Help needed please..USB and game controller!!!!

hi, i'm having problems getting my game control pad to be recognised or get drivers successfully installed.

its not just my logitech pad, but my windows xbox pad and i cant connect my nokia N95 8GB either.

ive recently got windows 7 from a friend and it works great apart from this, dunno if its windows thats the problem though or my actual USB ports.

ive tried every port.

it makes the little noise when i connect a controller/phone etc. but then it either says USB device not recognised/malfunctioned or driver software not successfully installed. occassionaly it does install the drivers and says device is ready to use, but it only works for a few button presses then cuts out again.

what i dont understand though is that USB pens and external hard drives work fine, just not my controllers or my phone, read something somewhere about it may be the ports are not getting enough power but not sure.

any help would be great cause ive just got pro evolution soccer and the new need for speed and i cant play them! not to mention got a ton of photos i want to upload from my phone!

thanks!