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keyboard malfunction


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#1
glacierous

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Howdy Geeks To Go, I was hoping for some assistance. When trying to bood from the IDE cd, i get some kind of keyboard error. I am attempting to run a repair of windows xp, but whenever I try to boot from the installation cd my keyboard becomes non-responsive. I have narrowed it down to the point when Windows begins loading, right after all the components are installed.

Also, this sometimes happens when I try to boot into safe mode.

Any advice or suggestions?

Thanks for your time.

G
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#2
Samm

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This could be a problem with the keyboard controller or it could be caused by something completely different!
To eliminate the obviously first, are you using a USB keyboard or a standard PS2 one?
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#3
glacierous

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Thanks for the reply.

The keyboard came with the computer, a Dell Quiet Keyboard. It is a standard ps2, and does not have a usb adapter on it.

thanks
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#4
The Skeptic

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1: check that the connector of the keyboard is well secured (no loose connection).
2: try to replace it temporarily with another keyboard. if all works well with the replacement then your keyboard should be replaced.
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#5
glacierous

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i think the conections are ok, so i'll try another keyboard. It might take me a couple of days to get my hands on an extra one, but i'll give it a shot. The keyboard is about 18 months old, so who knows.

thanks for the reply, i'll let you know if it does the trick.
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#6
glacierous

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I tried another keyboard, and the symptoms remain. I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but I have had no problems with the keyboard in a normal boot.

Any other suggestions or any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
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#7
Samm

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OK, its obviously not a keyboard problem then.

Can you tell us why you are trying to repair the windows installations? This may shed some light on what the problem could be.

Could you also give us your system specs please- mobo, cpu, ram, drives, video, pci cards, external devices etc
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#8
glacierous

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Thanks for your time. The main reason I thought a repair was in order was becuase I was getting several error messages that included errors like, "windows is unable to verify the license number on this machine," thus preventing me from logging on to my account and starting windows. I use Motzilla, but on the occasions that I have to use IE, it will sometimes work, but other times I get errors and it shuts down. My task manager will sometimes have a "rundll" value in it, and according to my research if the value is consistently there it could mean a virus, but if it occasionally pops up then, "they tend to appear only when you are already having problems of some sort with your PC, or a particular DLL is either misbehaving, is buggy, or is having problems, such as a Control Panel applet hanging for example." (from www.answersthatwork, list of task manager programs). So i thought that simply a repair might fix the bugs.

As for the specs on my comp, its a dell (yuck) 4600c 2.6 GHz, 512MB DDR SDRAM at 400 MHz, 80gb 7200 RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive, NVidia GeForce FX 5200 Graphics Card, Intel Pro 100M Intecrated PCI NIC Card, just basic DvD/CD Combination Drive. I'm not sure what else you need, i'm not sure what "mobo" refers to. Just let me know and I'll get it for you.

Thanks again for your time, i do appreciate it.
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#9
Samm

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mobo means motherboard but don't worry about that as you've already provided the Dell model number instead.

From what you've said, it sounds to me like a clean installation of windows may be in order (ie backup your files & format the drive prior to installing windows). If you do have a virus problem, a repair install may not get rid of it.

Do you have the XP CD or a recovery CD from Dell that will do this?
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#10
glacierous

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Thanks again for your time. A complete re-installation?. . .wow I was hoping to avoid that, but I trust your advice. I have the reinstallation CD, but a quick queston. . .if I back up files and such. . is there a chance of re-infection when I reinstall them?

Many thanks.
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#11
Samm

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Yes there is that chance. What you want to do if possible is this :
perform a backup of just your actual documents & files (ie no program files or windows stuff, only the stuff you want to keep). This is best dumped to a CD.

If you are able to, also backup the entire drive but to a seperate to the first backup. This is purely so you can restore the system to its current state if the fresh install doesn't work. If the fresh install works, you won't need to use this backup at all & therefore no risk of reinfection from it.

As for the documents backup etc, once the system is back up and running, install an antivirus program & update it. Then insert the backup CD & scan it for viruses. Do not copy anything over to the hard drive unless you are certain it is clean. Be warned that most AV programs will not detect or remove malware infections so be very wary of copying any downloaded files etc to the drive from the backup cd. Obviously, the AV software will not be able to disinfect anything on the CD as its read only, but at least you will know which files NOT to open or copy across.

Just to check quickly, you said that when you try to boot from the windows CD, you receive a keyboard error. Do you get this error before the CD has booted? Also, do you know exactly what the error message is?
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#12
glacierous

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ok, thanks for breaking that down for me. . .that makes sense. I guess I wasn't thinking virus because the "rundll" only shows up every once once in awhile.

I do have the reinstall cd, but i apologize for being vague. I do not get an error "message", the keyboard just becomes non-responsive. The cd boots just fine, but when the screen comes up to choose a reinstall or repair (right after the cd boots) the keyboard simply does not work. When trying to see WHEN this occurs, I tried hitting the "caps lock" button repeatidly (so i could judge if it was working or not by the "caps lock" light on the keyboard), and found it occurred after all the components were intitialized, and right when it begins loading the window's setup. (i hope this is making sense.) Furthermore, it also seemed to sometimes happen when booting into safe mode. (I think it may have happened when using the F8 key, as opposed to when I would try safe mode by using the "msconfig" command from the "run" prompt in my start menu. But I'm not completely sure about this)

Again I hope this makes sense.

I really do appreciate your help. Thanks again.
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#13
Samm

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Thanks, thats a lot clearer now.

A virus could still be the cause but I would also investigate the possibility of a hardware problem of some type. Heres a few things you may want to try :

* check that windows (and Nortons/Symantec Anitvirus) has been fully activated etc

* remove all the pci cards (leave only vga) & disconnect any external devices such as printers, modems, scanners etc from the system before attempting the XP reinstall/repair

* Try setting the bios to default or fail safe values, or at very least, make sure nothing is overclocked
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#14
glacierous

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thanks for the feedback.

I'm sure windows and norton are activated. I'll try removing the pci cards, but think i'll try the bios method first before taking stuff apart. Is there an article you could refer me to for that. . .I'm just a bit paranoid about screwing something up, and would prefer doing a bit of research before making changes.

thanks again for your patience and help, it is appreciated.
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#15
Samm

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You are more than welcome for the assistance.

If you need a tutorial on hardware etc, try these two sites :

http://www.hardwarec...utorials/109/1/
http://www.pcbuyerbe...o.uk/Build4.htm

good luck & let us know what happens
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