Crazy USB-isms. Never realized how finicky USB can be until I had operating problems with my new TM HOTAS.
I had to go into regedit and turn off USB “EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled” so the stick wouldn’t go to sleep mid-flight.
Digging further in the thread linked below, I found the reporting utility USBDeview that will tell you all kinds of stuff about how your USB ports are behaving or misbehaving. It will also clear the ports. I scanned it and seems like it is safe.
Because of this, I “dedicate” a port for a specific purpose and only plug in a specific device to the port. “Don’t cross the stream” 
USBDeview utility
Wonder if Beach’s problem has to do with the port getting starved?