No mouse or keyboard control in Windows

[Cluelessone]

As a suggested fix to another problem I was advised to delete all USB ports
to refresh them. After 2 ports I lost my mouse and keyboard, so rebooted. I
got the following messages:

"Found USB controller (x2)Found PS/2 USB mouse"

"Found new hardware wizard-Windows will search for updated software by
looking on your computer, on a CD or on windows update website....Can I
connect to windows update to search for new software?....

..Yes this time only
..Yes and every time I connect a device
..No

Click next to continue...."

And of course I can't click on anything because my keyboard and mouse arn't
working.

I can get into BIOS, but starting in Safe Mode is no good, because the first
command is "To begin click your username"

Any help to get me up and running appreciated
How on earth do I get control back?!

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

As a suggested fix to another problem I was advised to delete all USB
ports
to refresh them. After 2 ports I lost my mouse and keyboard, so rebooted.
I
got the following messages:

"Found USB controller (x2)Found PS/2 USB mouse"

"Found new hardware wizard-Windows will search for updated software by
looking on your computer, on a CD or on windows update website....Can I
connect to windows update to search for new software?....

.Yes this time only
.Yes and every time I connect a device
.No

Click next to continue...."

And of course I can't click on anything because my keyboard and mouse
arn't
working.

I can get into BIOS, but starting in Safe Mode is no good, because the
first
command is "To begin click your username"

Any help to get me up and running appreciated
How on earth do I get control back?!

If you have a serial or a PS/2 port, borrow a serial or a PS/2 mouse.
If you haven't then you probably have to go through a manual
System Restore process - see here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545.
This is not a trivial process - ask an experienced friend to assist
you if you're outside your comfort zone.

 

[Cluelessone]

:> If you have a serial or a PS/2 port, borrow a serial
or a PS/2 mouse.

If you haven't then you probably have to go through a manual
System Restore process - see here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545.
This is not a trivial process - ask an experienced friend to assist
you if you're outside your comfort zone.

Thanks Pegasus. This is a Dell, so everything is USB.

If I do a system restore will this not return me to factory settings? Dell
have a PC restore option in BIOS that should make this easy..........But I
was hoping for a fix that didn't complletely wipe the hard-drive.....

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

:> If you have a serial or a PS/2 port, borrow a
serial
or a PS/2 mouse.
If I do a system restore will this not return me to factory settings? Dell
have a PC restore option in BIOS that should make this easy..........But I
was hoping for a fix that didn't complletely wipe the hard-drive.....

"System Restore" is a Windows function. It has nothing to do with
a factory restore. If you follow the manual process then it lets you
restore the registry, that's all. It will, of course, restore the previous
USB problem you had, unless you have a restore point that refers
to an earlier state that did not have the USB flaw.

 

[Cluelessone]

"System Restore" is a Windows function. It has nothing to do with
a factory restore. If you follow the manual process then it lets you
restore the registry, that's all. It will, of course, restore the previous
USB problem you had, unless you have a restore point that refers
to an earlier state that did not have the USB flaw.

Thanks again Pegasus. I was led to believe (by a Dell technician) that
"System Restore" was only available through windows (over which I have no
control).
Can you confirm then that System Restore is accessible entirely through
BIOS? If so is it a long procedure?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Thanks again Pegasus. I was led to believe (by a Dell technician) that
"System Restore" was only available through windows (over which I have no
control).
Can you confirm then that System Restore is accessible entirely through
BIOS? If so is it a long procedure?

You really need to read the article behind the link I quoted.
It explains how to use System Restore when Windows
is not available. This has nothing whatsoever to do with
the BIOS.

 

[Cluelessone]

You really need to read the article behind the link I quoted.

OK I've read the prelims. Which state:

"Warning Do not use the procedure that is described in this article if your
computer has an OEM-installed operating system."

and

"To complete part one, follow these steps: 1. Insert the Windows XP startup
disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the
CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer. "


My system was installed by Dell. I have no such CD ROM

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I think you have two options:
a) Restore the system to factory condition. This will probably
wipe all your data, including your EMail files, so you will
have to restore them from your backup.
b) Ask a friend with the necessary tools and CDs to assist you.
Since the process covered in the KB article is reversible,
it is safe to ignore the warning about OEM installations.

 

[Cluelessone]

I think you have two options:
a) Restore the system to factory condition. This will probably
wipe all your data, including your EMail files, so you will
have to restore them from your backup.
b) Ask a friend with the necessary tools and CDs to assist you.
Since the process covered in the KB article is reversible,
it is safe to ignore the warning about OEM installations.

Will an "unknown" Win XP disk run on my PC without reference to licensing etc?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Will an "unknown" Win XP disk run on my PC without reference to licensing
etc?

Can't tell because I don't know what an "unknown" WinXP CD
is. I also admit that I have never tried the Recovery Console on
an OEM installation (because I do not have ready access to
such a beast). If you cannot get into the Recovery Console one
way or another then there are at least two other ways to perform
the manual System Restore:
a) By running your disk as a slave disk in some other WinXP PC.
b) By booting the machine with a Bart PE boot CD.
Both methods give you full access to the hard disk, thus
allowing you to back up the current SYSTEM registry file
and replace it with its backed up version.

The Bart PE boot CD takes quite some time to manufacture and
requires a WinXP Professional CD. On the other hand it is a
very powerful maintenance tool.

 

[Cluelessone]

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

:

When you run your disk as a slave disk in some other WinXP PC
then it's the WinXP installation at this other PC that calls the tune.
Your own WinXP installation is about as active as you are when
you're in the operation theater under the surgeon's scalpell.

 

[Plato]

As a suggested fix to another problem I was advised to delete all USB ports
to refresh them. After 2 ports I lost my mouse and keyboard, so rebooted. I
got the following messages:

"Found USB controller (x2)Found PS/2 USB mouse"

"Found new hardware wizard-Windows will search for updated software by
looking on your computer, on a CD or on windows update website....Can I
connect to windows update to search for new software?....

.Yes this time only
.Yes and every time I connect a device
.No

Click next to continue...."

And of course I can't click on anything because my keyboard and mouse arn't
working.

I can get into BIOS, but starting in Safe Mode is no good, because the first
command is "To begin click your username"

Any help to get me up and running appreciated
How on earth do I get control back?!

I've seen this on 4 different PCs in the last week. Even my son's PC. I
have no clue on what the problem is. My son added a USB PCI card to get
his USB hardware working.