Posted on 02/02/2008 10:49:39 PM PST by Williams
My only defense is I didn't cause this one. My daughter managed to either uninstall or disable ALL the USB ports on her Dell running Windows XP, so that even the mouse and keyboard won't work.
On restart, the computer is stuck trying to run the found new hardware wizard, but it doesn't matter because I can't do anything w/o mouse or keyboard. There are no PS2 connectors on this computer.
I think I'm mostly looking for an encouraging word, that when I bring this in for repair, a techie will be able to bypass the USB's, connect a keyboard and mouse and turn the USB ports back on.
We have drivers and utilities cd roms that came with the computer but I doubt putting them in the drive will automatically repair the USB ports, I'm sure you have to click through optyions and w/o keyboard and mouse I am powerless to do that.
There is also a recovery cd but I dont want to start the computer from scratch and lose all data over this if that can be avoided.
So I am at your mercy, if any is available.
Are you able to get into the BIOS (typically F1 key) when Windows isn’t started yet? If so, it’s probably a Windows problem.
when it asks for drivers, and then select “I’ll chose the location” and browse to the cd drive.
start the pc in safe mode, and see if the usb ports work.
If it does, right click my computer icon, select “Manage”. In the Computer manager window, select Device Manager. In the right pane scroll down to Universal Serial Bus controllers and see if any have a yellow question mark next to the items. You can then use the Dell cd’s to reinstall or update those drivers. when it asks for drivers, and then select “I’ll chose the location” and browse to the cd drive.
I’ve done a fair deal of pc repairs over the years, never heard of this before. Did she disconnect a USB peripheral without performing the “safely remove hardware” routine? Or did she unplug a USB peripheral while in the middle of the safely remove hardware routine?
Sorry I can’t help out. Man do I feel for you though.
You might try using an adapter and hooking your keyboard up to a serial or parallel port if you have those.
Does it have PS2 ports for a mouse & keyboard? If so, you could borrow peripherals with those plugs long enough to get it going.
Are you sure it didn’t get zapped? I had a computer that took a hit through a phone line and parts failed on it for about year before it finally wouldn’t run any more. First the modem was fried, then the built in network card, then the USB ports, finally the circuit that controlled the CPU clock.
“On restart, the computer is stuck trying to run the found new hardware wizard,”
Unplug all USB hardware from the computer and start it empty, if it start OK then start plugging in the keyboard etc.
This will isolate the problem.
First determine whether this is a Windows problem. (Do the CAPS lock/Num lock/Scroll lock keys on the keyboard light during booting? Can you access the BIOS for the motherboard or select Safe mode as Windows boots? If so, you may be able to boot the computer from CD-ROM and reinstall or change the operating system.
If all else fails, you can dissect the computer and remove the hard drive. Install the hard drive on another computer with a motherboard with PS/2 ports, or replace the motherboard on the original computer with one including PS/2 ports. If that still doesn’t work, then you very likely CAN SAVE DATA on the hard drive and the remaining hardware. You can remove the hard drive from the offending computer and install it as an additional hard drive on another computer that runs the same operating system.
If all fails, take your latest good backup and load it into a new computer.
Va la you are back in business.
She was aware that she needed not to disable the ports for the keyboard and mouse, but whatever went wrong at that point, she went into the device manager and ended up either "disabling" or "uninstalling" ALL the USB ports.
There are no PS2 ports on the computer, I have restarted several times by unplugging, with no good effect.
I will try and see if there is any keyboard functionality during startup, but I doubt it. I will also see if there is any adapter that will allow me to hook up a mouse into a serial port or something, I don't know.
I do appreciate the encouragement, I want to believe that a tech can hook up a mouse or keyboard w/o the usb ports, but that's just my hope. Unfortunately, I can't use any of the options above that require a keyboard or mouse basically thus far I'm limited to turning the computer off and on.
If you think of anything else, please let me know. This was a good one, wasn't it?
First off, the drivers for your USB hub is still in c:\windows\system32\drivers
Second, try to boot from safe mode. If that works,
first try to use the System Restore to get to a point before your daughter unassociated the USB hardware from their software drivers.
Alternatively from inside safe mode, go to device manager and reinstall the USB drivers from c:\windows\system32\drivers, or from the original Dell disk.
Third you can get drastic and do the steps below:
You will need your Dell Windows XP CD, a USB thumbdrive with at least 256MB, and Bart PE software. Information in the link below.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/09/09/windows_in_your_pocket/
See post #13.
Thanks very much. I also got some advice to try and start up with the BIOS. In tapping the F12 key the keyboard was lit and beeping as I started up, I was then asked which drive I wanted to boot from, including hard, cd rom or BIOS, BUT at that point the keyboard no longer functioned and I couldn’t select an option. The mouse never came on. So the computer continued on and started up normally and I never had any keyboard/mouse functionality.
I tried to get into safe mode tapping F4 or F8 keys that didn’t work so far.
I purchased an expansion board w 2 USB ports on it at Staples they believe that is plug anbd play and if I install it the 2 ports will be operational and I can work from there.
I’d much rather just get going from safe mode or BIOS, so I will continue to try that first.
If you have one of those old timey mouses connecting to a serial (?) port, I’d plug it in then I’d boot it up and check your device manager and see if you don’t get one of those big yellow question marks. If you do you need to reinstall the proper drivers and it will work just fine.
Man needs help ping.
Maybe get a Knoppix disk and try to save the data?
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