USB Ports are recognized, but when I plug antything into them, nothing happens.

I have a Compaq Presario CQ61-411wm with 64 bit Windows 7 installed. All the usb ports are recognized in the device manager, but if I plug anything into any of the ports, nothing happens, not even a light blinking. Here is a list of things I have already tried:

-Uninstalling all the drivers in the device manager
-Updating the drivers from device manager
-Unplugging ac adapter + battery and holding down the power button for 30-60 seconds
-Going into the BIOS and seeing if the USB ports are disabled ** (see note below)
-Using different mice, thumb drives, external hard drives, etc.
-Asking the laptop nicely to make its USB ports work

If anyone has any idea how to fix this I would be soooooo grateful. I've been trying to fix this problem for over a month and I just could not find anything that would work. I am pretty tech-savvy so if any of your ideas have anything to do with opening up the laptop or soldering I am all ears. Everything else on the laptop is working fine.


** I have Insyde H20 version f.13 and there is no Advanced option so I don't know how I would be able to see if the USB ports are enabled or disabled. Any help on this would also be greatly appreciated.