Margs wrote:
> I am trying to sort out a friend's PC and have tried
> everything that I know (which isn't a great deal). We are
> all "mature" users but I do want to learn. The problem
> started when she was trying to install an HP Photosuite 330
> printer. It wouldn't install properly and ended up with the
> cursor being frozen in the middle of the screen. After
> hours of trial and error I managed to get to the Control
> Panel using the keyboard and uninstalled the hardware. This
> didn't help. I have also rebooted using the Safe Mode (F8
> key) and Restored to the previous day (when all was working
> properly). I've tried a different mouse as well but nothing
> has worked. The keys on the keyboard work sometimes and not
> others.
> My questions are,is there anything else I can try before
> taking the PC to a shop and is there anywhere on this site
> that will tell me what keys to use when the mouse is
> unavailable. I have the XP for Dummies book but I couldn't
> find any answers in there. I would appreciate any help but
> could you speak in not too technical terms as I don't
> always know the words.
> Many, many thanks
> Margs
If any exist, you could try restoring to an even earlier date.
It's possible the restore point you chose was created after the
problem started, so one even earlier might help. It's possible
that the "problem" that occurred wasn't all due to the printer
install, but might have been there, hidden, before the install of
the printer.
Do you know how to access "Last Known Good Configuration" at
bootup? I've forgotten how to access that, but perhaps someone
will come along and remind us<g>. In theory it searches for the
last time bootup was successful and uses that point in time if it
still exists.
None of the above will lose any data and might help with getting
rid of the last vestages of the errant install. With defaults
you hopefully have two to three weeks worth of restore points to
try out. The only "damage" going back in time will do is perhaps
mess up something that was installed AFTER that date and it would
require reinstalling it again.
Not to make things more confusing, but do you know for reasonably
certain that you have no viruses or spayware or malware on the
machine? Update all your protection software and run a virus
check and spyware checks. You get these from emails and/or web
sites you visit.
If you're not familiar with those, I'd say that should be yuor
next learning step for the computer.
HTH,
Pop
--
Maybe even older than "mature"
but the brain's still young!
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