USb ports not alwasy working. Keyboard falling apart?

[wantathinkpad]

So, I have I had my trusty 14 inch T43 for four years and it is/has served me well. I bought it for my last 2.5 years of college it served as a serious moblie laptop for me traveling all over campus and cross country trips.

My "U' and 'Z' key are missing but they keyboard is so sensitive that I can still type with out a problem. However, slowly the keys are coming up. I was thinking of buying a new keyboard but my USb ports aren't working too well. I have to restart my computer sometimes for it devices to be recognized. So I am thinking, if I am open up my laptop to replace the keyboard I may shift something that may cause the USb ports to stop working all together.

Since graduating I have been using my laptop at home to browse the internet. It is more than fast enough for browsing, youtube, and playing music, so I had not planned on getting rid of it for several years (especially since XP has been so stable and Windows, BIOS and other updates have been so smooth).

What is your opinion what should I do? What would you do?

[ajkula66]

USB ports with a mind of their own are a sign of a failing Southbridge chip on the motherboard. It can be fixed for anywhere between $50-75 + shipping.

Keyboard should be replaced, you can get a good one in forum's Marketplace for $20-30.

[sktn77a]

Replace the keyboard. If the USB fails on the motherboard, just get a used PCMCIA USB card. While the flaky usb symptom can signal impending motherboard doom, you may be able to go indefinitely with this setup.