legacy keyboard with USB-only PC

[Hula Baloo]

I have a friend who recently got a new PC with ONLY USB ports (i.e.
legacy free - no PS2, serial, parallel, etc.) who would love to continue
using a really old keyboard. I got the hardware adaptors, and plugged
into several USB ports; however Windows XP fails to recognize the old
keyboard because it wasn't designed for plug and play operation. If I
remove the PS2 to USB adaptor and plug this KB into another PC, it works
fine, but I haven't been able to find a way to make it work with the PS2
to USB adaptor. I tried the "Add New Hardware" applet, reloading
drivers from Device Manager, but haven't found a workable solution. So
if any of you fine knowledgable people know of a way to do this, please
let me know!
I keep telling this friend that she can buy a new USB keyboard for
less than she's spent on the adaptors, but she's in love with the
dinosaur keyboard. If any of you kind experts know how to make a
non-plug and play KB work with USB adaptors (with XP), please let me
know. Thank you very much in advance.

 

[Doron Holan [MS]]

the adapters you used came from other keyboards? those types of adapters
are dumb inthat the keyboard itself detects usb or PS2 and does the right
thing. you need to buy a "smart" adapter which has all the logic in the
adapter itself.

d

 

[Gary G. Little]

She might try a Targus Port Replicator. the one I have is a PA095. That will
give her additional USB, as well as serial, ethernet, and printer ports.
However, and ain't there always one, I have found that port replication can
occasionally lead to dropped keystrokes ... which can be very frustrating at
times.