Help? No mouse or keyboard after installing XP Pro

Question

This is a Dimension XPS700r (700 PIII, 256 RAM) that came with W98se. It's a same aged twin, except for having slightly less memory, to another XPS in my family that's been running XP since it was introduced. W98 was slow in this one because of poor maintenance, but the computer is in good shape.

I've reformatted and installed XP four or five times during the last few weeks. The installations all seemed completely normal and uneventful, but I have no mouse or keyboard when I finish. The keyboard works during final setup, but the mouse doesn't. Neither of them work after the first boot. During the first boot, I have a mouse pointer and an active hourglass, but the pointer doesn't respond to the mouse. I've tried different mice and keyboards.

Can any of you offer clues? I'll appreciate any suggestions..

redwolfe_98 · Answer

it helps to not use usb mice or keyboards, or to have other usb devices attached when formatting and installing win xp.. i have not had any problems installing win xp on my xpst600r. i don't know if it will help, but it wouldn't hurt to use dell's harddrive 'debug'.. you can find that by searching for 'debug' in dell support.. also, you could update your bios if you haven't already, and restore the settings in the bios to the defaults, except that then you would need to go back and reset the cd-rom drive to be the first boot device, moving the cd-rom up to first boot device in the bios settings' boot panel. to do a clean install, you need to boot from the win xp cd.. also, after you install win xp, you need to have a firewall running before connecting to the internet.. i have the kerio 2.15 firewall split onto two floppy disks.. Message Edited by redwolfe_98 on 03-10-2004 08:53 AM

pskelley · Answer

Not sure this will help:  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/overviews/compat/software.asp Something to look at while you wait for others with better ideas.  Good Luck. Windows Xp Professional5.1.2600 Service Pack Build 2600Dimension 4550 X-86 based PCBios A03, 11/12/2002Pentium 4 2.0Ghz256MB RAMIE 6.0

hgunn · Answer

How do I remove this post from the pinned area? I put it there by accident.

Mary G · Answer

Don't worry about the pinning. It's only on your computer. I think you can use the Options down arrow in the message to remove it.

Re: your usb problem-- make sure you have the latest bios for your computer and set the bios for USB Legacy Support or XP won't recognize the usb mouse and keyboard on older computers. Use the download tab above to get the latest bios update.

Message Edited by Mary G on 03-10-2004 05:49 PM

hgunn · Answer

Thank you for the pointer on pinning, Mary. I thought I had intruded into the moderators' space.

I'll see if updating the bios has any effect, but USB doesn't play any role in this mouse-keyboard problem. Neither of them are connected by usb. Both of them worked with W98.

Bliss reigns again here in Happy Valley. A bios update fixed everything.

Message Edited by hgunn on 03-11-2004 08:24 AM

Windows General

Help? No mouse or keyboard after installing XP Pro

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