reinstall necessary?

[bigdan]

I've been having problems with my keyboard for the last few months and NO ONE has been able to help. I've bought 3 other keyboards to test and neitehr of them will work. Furthermore they all work at the first screen when one restarts the computer, where you click delete to enter BIOS or f8 to go into safe mode. Therefore I'm concluding (and I could be wrong? please share opinions) that there is some kinda conflict somewhere. In this case if I reisntall windows would that fix the problem? Someone I dont know well told me this could lead to lots of problems if my keyboard isnt working, reinstalling can be really difficult and I might need to take it to a store etc etc. Can ANYONE advise? I've had this problem for motnhs and it doesnt look like its going anywhere.


Oh btw just to add: earlier on if the keyboard was even connected to the computer when windows started, the mouse wouldnt work either. I deleted the keyboard in control panel, since then if its connected to the computer its fine (and the mouse is fine too) but as soon as i press any button on the keyboard not only will it not work but the mouse will also freeze. can anyone explain what could be going on, and if i have any options besides reinstalling?

thanks guys
Dan

 

[KSoD]

Go to the hardware manager. To get there right click on My Computer>Properties>Hardware Tab>Device Manager. See if it shows a confilict for your keyboard.

If it does upgrade your drivers that might solve your issue. But first delete your old drivers and run a application such as driver cleaner to get rid of the remains of the old ones.

Then install the new ones and see if that helps. If ont then try a Repair install of XP and see if that helps at all. If a repair install does help then only a format and reinstall will do you any good.

 

[htcs]

In your BIOS, set 'plug and play os' to NO. This way the BIOS control the IRQ and other resource assignments rather than Windows.

see if it works...


Otherwise, try a USB keyboard. If this doesn't work, i'm would have to say that your PS/2 ports might be toast. New Mobo. But before you go ahead replacing your mobo, reformat XP - the repair option most likly won't work...

 

[bigdan]

> Go to the hardware manager. To get there right click on My
> Computer>Properties>Hardware Tab>Device Manager. See if it > shows a confilict for your keyboard.

I did this a while back. I uninstalled the keyboard, it just got installed again. I then erased it and since then the problem was better, ie if the keybaord was connected there would be no problem (except that it didnt work), but the mosue would work fine until i pressed a button on the keyboard. earlier on before i erased the keyboard it being connected to the computer was enough to not let the mouse function.

i uninstalled the mouse later on as well, no effect. it stopped working then but a simple restart fixed that. so at the moment there are no conflicts in Device Manager. So in this case is running Driver Cleaner necessary? Repair install of XP? Im not familiar with that, can u advise? Will that erase any of the files on my computer?


>In your BIOS, set 'plug and play os' to NO. This way the BIOS >control the IRQ and other resource assignments rather than >Windows.

I think i tried this as well earlier on and it didnt make a difference. I'll take a look again and let u know. If you see this message before I respond can u tell me where exactly it is in BIOS if u know off the top of yoru head?


> Otherwise, try a USB keyboard. If this doesn't work, i'm would > have to say that your PS/2 ports might be toast. New Mobo.
> But before you go ahead replacing your mobo, reformat XP -
> the repair option most likly won't work...

I have 3 different keyboards, two of which are ps/2, one is USB. At some point I either went into BIOS and enabled USB or tried to and couldnt find it. Can you advise where exactly it may be and I'll doublecheck? It may have been smth else I was finding, and succeeded at doing the USB thing.


thanks for the help thus far guys. any input is appreciated.

Cheers
Dan

 

[KSoD]

Well since you have installed many drivers. from the sounds of it, for your keyboard and mouse. Your best bet is to remove them. Then run driver cleaner. What is most likely happening is that your PC isnt sure which drivers to use when it loads up. There are 3 or 4 of them to choose from and it gets confised. So to speak.

So remove the drivers. Run driver cleaner. Then reinstall for the keyborad you are currently using. Just cause you remove the drivers doesnt necessarily mean that they go away. I have had that issue when trying to remove generic sound drivers to install my creative ones. It still finds both of them and i get no sound.

 

[bigdan]

i cant find driver cleaner. where could i get it?

 

[KSoD]

Check out this site Here.

 

[htcs]

as far as the settings in your bios goes... that depends on the mobo and the type of bios you have. These options, if available are usually easy to spot.