USB port malfunctioning, always says "USB Device not recognized"

Try hardware troubleshooter WinKey + W >Troubleshooter > Heardware and sound.

Also try opening Device Manager and seeing if when you plug it in you get a notification of it not working or trying to install

You can look in View Event Logs to see if it picks up an error. When you open it using WinKey + W > View Event Logs > connect the device and refresh the Event logs to see the summary a new event should popup

See if these allow you to get it working

Start up using Clean Boot

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Startup using Safemode

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-including-safe-mode

What is the USB device you are plugging in?

Have you had a look in the Device Manager for any errors with the USB devices?

Use Device Manager and uninstall the USB root hubs and devices that show on your machine now.  Reboot and let Windows rediscover them and see if that solves your problem.

See one way that you can access the Device Manager via Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools\Computer Management\Device Manager.  There are several ways to get there.

Uninstall or Reinstall a Device

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725782.aspx

The Hardware and Sound troubleshooter didn't detect any issues.

This is what I see in device manager when I plug it in: 

I didn't see anything about trying to install.

I don't see anything in the Event Logs either. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place inside of the event logs, but I'm pretty sure I am.

Clean Boot didn't work either.

I tried plugging in a mouse and also plugging in a cord to connect my table to my computer.

Any device you plug in to that port gives you the same Unknown USB Device warning? I wasn't 100% sure if the mouse you tried worked?

You can go to the manufacture's web site and see if they have a driver for that device. If it is older you may need to install in compatibility mode.

1. Do the other USB ports work?
2. If they do, Does that device work in another USB port on that computer
3. Does that device have an extra power cord?
4. What is the device?
5. Try updating the device firmware or software from the manufacture's web site
6. Can you right click the device in Device Manager and get into the Driver tab and Driver details tab? Curious what driver it has listed if any

Edit ---

I forgot if you can right click the device in Device manger in properties can you see what is listed in Events tab 

For Event Logs Open it and if it isn't on the Overview and summary Click the Event Viewer (local) in the left pane.

You are looking for Summary of Administrative Events you can click on the other titles to minimize them if they are in the way.

Then you will see all the Event Types from Critical to Just Info. Note how many are in each. Then plug in the USB device. Which ever one up ticks right click and View all instances of this Event and from there you should see them listed by time. You can double click them to get more info. To paste the event details here you right click the event select copy > Copt as text and you can paste the XML list here

This update package fixes the issues that are documented in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles:

•2974318

 USB 2.1 device cannot be recognized when the BOS descriptor validation fails in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2

July 2014 update rollup for Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2967917