Leaving a usb socket on motherboard unplugged?

[darsunt]

I recently installed an ASUS motherboard. One of the USB drives is plugged into the motherboard in a cramped space where I'd rather install a pci card.

Will unplugging the usb cable have any bad effects on the motherboard? And if I plug a flash drive into an unplugged usb socket will it damage the flash drive?

 

[Trotter]

no, and no.

The USB will just sit there, and the port it connects to will be dead. Putting a flash drive in it will do nothing to it.

 

[peterhuang913]

As Trotter said, whether you connect or not connect a front usb cable, the computer won't know until something is plugged in. If you do decide to unplug the cable from the computer and you plug it a flash drive, absolute nothing will happen. It will just be like not touching the flash drive, it won't be damaged since no voltage is running through.