No Keyboard Or Mouse In Windows

Hello. Following a virus, I have been posting in another thread about this problem:

http://forums.tomcoyote.org/Qwerty12_exe_O…ted_t81468.html

The reference to the keyboard and mouse starts on page 2.

As it says in that thread, I was unable to write to a USB disk.

In contact with Dell support, I was told to uninstall parts under the USB Controllers in the Device Manager although I was not told specifically.

The first thing I did unfortunately was to uninstal something that has resulted in the loss of mouse and keyboard function in Windows.

The keyboard works before Windows i.e. the F2, F8 and F12 menus.

Having looked in the BIOS, the USB options are all On and seem to be enabled.

I am at a bit of a loss here as it seems that as I don't have any PS2 sockets, my only option seems to be using a boot CD and perhaps using autoexec.bat or something in DOS to somehow re-engage the USB brain or whatever it is.

Any help is much appreciated!

Hi troubleddude,

Wow. You got some nice help from Scotty (Mac70).

Bummer about the USB drivers for your keyboard and mouse.
__________

The CD that you mentioned to Mac70 "is" the one you need for a Repair installation.

If you start your machine with that CD inserted, you should be presented with options to:'
Reformat <– you don't want to do that, since it destroys data and all your applications and drives
Repair XP <– This option "should" allow you to reinstall the operating system non-destructively such that your data and applications remain in place.

** To insure that you preserve your important documents, media, files and such, it is recommended that you remove your Hard Drive and install it into a second known-good XP machine configured as Slave hard drive.

Once placed into the second machine you will be able to Copy/Paste any items that you wish to save, and burn them to CD using the Second machine's CD-RW or DVD-RW.
___________

Having covered the above, I would still wish to "not" do a Repair Installation, if any other repair is available short of Repair installation.

Your Dell machine "should" have a BIOS item – "Legacy USB" that can be set to - "Enable"
That "should" allow you use of your mouse and keyboard.
You may also have a Driver CD that has the drivers for your USB mouse and USB keyboard. Do you?
If you do, see if you can access that Driver CD in the pre-windows environment to install the mouse and keyboard drivers.

Try starting the machine with the Driver CD inserted.
Allow the machine to boot into Windows if it will.
Maybe Windows will "Find new Hardware" and produce the Wizard to install Drivers for new hardware.
If you can manage to make that happen, then you have additional options available with your mouse and keyboard active.

You still have more work to assure that your operating system is fully functional.

I'd recommend System File Checker

Start - Run - (type)sfc /scannow - Enter
SFC may prompt you to insert your "reinstallation CD" so that it can copy any missing or corrupted operating system files.
________

If it proves impossible to get the mouse and keyboard active, then you are dependent upon the Repair Installation protocol with your Reinstallation CD to replace the missing USB device drivers with USB drivers native to XP.

You may still need to install the specific mouse and keyboard drivers from your Dell Resource CD or from the CD that accompanied your mouse and keyboard.

I hope this helps make sense of the task you would like to accomplish.

Best Regards

Hi Doug. Yea, Scotty has been really REALLY helpful. I do not have a driver CD, and I have set any USB options with reference to Legacy in the BIOS that I have found to Enable, but it has not made the keyboard or mouse work in Windows still. It has occurred to me, the other computer I have access to (the one I am using now) has a wireless keyboard and mouse, and I may have a driver CD for them. If I were to plug them into the problem-computer and boot up with the driver CD, might that find the drivers from the CD drive and activate the keyboard and mouse so that I could then make settings for my original keyboard and mouse to work? Failing that, my best option then is to take out the hard drive and get it into another machine to back up anything I want to keep and then put the hard drive back and run the "Repair XP" option from the re-installation CD?

Yes, you seem to have a clear idea of your options. Best Regards

OK cool Doug! I have been away for the weekend hence my late reply. I will give you a shout once I have done something to let you know the situation! *fingers crossed*!

Hi again Doug. I am going to attempt the repair today. Is there anything I should know or any instructions you can give me when using the re-instillation disk for the repair? Or is it as simple as hitting a button that says repair?

Got your DATA backed up?

The following link is to an article published by the well respected Fred Langa.
It gives you step-by-step instructions including screen shots of what to expect.
Published at InformationWeek, the article is (5) five pages. <– you should review all five.

http://www.informationweek.com/windows/sho…cleID=189400897

Best Regards

Ok the computer is back up and running! I did a recovery and it worked fine.

However, now I am back with my original problem:

My computer won't let me write anything to a USB stick. I've tried different USB sticks. They all work on another computer, and all don't allow me to write on this computer.

I followed some pretty ridiculous help given to me by Dell but still no joy. These are the things I tried from Dell:

1. Uninstall USB drivers from Safe Mode:
Turn your system off, then turn it back on and as soon as you turn it on start
tapping the F8 key at the top of your keyboard once every two seconds.
This will lead you to a list of Windows Advanced Options.
From this list you need to highlight Safe Mode and press enter.
Log in as normal and it will leave you at a basic looking desktop.

Click on Start, then right-click on My Computer, then click on Properties.
NOTE: If the system is configured to the Classic Start Menu, instead of the XP
Start Menu, then the My Computer Icon will be located on the desktop.
Double-click the Hardware tab.
Click the Device Manager button.
Click the plus (+) sign next to Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
For each item, right-click and then click Uninstall.
Reboot the system in Normal Mode.
NOTE: During the boot sequence as the system attempts to redetect and reload
the USB drivers.

===========================================

2. Check whether USB is enabled in BIOS:
Turn the system off
Turn it back on and as soon as you turn it on start tapping the F2 key along the
top of the keyboard once every 2 seconds. This will lead you to the system BIOS
Highlight the option for Integrated Devices and press enter
From the list that appears below highlight USB Emulations.
Ensure that the USB emulations are ON in BIOS.

===========================================

3. Update Chipset drivers from below link

https://support.euro.dell.com/support/downl…p;fileid=176987

OR

http://tinyurl.com/3e4hyj

Download and install the chipset driver from above mentioned link and restart
the system.
===========================================

4. Check whether this USB key is detected in Disk Management Window.
Click on Start -> Run
Type diskmgmt.msc and click on OK.
This will open Disk Management Window.
Look for the volume listed as a Removable Disk.

===========================================

5. If the USB key is detected in Device Management, then assign the device a
drive letter in the Windows XP operating system. To assign the device a drive
letter, perform the following steps:

Click the Start button, right-click My Computer, and then left-click Manage.
Click Disk Management on the left column.
In Disk Management, right-click the disk labeled Removable, and left- click
Change Drive Letter and Paths….
The Change Drive Letter and Paths dialog box opens.
Click the Change… button and change the drive letter to one that is not being
used.
Click OK and Yes to the warning Changing the driver letter of a volume might
cause programs to no longer run.

===========================================

6. Download and install Microsoft USB Flash Drive Manager (Standard) from below
link:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details…;displaylang=en




Have you any idea what I need to do to be able to write to USB sticks again? When I try writing to them I get the message:

"Error Copying File or Folder

Cannot copy [filename]:Access is denied.

Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use."



….could it possible be a Quick Heal setting?!

I am completely at a loss.

Kind Regards

Hey troubleddude, The instructions you describe having received from Dell, are pretty much what I would urge you to consider. But on one "more basic" point, have you tried the USB Memory Stick in any other USB port on the same machine. Sometimes the ports on the back are powered differently than the ports on the front. Review the instructions from Dell to be sure you've followed them precisely. Doug

Hi. I've tried every single thing except the system restore that the Dell guy recommended and I tried other USB ports on the computer to. I have absolutely no idea what to do

Thanks for all the help! I went through a system repair, which didn't seem to solve the problem and ended up backing everything up and doing a full format-reinstall which seems to have sorted out the problems, although I am now left with some odd Java issue which I am waiting for a reply in this forum for. I noticed an option in quick-heal that blocks access to portable disks and I am not 100% but I think that all this may have been caused by ticking that little box! Oh well, I've learned plenty along the way. Thanks again for the help.