Have you ever wondered if there is a limit for the amount of power one of your USB ports can handle? I mean, it makes sense that one of those little ports can only take care of so much. But how much is too much? Well, that's exactly what we're going to find out today! In this tip, we'll go over the proper amounts you should be placing on your USB ports and how you can check them to make sure they're being used correctly. This is some good information for anyone who uses USB ports, so please keep reading!

To begin, I'm going to say that the general amount of power that most USB ports can handle is 500mA (milliamps). It is a good idea to check the status of your ports every once in awhile to make sure you're not exceeding the brand propecia online power they can endure.

If you don't check on that regularly, you could be setting yourself up for a USB power crisis and no one wants that! You use your USB ports for several of your devices and you may not realize how much power all of those things are taking up.

For example, you may use the ports for your digital camera, cell phone, your mouse, the keyboard, a Webcam, a music player and so on. If you have several of those devices running at the same time, they're fighting for the power and if a port is overwhelmed, it could completely shut down. Along with your USB port being damaged, your devices could be at risk too.

To check the power demands on your ports, you have to go through the Device Manager. If you use Windows XP or 2000, right click on your My Computer icon and select Properties. Then choose Hardware, Device Manager.

For Windows 98 and ME, right click on My Computer, choose Properties and go directly to the Device Manager.

Within the Device Manager box, double click on Universal Serial Bus controllers (it's the very last item on the list). Next, you're going to double click on the first line that says USB Root Hub. There will be multiples of those, but click on the first one listed. Now, choose the Power tab (it will be the Power Properties button in 98 and ME).

Under the Attached Devices area (Devices on this Hub in 98, ME and 2000), you will find a list of all the devices you have running through your ports at the moment. You will also be able to view each one's power requirements (in milliamps).

As mentioned above, a port can handle up to 500mA, so if one of your root hubs is close to that 500 mark, you need to switch around some of your devices to other root hubs so that everything isn't all filling up on one.

You can also connect another hub to your PC if you have an available port. There are hubs available out there today that can turn one port into four or even more. So, if you're close to overloading your root hub, you may want to look into something like that as well. Please do what you can to keep your USB ports safe!