I've created a monster with XP, and I'm not sure how to fix it...

[B]

Here's possibly the dumbest mistake you've heard of involving XP. Any
advice would be appreciated beyond belief!

I broke my mouse-pad playing games several months ago, so I got an
external mouse and disabled the mouse-pad so it would quit acting up.
Everything was fine until last week, when I did a system restore to an
earlier time. Yes, I managed to box myself into a situation where I
can't undo the restoration or navigate at all because I've got no
mouse. To make matters worse, there's a 'windows error, please tell
microsoft' window which comes up after booting and the system refuses
to do anything until that window is dealt with. Without a mouse, I
can't get rid of it. That seems to be at the heart of the problem.

I've tried to use the Restore CDs, but it simply ignores it. I've
tried starting in Safe Mode (F8) w/ command line, but I get hung up on
the window where it asks to 'choose user' because, again, I'd need a
mouse to get past it. There aren't any underlined letters on the
buttons of any of these windows to shortcut with the keyboard either.

Can anyone help this idiot? The machine is a Toshiba Satellite laptop
if that makes any difference. Thank you very kindly

 

[Jim Macklin]

You should be able to use the "tab" key to navigate to the
buttons and the "enter" key to perform the function.

Also, the arrow keys should work.

You can open the START menu with the "Windows" key and
navigate the menus with the arrow keys/

You can open the device manager with "crtl-alt-del"


| Here's possibly the dumbest mistake you've heard of
involving XP. Any
| advice would be appreciated beyond belief!
|
| I broke my mouse-pad playing games several months ago, so
I got an
| external mouse and disabled the mouse-pad so it would quit
acting up.
| Everything was fine until last week, when I did a system
restore to an
| earlier time. Yes, I managed to box myself into a
situation where I
| can't undo the restoration or navigate at all because I've
got no
| mouse. To make matters worse, there's a 'windows error,
please tell
| microsoft' window which comes up after booting and the
system refuses
| to do anything until that window is dealt with. Without
a mouse, I
| can't get rid of it. That seems to be at the heart of the
problem.
|
| I've tried to use the Restore CDs, but it simply ignores
it. I've
| tried starting in Safe Mode (F8) w/ command line, but I
get hung up on
| the window where it asks to 'choose user' because, again,
I'd need a
| mouse to get past it. There aren't any underlined letters
on the
| buttons of any of these windows to shortcut with the
keyboard either.
|
| Can anyone help this idiot? The machine is a Toshiba
Satellite laptop
| if that makes any difference. Thank you very kindly

 

[Steve]

Did you try running mousekeys?

 

[PaulM]

Keyboard Shortcuts
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/using/tips/personalize/keyboardsc.asp

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Here's possibly the dumbest mistake you've heard of involving XP. Any
advice would be appreciated beyond belief!

I broke my mouse-pad playing games several months ago, so I got an
external mouse and disabled the mouse-pad so it would quit acting up.
Everything was fine until last week, when I did a system restore to an
earlier time. Yes, I managed to box myself into a situation where I
can't undo the restoration or navigate at all because I've got no
mouse. To make matters worse, there's a 'windows error, please tell
microsoft' window which comes up after booting and the system refuses
to do anything until that window is dealt with. Without a mouse, I
can't get rid of it.

Sure you can. Use TAB and ALT TAB to move around, then the arrow keys on
menus.

That seems to be at the heart of the problem.

I've tried to use the Restore CDs, but it simply ignores it. I've
tried starting in Safe Mode (F8) w/ command line, but I get hung up on
the window where it asks to 'choose user' because, again, I'd need a
mouse to get past it.

TAB key will move you on the welcome page.

There aren't any underlined letters on the
buttons of any of these windows to shortcut with the keyboard either.

Can anyone help this idiot? The machine is a Toshiba Satellite laptop
if that makes any difference. Thank you very kindly

Alternately, if there's a serial port, plug a temporary mouse in. It will
be detected and you can fix.

HTH
-pk

 

[Steve Nielsen]

In addition to the fine advice offered by others...

Doesn't the laptop have a "mouse-stick" nestled between the G and H keys
on the keyboard? It looks like a pencil eraser tip.

Steve

 

[B]

No, there isn't a mouse-stick but a touchpad with a left and a right
button underneath.

I'm certain there's no tab key on my keyboard, but perhaps I can use
an external keyboard with a tab key. Unfortunately, I'm at the public
library on an 'express' computer and there isn't enough time to absorb
this information. I'll try an external keyboard with a tab key
tonight, and if it fails I'll study this thread more closely tomorrow.

I really appreciate the people who take time to respond to another's
problem. It has renewed my faith in humanity! ;p