I was giving a computer with problems from a friend. He claimed it was "eat up" with a virus or viruses. He isn't that computer literate and I hoped I could do something with it. But so far no luck. Here's the situation.

It is a Gateway Comp, Pentium II 266 mhz, Windows 95/98. When booting up it gives the error message that the comp wasn't shut down properly and goes through the system test and scanning drives and all. And that's fine, but then it comes to a screen asking me if I want to save some file or delete it or whatever. Problem is that the keyboard and mouse don't work at all. The lights on the keyboard just blink on and off. And since I can't hit any keys I can't do anything to try and fix whatever is wrong with it. Can anyone provide help? Or is it hopeless and I should chunk it or part it up. I didn't think a virus could hurt the hardware, software of course, but I thought at worst I could format the harddrive and start over. But I'm a novice at all this. Anyone have any knowledge to impart? Thanks.
-j.banks-

You could start by clearing the Cmos .
Open the case and remove the Battery for the Cmos. ( Small round silver Battery) Look for a Jumper to clear the cmos. If you have the Manuals finding it will be easier.

Set the jumper to Clear.
Plug the system in and press the power button ( It should Not Bootup)
Pull the power plug again and replace the Jumper to normal and insert the battery.
When you power up the unit again watch the screen for the Bios setup key combo.
Press it and enter bios.
Check all settings for the Keyboard and Mouse port. (Enabled)
Save and exit.
When it reboots Press F5 to boot in safe mode

One thing you should check while you have the Case open Is the connection to the Keyboard Lock.
By default it should be set to Halt on all errors in the bios.
If the keyboard Lock is Enabled ( Key Lock on out side of case) it would boot But disable the keyboard

------------------
To ERR is HUMAN
To REALLY screw things UP, YOU NEED a COMPUTER !