Hello all!
I am back again.. Hope I am posting in right place? My g/f got an emachine T2542 which was not working, well was working but windows wasn't working. first THING I did was put in a 500W coolmax psu in, due to I know psu's in emachines suck! so I reformatted and put windows xp pro on it, as she didn't get any recovery disc's with it! first off I could not get windows to install correctly until I took the additional ram out and reinstalled with just the factory 256mb ram in it.
Everything installed ok. I went to emachines website http://www.emachines.com/support/product_support.html?cat=Desktops&subcat=T%20Series&model=T2542 and got all the drivers from there for the machine that they had. Installed them then went to windows update and installed service pack 3 which they recommended to install. so I also installed avg antivirus and rebooted when it needed rebooted!
OK now I plug in the speakers and no sound? Tried installing the ac97 drivers it calls for several times and it never actually recognized my speakers were connected? so I went out and got a Creative sound card which installed and works perfectly. now I have sound. didn't know if that information was needed but just letting you know what I have done before.
Now the problem is any usb device I plug into the usb ports is not recognized as being there? all 6 ports do the same thing (Nothing) have tried several different sub device and do not get any hardware notice or new hardware added that needs drivers! I am at a miss here and have tried downloading different drivers from driverguide and going to Intel for updates etc.. seems anything I try, the usb ports are dead to recognizing a device. the light on the webcam I hook up comes on so know there is power.. also cannot get mouse to work on usb either so am using PS/2 port for mouse. Other than the usb's and inboard speaker port not working this is working great!
sorry so long winded but think more info is better for HELP. I am sending everest home summary report also.
Thanks for any input (advice) and sites or links for help, below is everest report.

PS. Notice on report it say's motherboard name is unknown? the name on the board say's Imperial_GV


--------[ EVEREST Home Edition (c) 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Quick Report
Computer EMACHINE-T2542
Generator Administrator
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
DATE 2008-12-21
Time 16:03


--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name EMACHINE-T2542
User Name Administrator

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel CELERON, 2500 MHz (25 x 100)
Motherboard Name Unknown
Motherboard Chipset Intel Brookdale-G i845GEV
System Memory 768 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (09/16/03)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller (64 MB)
3D Accelerator Intel Extreme Graphics
Monitor Dell E773c [17" CRT] (6418043B00FG)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Creative Audigy LS Audio Processor

Storage:
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801DB Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CB
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive WDC WD400EB-00CPF0 (37 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8483B (48x/32x/48x CD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 38154 MB (32467 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse PS/2 Compatible Mouse

Network:
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC (192.168.0.3)

Peripherals:
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]
USB2 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - Enhanced USB2 Controller [B-0]

Is the cam bus-powered or self-powered? If bus-powered (no AC adapter), then it could be drawing too much USB power.

Go to Device Manager (Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Hardware tab -> Device Manager button), right-click on one of these four items:

USB1 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - USB Controller [B-0]
USB2 Controller Intel 82801DB ICH4 - Enhanced USB2 Controller [B-0]

...left-click Properties, then click the Advanced tab. With all your USB devices plugged in, how much power is being drawn? It should be no more than 500 mW per bus.OK went and checked and each one say's 0 mA. the cam is usb powered all I get is the led light that comes on the cam itself. other than that I am getting nothing. it's like the usb ports are dead? even if I take cam off and try a mouse or the printer they are not recognized? I am almost sure it is some kind of driver missing for them. this is what I have showing in my device manager for usb's

[attachment deleted by admin]Are there any "splats" in Device Manager (Red X, yellow !, yellow ?)no none at all..that is what has me miffed!!?
You can try this...
Right click ALL instances of roots and hubs in Device Manager and select un-install/remove...you will recieve a warning...ignore it.
Power down and plug in only the neccessary USB devices.
Upon re-start the USB roots and hubs will automatically re-installed.
Power up and down a few more times and then see if any extra devices work.
If this does not help try re-installing your MBoard drivers...they will be on the Driver CD that shipped with your MBoard...
If all else fails you are looking at adding a PCI/USB addon card which have up to 6 slots on them...Sorry took so long to reply.
thank you for the replies. I tried everthing you have mentioned, with no results in getting the motherboard usb's to work. Instead of racking my brains on it anymore, I just got a PCI/USB addon card, which patio suggested and everthing seems to be working FINE now.
Thanks again for the help and suggestions!