XP Home to Pro upgrade - Keyboard hangs

[Guest]

I am upgrading from XP Home to XP Pro (using XP Pro upgrade version). I have
uninstalled SP2 from the XP Home os to ensure that doesn't cause version
problems. I am attempting a 'clean' install. The process seems to go ok
through the initial stages through a restart to a screen with the option of
XP Home boot or the XP Pro Installation boot - the keyboard is still ok at
this stage. It gets to the blue screen with the 3 options ('enter', 'R' or
another), however at this stage the keyboard is no longer operative. I've run
the process several times.

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[SimonRB]

check you bios, try turning legacy cupport for usb keyboard

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi John,

You have what amounts to a keyboard recognition problem. If this is a USB
board, you may want to check the system BIOS and make sure it is supported
in this mode. Otherwise, a PS/2 board may be needed.

Also, you mentioned you are upgrading, but then later state that you are
doing a clean install. This is a contradiction in terms. An upgrade cannot
be clean, as it is intended to keep the user accounts, settings, programs,
and data intact. A clean install implies at a minimum that you are making an
OS installation to a new folder, and user accounts, programs, etc. would
have to be installed and built from scratch.

You might try starting from within the existing Home installation. To
upgrade, insert the disk and follow the steps to do an in-place upgrade. To
clean install, you would want to install to a new folder.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

Thanks Rick,

I should have said that it isn't a USB keyboard, as I had seen that this
could be a problem from some preliminary web research. Also sorry for
terminology muddle! Initially I tried an 'upgrade' but this didn't work and
as various bits of advice suggested a clean install would be better (and as
there are no settings etc that I wanted to keep) I tried this method as well
- with the keyboard hanging result.

Any other thoughts?

 

[Malke]

Thanks Rick,

I should have said that it isn't a USB keyboard, as I had seen that
this could be a problem from some preliminary web research. Also sorry
for terminology muddle! Initially I tried an 'upgrade' but this didn't
work and as various bits of advice suggested a clean install would be
better (and as there are no settings etc that I wanted to keep) I
tried this method as well - with the keyboard hanging result.

Any other thoughts?

Try a different keyboard. Since this is a ps/2 keyboard, if substituting
another ps/2 keyboard produces the same symptoms (which I would do
first), turn on Legacy USB support in the BIOS and try a USB keyboard.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Thanks Malke

I've tried several keyboards to no avail and I currently haven't got access
to a USB keyboard - they seem thin on the ground around here!

I have been looking at various other options such as upgrading the bios (is
this wise) or possibly even reformatting the (FAT32) hard disk completely
(however this process seems to require me to go through the same process as
installing the XP Pro so stalls at the same point). I'm not worried at all
about compltely wiping the disk if necessary... but it seems over the top.

I will try to find USB board first. But do you have any comments on above or
other ideas if this doesn't work?

Thanks

kbid=283079

 

[Malke]

Thanks Malke

I've tried several keyboards to no avail and I currently haven't got
access to a USB keyboard - they seem thin on the ground around here!

I have been looking at various other options such as upgrading the
bios (is this wise) or possibly even reformatting the (FAT32) hard
disk completely (however this process seems to require me to go
through the same process as installing the XP Pro so stalls at the
same point). I'm not worried at all about compltely wiping the disk if
necessary... but it seems over the top.

I will try to find USB board first. But do you have any comments on
above or other ideas if this doesn't work?

I don't know why you're having this problem. Is this an older computer?
Have any odd hardware in it?

Try a totally clean install - delete the hard drive partition, create a
new one and format it NTFS. Do a thorough format, not a quick one. Have
no other peripherals attached while you are trying to install. Follow
Michael Stevens' steps:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install

Malke

 

[Guest]

I've got hold of a usb keyboard and there is no improvement. The PC is
relatively old but up to spec to handle XP pro. There are no other weird
periferals attached and i have uninstalled all unwanted software (using the
proper uninstall processes)

A clean install has been my preferred option from the start. The problem is
that the recommended process takes you through the same actions as for an
'upgrade' other than that you boot from the cdrom - and it gets to the
'Windows Setup - setup is starting windows' and freezes even before you get
to the next screen where you have the choice to 'repair' or 'enter setup'.
Way back in the number of attempts I have made I was at least getting to that
screen, howver as the keyboard had frozen I could not make a selection - now
I'm not getting even that far. I have left it at least 10 minutes.

Is there no way of booting to a point where I can reformat without using the
xp cdrom... or something?

Many thanks

 

[Malke]

I've got hold of a usb keyboard and there is no improvement. The PC is
relatively old but up to spec to handle XP pro. There are no other
weird periferals attached and i have uninstalled all unwanted software
(using the proper uninstall processes)

(snip)

If this is a relatively old PC, do hardware troubleshooting with
attention first to the RAM and then the hard drive. Perhaps there are
other hardware problems and the machine is locking up; perhaps it isn't
the keyboard at all. Here are some general steps:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Troubleshooting

Malke

 

[Guest]

Problem sorted.

Finally got round it by booting from a what was basically a Win98 boot disk
(floppy), running fdisk and using a MS ps/2 keyboard. At least I think that's
what I did... but now it works!

Many thanks for all suggestions.

 

[Malke]

Problem sorted.

Finally got round it by booting from a what was basically a Win98 boot
disk (floppy), running fdisk and using a MS ps/2 keyboard. At least I
think that's what I did... but now it works!

Many thanks for all suggestions.

Glad you got it sorted. Thanks for taking the time to let us know.

Malke