Note to self: when an ailing external hard disk exhibits signs of the end times, throw it away before its pessimism and depression affects the rest of the hardware. Lest a bad apple in the basket spoils all the good ones.
That means detaching the USB cable connecting to the desktop computer.
The power adapter of that external disk has shot itself to bits, and I unwittingly tried to revive it by plugging it in and out of the power socket. A short burst of electrical sparks later, and the USB ports on this three-month-old computer are hosed.
What a way to yell "I'm taking you with me!"
UPDATE 8 Sep:
Looks like this is a fairly common occurrence among other people's hardware - USB controllers are highly susceptible to breaking and fail to recognise USB devices that are plugged in, even though it appears as "working" to the BIOS and OS. So I rushed my desktop into the computer store's ER and paid them $30 to do something that I could have done myself, because I thought they could replace the motherboard for me. But, for faulty motherboards beyond 30 days of usage, an exchange needs to be done with the supplier/distributor.
And they do not open during weekends.
I need to bring it down on Monday. Means I have to send my mother to hospital then send my motherboard to the other hospital. Wow, what a pun play.
UPDATE 21 Sep:
Two weeks. My goodness. Ingram Micro simply cannot act on my case since they have no stock for my motherboard model. Looks like they have a fabulous support plan in place to keep customers functionless without a working computer. That is two weeks I have gone without accessing my primary email mailboxes, since my Outlook files sit in one of the harddisks. Gosh, remind me that a workstation computer should be purchased from a vendor who can do on-site swap support. Leave DIYs for entertainment machines.
UPDATE 3 Oct:
At long last. I finally get to see my computer released from prison and coming to terms with the rigours of reintegrating into society.
It's really strange. Just when I thought I could make better use of this machine when I was on home leave to be near my parents, it goes away. Now that I am back in "full force" spending hours in the office, it makes it way home.
Simply swell.