Incomplete Boot

[Satellite Man]

I'm working on an XP Home Dell. I can get into the BIOS but I can't save
settings. "Esc" doesn't work. I have to hard reset to get out of the BIOS. I
can't get to the desktop. I get the wallpaper but not to the Icons and no
start button or taskbar or tray. When I hard reset and hold F8, just before
I get the boot menu screen it hangs and gives "keyboard error". So I can't
get to go back to the last known good configuration. It is PS/2. I changed
keyboards. Another PS/2...same deal. I haven't tried a USB keyboard. Is the
PS/2 port dead? Or the whole board? In the BIOS I read the event
log...keyboard error numerous times.
I have seen Dells lose ports before and not the whole board. For
example: The onboard NIC went south and I had to drop in a PCI NIC
(different box). It doesn't sound like the HDD. Anyone?

TIA,
DTV

 

[Malke]

I'm working on an XP Home Dell. I can get into the BIOS but I
can't save
settings. "Esc" doesn't work. I have to hard reset to get out of the
BIOS. I can't get to the desktop. I get the wallpaper but not to the
Icons and no start button or taskbar or tray. When I hard reset and
hold F8, just before I get the boot menu screen it hangs and gives
"keyboard error". So I can't get to go back to the last known good
configuration. It is PS/2. I changed keyboards. Another PS/2...same
deal. I haven't tried a USB keyboard. Is the PS/2 port dead? Or the
whole board? In the BIOS I read the event log...keyboard error
numerous times.
I have seen Dells lose ports before and not the whole board. For
example: The onboard NIC went south and I had to drop in a PCI NIC
(different box). It doesn't sound like the HDD. Anyone?

You've already done all the troubleshooting steps to eliminate the
keyboard port. Now try the USB keyboard. If the USB keyboard does the
job, then you're OK for now. If it doesn't, replace the board or the
machine depending on how old it is. IMO it isn't worth replacing the
motherboard on a 4-year old Dimension 2350 for instance since you'll
need to get the m/b from Dell in order to use the XP Home disk that
came with it. If you replace the m/b with one that you just go buy from
somewhere, you'll also need to buy a new copy of the operating system
and now you've just spent more money than an old machine is worth.

If the USB keyboard works for now, I'd consider replacing the machine
sometime in the future. If bits of the motherboard are failing, then
the reliability of the board is in question. Again, this does depend on
how old the machine is, whether it is an expensive model, still under
warranty, etc. I've assumed your machine is not still under warranty
because otherwise you would have just called Dell tech support and
gotten a new motherboard.

Malke