[rogimusprime]

Hi, I have a dell Dimension 9100 that decided it would rather not have working USB ports last night. To be up front, I was doing some data management with my Sony PSP, when the power shut off on the PSP. Thinking it was just the PSP, i just plugged it into the wall. Then I go back to use the PC and the mouse doesn't work, just the keyboard. After a restart, I go into the system (right clicking on my computer) and manage the hardware by trying to troubleshoot the issue. The system has seven USB ports. I already knew one of them wasn't working, but I had six more so I never bothered to fix the issue.

Like an idiot, I disabled one of the TWO that worked by hand, and when I disconnected the keyboard to swap the last working port with the mouse, I heard the USB disconnect sound, but didn't hear the connect sound when I plugged the mouse into where the keyboard used to be. I don't have any excuse save for it being 4am and not being in a lucid state of mind.

Anyhow, now I essentially am the proud owner a 50lb paper weight, as I cannot enter safe mode. Exacerbating the issue is the fact that Dell (thanks guys!) never shipped me a windows XP cd. I accquired one through a co worker, who claimed to not need it when he bought his new system (it came loaded with vista and they threw xp in). About a month ago, I tried using the CD to repair windows, and it said it wouldn't work, as the version that was installed on my system was newer than the one on the disk. I am guessing it was service pack 2, and I have SP3 installed.

So now, I have no way to get access to my BIOS. From the vague things that I've read, sounds like I am going to either need a PS2 adapter or an AT style keyboard....

If you think it would help, I can attach a picture of the back of my PC to show you what ports I have.

Luckily, I have a 500GB external Drive, and an expansion drive that I've already removed with all data backed up from my C drive. I will try to get in contact with Dell for a CD key.

I usually ask you all for software advice, but this one is really above my head. I would like to avoid taking my PC to a repair shop; I'm not fond of people having access to my data. Hopefully I can get around this. Please help.

Thanks in advance for reading this.