yes they can go bad. Also you may have auto play disabled, in some of the more recent windows updates auto play was changed due to infections coming from usb drives etc so they disabled auto play so that you could choose to play it after it had been scanned. Not sure that is the problem but you could try going to my computer and that external usb drive and try opening it from there and viewing it.

They can go bad and do go bad occasionally.

There's a loop back test you can run to determine if the USB port is bad. I'm pretty sure you already have determined it though, if 2 devices are acting up.. Google Test USB Port

Or just plug a USB mouse in and see if it works.

If you have additional USB ports on back of your computer you could consider getting a USB hub. A hub will supply additional ports for you.

USB ports can go out, or the part of the motherboard that supports the ports can malfunction. You could also have a loose connection, depending on how this was built. It's a little strange that they are intermittent in that they work and then immediately go out. The only suggestion I can give you -- other than taking it back to where it was built -- is to shut down the computer, and then unplug it for a half hour; then plug it back in and boot up. Sometimes this fixes a malfunctioning USB port.

Thank you

I told my USB ports that they had the same rules as my daughter. They couldn't go out until they were at least 21 years old.

It didn't work with my daughter, either.

hope you know you do not just simply yank out the cable once plugged in, you should always use safe device removal..