Bluetooth USB Dongle not Recognized in any of 3 USB ports - Win 7 x64 hp

Win 7 hp x64 laptop no internal bt. I have a cheap $1 USB bt dongle from ebay. Using Unknown Device Identifier from HunterSoft the dongle IDs as a Cambridge Silicon Windigo BTM01C2AC Bluetooth Adapter.

My laptop recognized the dongle & windows7 even dl'd the generic bt drivers - everything worked for a week that is. Then in Device Manager I get the yellow triangle Unknown Device.

It is not a bad USB port, all USB ports work with other devices. Using TOSHIBA Bluetooth Stack 8.00.03 64bit or any other software doesn't work. Tried uninstalling from Device Manager & rebooting - no go. Doesn't matter which of 3 USB ports I use, upon dongle insertion windows say device not recognized.

Thinking my bt dongle is maybe dead. Thought about buying a $15-$20 AZiO BTD-V201 or AZiO BTD-V400 highly rated USB bt dongle. But from my research a lot of people have had problems with USB bt dongles, regardless of brand or windows version.

I am at a loss. Looking for answers.

 

did you try it on another comp?

 

Just tried on desktop with XP Pro. Poseidon pitchfork appeared briefly (2 sec) then disappeared from the Taskbar. And nothing BT or yellow triangle or any other indications of a dongle in Device Manager.

 

sounds like time for a replacement device