I guess I could still try replacing the usb ports themselves. It doesn't need any soldering. I'm not sure where to get them or how to know they're the right ones though.
Here is what the chipset drivers say about installing BEFORE the os. Can you make heads or tails of this? I'm lost.
If it's not different than installing the drivers WITH the os, then don't bother. But if it is...
************************************************************
* 8F. INSTALLING THE WINDOWS 7* INF FILES PRIOR
* TO OS INSTALLATION
************************************************************
The simplest method for installing Windows? onto new hardware is to
start directly from the Windows product DVD with an answer file called
Autounattend.xml. Boot the computer with the Windows Setup media in the
DVD drive and the configuration set available on an external drive.
By default, Windows Setup searches all removable media for an answer
file called Autounattend.xml. Autounattend.xml must be located at the
root of the removable media.
The answer file enables you to automate all or parts of Windows Setup
Includeing adding INF files. You can create an answer file by using Windows
System Image Manager (Windows SIM).
Microsoft* published a Wndows Automated Installation Kit(WAIK)
(Must be the windows 7 version) which facilitates creation of answer files
and image creation for unattended installs of Windows 7 with tools such as Windows SIM
To create a configuration set you will need:
Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) installed on a technician computer.
An authorized copy of a Windows Vista? product DVD.
Chipset device driver .inf files.
Access to a network share or removable media with sufficient storage space.
1. Create a New Answer File
(In this step, you define basic disk configuration and other settings that are required
for an unattended installation.)
A. On your technician computer, insert the Windows 7 product DVD into the local
DVD-ROM drive.
B. On the desktop of the technician computer, navigate to the \Sources directory
on your DVD-ROM drive. Copy the Install.wim file from the Windows product DVD
to a location on the computer.
C. Open Windows SIM. On the desktop of the computer, click Start, point to
Programs, point to Microsoft Windows OPK (or Windows AIK), and then click
Windows System Image Manager.
D. On the File menu, click Select Windows Image.
E. In the Select a Windows Image dialog box, navigate to the location where
you saved the Install.wim file, and then click Open.
Note:
A warning will appear that a .clg file does not exist.
Click OK to create a .clg file.
If there is more than one Windows image in the .wim file, you are prompted
to select the Windows image to open.
F. On the File menu, click New Answer File.
2. Create a Distribution Share
(In this step, you create a distribution-share folder on your technician computer.
The distribution share will store out-of-box drivers, applications, and any resource
files needed for your custom installation.)
A. In Windows SIM, in the Distribution Share pane, click Select a Distribution
Share.
B. Right-click to select Create Distribution Share.
C. The Create a Distribution Share dialog box appears.
D. Click New Folder, and then type a name for the folder. For example
"C:\MyDistributionShareClick"
E. In the Distribution Share pane, the distribution share folder opens.
Windows SIM automatically creates the following folder structure.
C:\MyDistributionShare\$OEM$ Folders
C:\MyDistributionShare\Packages
C:\MyDistributionShare\Out-of-Box
3. Add Drivers and Applications to Distribution Share
A. In Windows SIM, on the Tools menu, select Explore Distribution Share.
B. The Distribution Share window opens.
C. Copy your device driver files (.inf) to the Out-of-Box Drivers folder.
1. Create subdirectories for each driver. For example,
create directories "Chipset" and "Video" in the Out-of-Box Drivers
folder.
D. Close the distribution share folder.
4. Add a Device Driver to the Answer File
(In this step, you add an out-of-box drivers (.inf) path to your answer file.)
A. In Windows SIM, on the Insert menu, click Driver Path, and then click Pass 1
windowsPE.
B. The Browse for Folder dialog box appears.
C. Select the driver path to add to the answer file, and then click OK.
For example, "C:\MyDistributionShare\Out-of-Box Drivers\Chipset"
5. Validate the Answer File
(In this step, you validate the settings in your answer file and then save them to a file.)
A. In Windows SIM, click Tools, and then click Validate Answer File.
B. If the answer file validates successfully, a "success" message appears in the
Messages pane; otherwise, error messages appear in the same location.
C. If an error occurs, in the Messages pane, double-click the error to navigate
to the incorrect setting. Change the setting to fix the error, and then
revalidate the answer file.
D. On the File menu, click Save Answer File. Save the file as Unattend.xml.
6. Create a Configuration Set
(In this step, you create a configuration set that will gather all of the resource files
that you specified in your answer file into one location.)
A. In Windows SIM, on the Tools menu, select Create Configuration Set.
B. The Create Configuration Set window opens.
C. Specify a destination location where you intend to publish the configuration set
D. Select a removable dirve such as a USB flash drive (UFD), and then click OK.
7. Deploying a Configuration Set Without a Network
A. Turn on the new computer.
B. Insert both the removable media containing your configuration set and the
Windows 7 product DVD into the new computer.
Note: When using a USB flash drive, insert the drive directly into the
primary set of USB ports for the computer. For a desktop computer,
this is typically in the back of the computer.
C. Restart the computer by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL.
Note: This example assumes that the hard drive is blank.
E. Windows Setup (Setup.exe) begins automatically.
F. By default, Windows Setup searches all removable media for an answer file
called Autounattend.xml. Autounattend.xml must be located at the root of the
removable media.
G. After Setup completes, validate that all customizations were applied, and then
reseal the computer by using the generalize option
For more information about Windows Server 2008 answer
files and unattended installations, please refer to the
Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) User's Guide.
Let wait and see what's the shop says. Good luck
