Windows keeps making these random "device connect" and "device disconnect" sounds

Question

Throughout the day I notice that my computer makes apparently random device-connect and/or device-disconnect ("boink") sounds.

I suppose it is the same sound you hear when connecting or disconnecting a USB device such as a thumb drive. I've noticed that this happens on each of three computers I work with at home, my wife's computer, and my machine at work. It happens without any user action at all - i.e. I'll be just sitting there (hands off my mouse and keyboard), and the computer will make the sound. There is no visual queue or anything. Just the sound.

I have sometimes gone in pursuit of the sound - running virus scans, examining event logs and such, and observing task manager - but have never had any luck tracking this thing down, but have not had any luck.

I've been noticing this since Windows Vista and now the sounds have followed me through to Windows 7.

Surely someone else out there must be experiencing this and can explain what is happening.

Answer 1

I just solved this on my desktop using Nirsoft's USBLogView. It's my mouse. I only hear the disconnect sound, but there's a reconnect happening immediately after. And the program isn't catching most of them either. (Hat-Tip to imaximchuk for this.)

Answer 2

Make sure that any USB, Bluetooth, Network devices in Device Manager in the Power Management tab do not have the option Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power checked.

Answer 3

Had this problem. It was the monitor going into 'sleep' mode then coming back up - Windows struggled to recognise that it was on after 'sleep' (even though it was displaying just fine). Turned it off & on again, problem went away. Can't say it will work for you, but if you have any peripheral that goes into 'sleep' or 'power saving mode', giving it the off-and-on-again is an easy trick to try before mucking about with settings.

Answer 4

Check the "Safely Remove Hardware" applet in the Notification area periodically. What's there only some of the time? That device is your problem.

Answer 5

Busted wire in the mouse cable was causing mine. Oddly enough, the mouse was fairly functional till the day I noticed a skip.

I pulled the cable tautly, and it totally lost function. Replacing the bad mouse fixed the issue for me.

Answer 6

It may be devices that are charging. Consider unplugging things such as phones and observing whether the behavior stops.

In my case, once my phone is at full charge it tends cause the "device disconnected" sound to play (with no corresponding "device connected"), including when it receives a text. If I remove the phone I won't get the periodic sounds.

Answer 7

I just had this problem, and the problem turned out to be a problem with the software for a D-Link router. The software allowed the user to connect a USB device to the router, but was constantly trying to disconnect and reconnect from that device.

I think the process was like "Network USB Connection", and there was a similar program in "Add/Remove Programs".

Answer 8

I would guess that something is disconnecting do to inactivity. It could be an external drive or other USB peripheral. Also, I know that when switch my KVM to another machine it disconnects the mouse/keyboard and reconnects them when I switch back (causing "boinks" both times.)

Answer 9

Thanks to JimB, I have used Nirsoft's USBLogView and found that one of my Microsoft Hub Ethernet port gets into cycle of connect/disconnect. When I looked close into my setup, I had a wifi usb adapter aswell connected via (Aukey Multi-function USB Hub - CB-H17).

The sooner I disconect my wifi USB adapter, the annoying noise stopped.

Answer 10

Just so you know, I got that same exact problem this morning over a laptop. I disconnected all USB on it to realize that the problem was the docking station. I changed it for a new one and the sound stopped. It was as simple as that.