocol for exchanging information between FireWire devices. This type of bus allows you to connect two computers into a local network, which USB does not allow.
Technology
The IEEE 1394 standard, known as FireWire (Apple), i.Link (Sony, JVC), mLAN (Yamaha), Lynx (Texas Instruments), DV (Panasonic), was created in 1995, like USB, but the development of FireWire began much earlier. before USB - in 1986. The development was carried out by Apple, which owns all patents.
The advantages of FireWire are:
- Hot Swap capability
- Flexibility (many devices can work together without a PC)
- High speed - different versions of the standard have throughput from 100 to 800 Mbit/s, and new versions of IEEE 1394b - up to 3200 Mbit/s
- Open architecture
- Bus powered, and, importantly, high power (8-40 V up to 1.5 A)
- Ability to connect up to 63 devices to one port (2 times less than USB)
A total of 5 IEEE 1394 specifications have been adopted to date.
- IEEE 1394 originally created for video transmission as a high-speed serial interface, and was favorably received by manufacturers of external drives due to the high data transfer speed: from 100 to 400 Mbit/s over a distance of up to 4.5 m via cable
- IEEE 1394a, approved in 2000, technically no different from the previous standard, improved compatibility with various devices, reduced wait time when connecting (bus reset)
- IEEE 1394b appeared in 2002. The main differences are increased transmission speeds: S800 – up to 800 Mbit/s, S1600 – up to 1600 Mbit/s. To achieve increased speeds, optical conductors are used, while maintaining compatibility with older IEEE 1394 devices. In 2007, a new high-speed protocol was adopted - S3200 with the corresponding speed
- IEEE 1394.1 differs from all those mentioned in the ability to connect a huge number of devices: 64,500.
- IEEE 1394c, released in 2006, uses standard RJ-45 connectors and Category 5 twisted pair cables. Designed for easy construction of computer networks and can work together with standard LAN protocols, complementing them
The FireWire bus is mainly used for connecting external drives, MIniDV/DV video cameras (and other multimedia devices), printers, scanners and creating a computer network.
Types of FireWire connectors
The advantages of FireWire compared to USB can be considered greater efficiency, because the bus holds the signal much more stable. FireWire quite realistically reaches the stated maximum speed of 400 Mbps. As a result, it is very beneficial to use external hard drives with a FireWire interface.
The power parameters of FireWire are also much better - the maximum current on the bus is 1.5 A versus 0.5 A for USB, with a voltage reaching 40 V. However, power is provided only by a six-pin connector, while laptops are almost always equipped with compact 4-pin FireWire ports , designed for connecting devices with external power supply.
Not all laptops have a FireWire connector, unlike USB. “Why hasn’t FireWire, with all its advantages, become widespread?” - you ask. The answer is simple: if USB is an open standard, then FireWire is a closed one; any manufacturer using FireWire in their devices must pay Apple a certain amount.
FireWire application:
- External HDDs
- Working with DV/MiniDV video cameras
- Connecting external devices (for example, scanners)
- Creating a local network
Connectors for connecting to the Internet
RJ45
LAN port to which you can connect the appropriate leased line patch cord and enjoy fast Internet. Despite the development of wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, wired LAN or Ethernet networks can boast more stable and faster operation, and therefore are still relevant.
Technology
RJ45 (RJ – Registered Jack) is a misnomer for the 8P8C type connector (8 pins, 8 conductors). It has caught on and is used by most IT authors and publications due to the external similarity of these connectors. In reality, the name RJ45 belongs to the 8P2C type connector (8 contacts, 2 conductors).
The appearance of the RJ45 connector (we will call it in the usual way) is easily recognizable: it is a rectangular hole with eight spring-loaded contacts inside; on the top of the connector there is a cutout for a latch located on the network cable plug.
The speeds that the built-in network controllers of most laptops can boast of correspond to 10/100 Mbit/s, but many modern models are equipped with a high-speed Gigabit Ethernet controller with transfer speeds of up to 1000 Mbit/s. However, in our country, 1 Gbit/s networks are still underdeveloped even in large cities, because they require expensive and high-quality equipment to implement such a high throughput.
RJ45 connectors for Ethernet and RJ11 for modem
There is one RJ45 connector on any laptop and even a netbook. In general, the approach is justified: there is rarely a need for more than one local network connector on a laptop. But if you suddenly need a second RJ45 port, then you can purchase a network adapter with a USB interface, or with a PCMCIA or Express Card connector.
Application of RJ45:
- Connecting a laptop to a dedicated line
- Connecting two or more computers into a common network
- Working with wireless equipment (access points)
- Using Network Attached Storage (NAS)
RJ11
The RJ11 connector is familiar to everyone: any wired phone has such ports. Externally, the connector is similar to RJ45, only slightly narrower. As you might guess, RJ11 is designed to connect a laptop to a telephone line to access the Internet using the modem built into the laptop. There are still many places in our country where the good old Dial-Up is the only chance to get online. All you have to do is make sure that the PBX you are going to connect to is not digital, otherwise you can break the built-in modem.
RJ11 connector and telephone cable
Application of RJ11:
- Using a telephone line to access the Internet
- Using a computer as a phone with a headset
- Facsimile functionality with a printer and scanner
- Universal connectors
- Connectors for connecting to the Internet
Connectors for external monitors
VGA (D-Sub)
Almost everyone is familiar with the 5-pin analog signal output to a monitor. D-Sub is designed to connect any modern monitor or TV equipped with a VGA input to a laptop. This is necessary in order to display the signal on a screen with a larger diagonal than the laptop screen.
The VGA connector can be found both on modern models of laptop computers and on quite old ones. It’s the same with monitors - they all have an analog input, so you can connect your laptop to a monitor at any time, with the exception of a few models over 27 inches or some Apple monitors.
VGA output on laptop. Nearby you can see a plug in place of the S-Video connector
In order to minimize the space occupied by the connector on the mobile PC case, manufacturers usually do not use screw fastening of the cable to the connector, so be careful when connecting the monitor, try not to move the laptop. And, of course, you need to connect the laptop and monitor when the laptop is turned off.
S-Video (TV-Out)
The round TV-Out connector, often called S-Video, is designed to output an analog TV signal with a resolution of up to 420 TV lines. That is, this port is not intended for displaying high-resolution images on an external monitor.
S-Video connector
The usual S-Video input on a TV has 4 contacts - two each for luminance and chrominance signals. As a rule, you can find a 7-pin S-Video connector on a laptop; you can connect a standard S-Video cable with four pins to it, but using an adapter you can output a regular composite signal for connecting to a TV with a standard RCA input (“tulip”) ).
adapter-S-Video-RCA
Compact S-Video-RCA adapter
In addition, the 7-pin connector is “able” to transmit an RGB signal – that is, a component signal, which again requires either a special cable or an adapter.
DVI
A fairly modern digital interface for transmitting a video signal to a monitor. Not all laptop models are equipped with a DVI connector: you won’t find DVI on budget models, and, in fact, you won’t find it on budget monitors either.
Technology
DVI (Digital Visual Interface) was proposed by Silicon Image. The standard is designed for high-speed transmission of high-quality digital video signals to a monitor without conversion. It uses the TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling) protocol: three channels for transmitting video streams and additional data with a throughput of up to 3.4 Gbps per channel with the ability to transmit 24 bits per pixel. Interestingly, the maximum output resolution depends on the cable length and its quality. For example, with a 4.5 m cable you can display an image of 1920x1200 pixels, but with a 15 m cable - only 1280x1024 pixels.
The DVI connector is easy to identify - it is a 24-pin connector with a characteristic additional block of contacts that are responsible for outputting an analog signal in VGA format. This block makes it possible to use a simple DVI-VGA adapter, supplied with modern video cards. However, there may not be an analog block, because the standard provides for three types of connectors:
- DVI-I– universal, with transmission of analog and digital signals
- DVI-D– designed for digital signal transmission only
- DVI-A– a “dinosaur”, which is almost impossible to meet, designed to transmit only an analog signal
DVI-D connector
It is DVI-D that can most often be found on laptops, installed in conjunction with a VGA port.
There are also two DVI connector options: Dual Link and Single Link. Single Link DVI provides screen resolution up to 1920x1200 pixels; Dual Link DVI allows you to display images with a resolution of 2048x1536 and higher - clearer monitors simply do not exist yet, or they are prohibitively expensive. It is not difficult to identify the type of connector: Single Link lacks six pins in the middle of the connector.
Types of DVI connectors
With a 99% probability you will find Dual Link DVI on a laptop.
HDMI
The most advanced digital interface for transmitting video signals to an external monitor. Installed on multimedia laptops and many video cards with HD support.
Technology
HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) is a high-definition multimedia interface that allows you to transmit not only an HD video signal, but also a digital audio stream. In this case, the transmitted information is encrypted using the HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) protocol to protect against unauthorized copying.
The standard appeared in 2002 and is, in fact, a further development of the ideas embedded in the DVI interface. That is why the HDMI signal is easy to transmit through a DVI-HDMI adapter, although with some losses.
Unlike DVI, the latest versions of the interface support bandwidth up to 10 Gbps per channel, 48-bit color depth, automatic synchronization of audio and video signals, new digital audio formats DTS-HD and Dolby HD.
The maximum cable length for signal transmission at home is 1.5 meters, but with the help of amplifiers it can be increased to 35 m.
If your laptop is equipped with an HDMI connector, then you can connect your laptop to a wide-screen TV or receiver equipped with this input.
Despite the obvious advantages, HDMI has certain disadvantages, for example, the short cable length and their fairly high cost, especially those designed to transmit signals over long distances.
DisplayPort
The newest standard for connecting a computer and an external monitor is simply called DisplayPort. Like HDMI, the new interface allows you to transmit both video and audio signals, and is intended for use in computer and cinema equipment for connecting signal sources to monitors.
Just like HDMI, the signal is protected using the HDCP protocol, but it is planned to introduce a more robust 128-bit encryption protocol DPCP (DisplayPort Content Protection).
The advantage of DisplayPort in relation to portable equipment is the compactness of the connector, the dimensions of which are slightly larger than USB.
The main differences between DisplayPort and HDMI are a wider channel for data transmission of 10.8 Gbit/s (although the latest versions of HDMI have almost caught up with DisplayPort in this parameter), and a longer cable length - up to 15 m.
mini DisplayPort connector
DisplayPort connector
For now, connectors of the new standard are rarely found on laptops, but the day is not far when the standard will become widespread.
Expansion of functionality
PCMCIA
PCMCIA, which is called PC Card (due to the ambiguity of the abbreviation PCMCIA), is an obsolete standard. Initially, connectors of this type were intended to expand laptop memory, so the first versions of the interface were not universal. And there were often two PCMCIA connectors on laptops at that time.
Technology
The PC Card slot is a 54 mm wide slot, which is closed either by a folding shutter or a plastic plug. The modern PC Card standard supports Bus Master modes (hence the name Card Bus) and is compatible with the PCI standard.
Mechanically, there are three main types of PC Card connectors:
- Type I ( Type I) – a 16-bit interface designed for memory expansion. The cards had a thickness of no more than 3.3 mm and were equipped with one row of contacts.
- Type II ( Type II) – 16- and 32-bit interface with two rows of contacts. The thickness of the cards is 5 mm. Improved compatibility, allowing you to connect not only memory expansion cards, but also I/O devices.
- Type III ( Type III) is quite rare. There were 4 rows of contacts with support for 16 or 32 bits, but the thickness of the cards could reach 10.5 mm, which made it possible, for example, to create a full-fledged modem with a standard RJ11 port.
The full-fledged PC Cards currently in use that support DMA do not belong to any of the above types. The connector and backward compatibility with Type I/II cards are only borrowed from Type II. The Card Bus protocol is based on the PCI bus specifications, ensuring compatibility with virtually all devices.
Interestingly, the standard of the well-known Compact Flash flash cards is only a slightly modified PCMCIA Type II, thanks to which CF cards can be directly connected to a PC Card using a simple adapter.
PC Card slot and cover
Wi-Fi card with PC Card interface
The laptop's support for PC Card automatically means that you can expand the functionality of your laptop by installing the desired card in the slot. For example, TV tuners, Wi-Fi cards, COM or LPT controllers, eSATA, USB, FireWire cards, video capture cards, sound cards and much more are produced for the PCMCIA connector.
Advice: If you have an old laptop with PCMCIA support, and you plan to replace it with a more modern model in the future, then do not rush to purchase cards of this standard, since modern laptops are no longer equipped with PC Card slots, since the more modern ExpressCard standard has been developed and is already widely used.
ExpressCard
ExpressCard is essentially a further development of the ideas laid down by PC Card. Today this is a relevant and widespread connector, present on almost every modern laptop.
Technology
ExpressCard was created as a replacement for the legacy PC Card interface by the same PCMCIA association. We didn’t have to look far for ideas: a new high-speed serial bus, PCI Express, appeared, which quickly conquered computers around the world; it also formed the basis of a new interface called ExpressCard. However, the developers went even further and equipped the ExpressCard with a parallel USB 2.0 bus. The result is a universal and compact interface that boasts a throughput of up to 2.5 Gbps versus 133 Mbps for a PC Card.
Physically, the connector of the new interface resembles the old one - the same 5 mm thick and 54 mm wide, however, the contact group has a smaller width - 34 mm, which made it possible to introduce an even more compact connector, so there are two types of connectors on laptops: ExpressCard/54, or ExpressCard/ 34.
Please note: 34mm devices can be installed in either the ExpressCard/54 slot or the native ExpressCard/34 slot.
If you are buying a new laptop, then it is safe to say that it will be equipped with either a 54mm or 34mm ExpressCard slot.
Dimensions of ExpressCard modules compared to PC Card
Most often, it is the second option that is installed, but most popular netbooks do not even have a 34 mm jack. So if you need expansion options in the form of installing TV cards, wireless modems, eSATA ports, additional USB 2.0 connectors or even a Fire-Wire bus, pay attention to the presence of such a necessary option as ExpressCard.
Card Reader
A card reader on a laptop today is a common thing. This is quite logical - rarely does any device do without a memory card. Therefore, you will probably find a device for reading memory cards of the Secure Digital (SD), Multimedia Card (MMC), xD Picture Card (xD) and Memory Stick (MS) standards on any modern laptop, not to mention small netbooks.
A universal card reader that supports Compact Flash is a rarity, however, most modern cameras switch to SD, and the CF slot takes up quite a lot of space on the body.
There is one thing to consider with SD card readers. The fact is that the SD standard provides for the original version SD 1.0, whose cards had a maximum capacity of 4 GB and a new version of SD 2.0, better known as SDHC(SD High Capacity), the maximum volume of which reaches 32 GB. Physically, the cards of both versions are indistinguishable from each other, but they exchange information with a computer differently.
The problem is that many laptop readers do not support SDHC at the driver level, as a result of which the inserted card is simply not detected. This does not mean that the card reader is faulty - it simply does not support the new standard, however, this problem is often solved by updating the card reader driver, which, however, still needs to be found. The problem is especially acute for computers running Windows XP.
Advice: When buying a new laptop, pay attention to support for SDHC cards - this is easy to check in the store when buying a laptop.
By the way, the first cards of the new standard are already appearing - CDXC, the volume of which can reach 2 TB, but so far only a 64 GB card has been released.
Card reader, memory card and plug
In addition to memory cards, on corporate laptops there are readers of the so-called smart cards. Externally, such a card is very similar to a SIM card, which is not removed from the main plastic card (and does not have slots) and has similar electrical contacts. The card is encrypted, so without installing a smart card, the laptop simply will not allow anyone to access the information stored on it.
Port Replicator
The lack of space on the end panels of ultramobile laptops has given rise to another type of interface - the so-called port replicator, also known as a port expander. Actually, this is not the name of a connector, but of a special device - a stand or an additional module - that connects to the laptop via a specific connector. The specificity is also explained by the fact that laptop manufacturers have not developed a unified standard for the port replicator and connector for it, and this is not profitable for the manufacturers themselves.
What is it for? port replicator? As already mentioned, laptops with a small screen diagonal do not allow all the necessary connectors to be placed on the body, so a port expander will come in handy here: who wouldn’t mind a couple of additional USB ports or a DVI output? However, a port replicator is the prerogative of not only completely mobile PCs, because industrial and business laptop models simply must have an abundance of ports and connectors, which is why professional series of laptop PCs (for example, Lenovo ThinkPad, Toshiba Tecra, which cannot be called compact) are also equipped port expander connector.
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