I have this weird problem with a Windows Vista desktop PC. It uses a wired USB keyboard and mouse and they both worked perfectly for several years. Then all of a sudden one day the keyboard and the mouse stopped responding after I started the computer. The day before I did a complete shutdown of the computer by clicking on the shutdown option from the start menu. So had not done anything inappropriate. I did a normal shutdown like I always do.
The computer starts normally, passes the BIOS POST, with no remark about the keyboard not being recognized or anything like that. Then I get to the Windows welcome screen. I try to type in my password to log in and nothing happens. I try to move around the mouse but the cursor just stays centered at the screen and does not move.
The only working solution for this so far has been to unplug both the keyboard and the mouse and then plug them back in and then all of a sudden they both work again.
This problem also occurs if I put the computer to sleep or the hibernation mode, and then wake it up. On wake up everything works again, all components initialized again, I get the signal and picture on the monitor and everything, except for the keyboard and the mouse. I unplug the mouse alone and plug it back in, I go to the Device Manager and I see that both the keyboard and the mouse are recognized by Windows. Yet they are not responding when I try to use them. How come?
I even tried to swap the connections, so that the USB port that the keyboard was connected to gets the port that the mouse was connected to and vice verse. So that Windows would register these two devices again, now on different ports. Windows shows the usual message that devices were found and it searches for drivers, founds the drivers and the devices are ready for use. But this did not solve the problem.
So in short:
- OS is Windows Vista (Home Basic)
- Keyboard and mouse are USB
- Keyboard and mouse are wired
- No mentions of keyboard or mouse not working during BIOS POST
- Both have working drivers in Windows
- Both are recognized in Windows
- Neither of them are responding or giving any output
- Swapping ports doesn't solve anything
I have a feeling this could be somehow related to Windows Update, but I'm not sure how. There was this occasion once when Windows Update tried to push out a graphics driver for Nvidia Geforce 8500 GT that is about one year older than the current version on the system. That alone makes you wonder how stupid isn't the Windows Update system? This install of course failed over and over and over again. Until I changed the preference to not install updates automatically, and I hid this moron of an update in the list of available updates.
Before I trash this Windows install and install Windows all over again, do you guys have any ides on how to solve this? If I have to dig into the registry I would be glad to, because I don't care if I brake it, I'm tired of it anyway. And besides, I know how to reinstall Windows, it's just that it's a pain in the butt to have to reinstall every application just because of this stupid problem.