[magusbuckley]

Hello:

A girl at work brought her computer in for me to look at. It's an E-Machine with XP Home installed. She said her mouse suddenly quit working. She thought the mouse was bad so bought another. Same results. I asked her to bring it in so I could look at it. She was right...there is no detection of the mouse. I've tried plugging various mice into the USB and PS2 ports with no results. The pointer appears in the center of the screen, but nothing else comes up.

The reason I tried the PS2 mouse is because I'm having trouble with her USB ports. I plugged another device, a 1 GB thumb drive, and got nothing. The drive was getting power, as noted by the illuminated LED, but Windows never stated that it found new hardware. I had it search, with both the mouse and stick drive plugged in, but it was unable to detect anything.

Are we thinking the motherboard is having issues now? I checked the BIOS but didn't see anything unusual there. USB settings were enabled.

Any and all information will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Magus

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Here are some additional troubleshooting items to try:

1. If you can determine a date that USB quit, try a System Restore to a point prior.

2. Check Device Manager - Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Do any of the items have a yellow ? or ! over them? If so, reinstall/update the drivers.

3. Log in with a different Windows user account. Be sure the other user is in the Administrator security group.

4. Log in using Safe Mode.

5. Run System File Checker. This requires your Windows XP installation CD. Place it in your CD ROM drive and follow the instructions below

Start > Run > cmd then type

sfc /scannow (note the space)

let this run untill you get a message saying it is complete.

SFC - system file checker, retrieves the correct version of the file from %Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache or the Windows installation source files, and then replaces the incorrect file.

[piper]

Here are some additional troubleshooting items to try:

1. If you can determine a date that USB quit, try a System Restore to a point prior.

2. Check Device Manager - Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Do any of the items have a yellow ? or ! over them? If so, reinstall/update the drivers.

3. Log in with a different Windows user account. Be sure the other user is in the Administrator security group.

4. Log in using Safe Mode.

5. Run System File Checker. This requires your Windows XP installation CD. Place it in your CD ROM drive and follow the instructions below

Start > Run > cmd then type

sfc /scannow (note the space)

let this run untill you get a message saying it is complete.

SFC - system file checker, retrieves the correct version of the file from %Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache or the Windows installation source files, and then replaces the incorrect file.

[magusbuckley]

Hello:

Update: I uninstalled all of the USB Ports and performed a cold boot on this system. I plugged her mouse in and watched Windows install "USB Root Hub" six or seven times after getting to the desktop. It also installed the USB Controller. It didn't, however, install the mouse.

Now I'm truly out of ideas.

Thanks,

Magus

[magusbuckley]

LindaGail:

Thanks for the reply. The computer didn't have System Restore turned on so going back in time isn't an option. There are no flags on any of the hardware devices in the device manager. I can't isolate this just to USB because she is also having trouble with her PS2 Port.

I have her computer at work right now. Just gave her a call and she doesn't have the XP CD. We have CDs here, but they are Pro, not Home so I don't think I can run the SFC.

Just got off of an online chat with a technician for this E-Machine (whom I discovered through the chat is made by Gateway). Chat lasted nearly an hour. Tried several things but nothing helped. Now....he's recomending a full system restore. I've already called the girl and OKed this process. I'm going to backup her data and wax the drive.

Thanks for your help.

Magus

Edited by magusbuckley, 03 February 2007 - 11:10 AM.

[The Skeptic]

many times the BIOS has an option to enable/disable USB mouse and keyboard. Check if it is enabled.

[magusbuckley]

Hello:

It is enabled. Even better is that the technician told me to run a full system restore by pressing "F11" during POST. For some reason, the keyboard is disabled during that count down screen. I can press "F2" earlier on to get to the BIOS and I can press "Delete" to get to advanced startup options. I just can't press "F11" while that timer is counting down. Funny, huh?

Thanks,

Magus

[piper]

So is everything back to normal?

[magusbuckley]

No, never could get the restore to work (see last post). I'm going to ask the girl if she has any restore CDs. If she doesn't we'll just call technical support again. This box is still under warranty.

We can close this ticket.

Thanks,

Magus