Here's a Stumper for you: Cant Log Into Vista

[Sean Price]

Mac user here, tryin to help a friend of a friend

They gave me a Gateway GT5404 maching running 1gb of RAM and Vista operating
system with 350gb hard drive and 200gb's free...

Owner said it was doing one of those numerous windows updates and after that
cannnot use a mouse or a keyboard.... that was the original problem..

BUT it really goes beyond that.. if you try to boot up vista normal, it will
get to the login page, the admin plus two user accounts...

When booting normal and you arrive to this screen the keyboard and MOUSE are
both unresponsive as if they are not even plugged in.. but mouse has lights
and so does keyboard.. if i restart and go to the Safe Mode selection screen
then keyboard works fine.. but as soon as it gets to that login screen again
"dead"...

Another puzzling thing is no matter what.. the PC willl not BOOT up in safe
mode? no matter which option of safe mode i select it goes to that normal
login screen which again I can't do anything due to the "dead" keyboard and
mouse...

so not being able to get into Safe Mode is very odd to me...

I was able to get a vista upgrade disc which allows a repair mode entry..
and once that window pops up the mouse and keyboard WORK FINE!! I spent 8
hours yesterday till 2am trying to fix this!! I restored and restarted from
MULTIPLE restore points(all prior to this windows update that he claims
caused this)

the odd part is this.. when I restore to prior point and arrive to the
normal login screen the mouse and keyboard work for a CERTAIN frame, aprox
2-3 minutes..but if I dont' do anything in those 2-3 min's it goes back to
"dead" mode...

furthermore if I click on the admin account and try to SIGN IN, again the
keyboard and mouse go "dead"

I can log into the user accounts and have use of the MOUSE but NOT the
keyboard.. but after 2-3 minutes where it loads all its junk upon loading the
user acccount...again the MOUSE goes "dead" and I can't do anything but
restart....

can ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THE BLOOD CLOT IS GOING ON?


what am I missing or what can i do to fix this?

there is something about this that I can't place my finger on:

c: 350gb max with aprox 200gb free
d: recovery drive 9gb max, <-- this had 1mb of free space when I recieved it
x: boot drive 24mb's.. <-- not sure what this is about?

I reformatted and installed Vista on the D: recovery drive and that now
loads up vista fine and no problems..

i have tried usb mouse and keyboard and I have even tried ps/2 connections
and same thing..

someone PLEASE clarify this..

THANK YOU!!


oNe


p.s. I know I can fix this easily by wiping the whole thing. but I'm tryin
to save this guys data for him and his family...

 

[James Kosin]

Mac user here, tryin to help a friend of a friend

They gave me a Gateway GT5404 maching running 1gb of RAM and Vista operating
system with 350gb hard drive and 200gb's free...

Owner said it was doing one of those numerous windows updates and after that
cannnot use a mouse or a keyboard.... that was the original problem..

BUT it really goes beyond that.. if you try to boot up vista normal, it will
get to the login page, the admin plus two user accounts...

When booting normal and you arrive to this screen the keyboard and MOUSE are
both unresponsive as if they are not even plugged in.. but mouse has lights
and so does keyboard.. if i restart and go to the Safe Mode selection screen
then keyboard works fine.. but as soon as it gets to that login screen again
"dead"...

Another puzzling thing is no matter what.. the PC willl not BOOT up in safe
mode? no matter which option of safe mode i select it goes to that normal
login screen which again I can't do anything due to the "dead" keyboard and
mouse...

Are these USB keyboard and mouse or standard PS2?
Any special software loaded for the keyboard or mouse?
Make Model and Manufacturer?

James

 

[JW]

Is there any possibility it is a power supply problem? If yes try removing
the backup HDD that it appears that you have in the system. Another
possibility could be CPU overheating.

 

[Sean Price]

gentleman thanks for taking the time to assist..

It CANNOT be a power supply issue because the PC works fine in Repair Mode
and when I installed Vista on the partition it works fine... so that can't be
it


I have tried BOTH USB devices and PS/2 devices and same thing occurs...

MAYBE IF I COULD AT LEAST GET INTO SAFE MODE, I could do something..

any ideas on why I can't even do SAFE MODE?

oNe

 

[Mick Murphy]

To save yourself heartache, why not slave his Hard Drive in another computer,
save his Data, and then reinstall vista in his comp.

If that does not work, try recovering his Data using the Knoppix Live CD,
then reinstall.

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

 

[Sean Price]

hmmm well problem is I'm a macbook PRO (laptop) user so I have no other
computer to slave it to..

I looked into knoppix and even googled it and i'm not seein how this can
recover data from a NTFS formatted Vista hard drive?


can ANYONE EXPLAIN why I can't boot into safe mode? <-- i REALLY think that
if i can get into safe mode at least, that I'd be good and woudl be able to
resolve this... anyone?

thank you

oNe

 

[Mick Murphy]

Well, I would suggest tha you google more!

You download the 1900MB compressed files, which is packed in a 500MB folder,
to your desktop..

And then you burn the ISO image to CD
Set your BIOS to boot form CD Drive, voila!
It does not install to the Hard drive(Live CD), and only uses RAM, and
Graphics.
But, it can read DAta on a windows(NTFS or FAT formatted) Drive.
Copy data to flash drive, and that is it!

And re-posting is not a nice way to go here!

 

[James Kosin]

hey thanks for the reply

everyone keeps missin it, but i did state in my post that I have tried
both USB keyboard and mouse and PS/2 keyboard and mouse....


I am just completely stumped on this one...

??


oNe

Well, if that is the case; I wouldn't rule out a VIRUS or MALWARE
installed on the computer.

Have you tried using a disk utility to wipe the information on the drive
to rid it of any infections; then try installing.

James

 

[Steve]

Call Microsoft. There was a recent Vista update that can cause this. Some
people can use the KB to get to control panel to reinstall mouse and KB
drivers. But if you can't do that, I hear that you are out of luck..

Call Microsoft.