Hello everyone,

Earlier this morning my mouse cursor started going really slow, taking forever to move. I figured it was dirty, so I cleaned it out. The problem still happened, so I rebooted.

After rebooting, my mouse and keyboard no longer work at all. I checked the ports, they are both pluged in but neither register at all. Because of this, I can't start the computer in safe mode or do anything.

I have an eMachines T2895 Model PC. It has:

-a 2.80 GHZ Intel Celeron Processor
-3D Intel Extreme Graphics AGP
-120 GB Ultra DMA Hard Drive
-512 MB DDR
-Windows XP Service Pack 1

Both the Mouse and Keyboard are of the serial port variety.

Because I got this computer at Best Buy, I didn't get Windows discs or anything with it.

Can anyone please help me on what to do next? Thanks in advance.

I doubt if they are of a 'serial port' variety....one because the serial mouse went the way of the dinosaur many, many moons ago and there were ever 'serial' keyboards...they are of the PS/2 variety.

With that out of the way...when booting does the machine give an error BEFORE Windows loads...a keyboard not found error?

If not, can you use the keyboard to enter the BIOS?

Do they work in Safe Mode? (hit the f8 key as soon as the beep to let you know the machine is working sounds)

I doubt if they are of a 'serial port' variety....one because the serial mouse went the way of the dinosaur many, many moons ago and there were ever 'serial' keyboards...they are of the PS/2 variety.

With that out of the way...when booting does the machine give an error BEFORE Windows loads...a keyboard not found error?

If not, can you use the keyboard to enter the BIOS?

Do they work in Safe Mode? (hit the f8 key as soon as the beep to let you know the machine is working sounds)

Oops PS/2, my bad. I'm not very computer literate obviously.

I don't get any error message of any kind, everything loads just fine. But I can't use the keyboard whatsoever, not even F8 to go into safe mode. The lights on the keyboard won't even come on, which make me think it's the keyboard but I don't get my the mouse would quit working at the same time.

Try tapping the Delete key as soon as you press the power button...

Can you access the BIOS...

Try tapping the Delete key as soon as you press the power button...

Can you access the BIOS...

Delete did work, it brought up the BIOS/CMOS blue screen.

What do I do from here?

We could try a Windows boot disk...do you have a floppy drive?

If so:

To create an MS-DOS startup disk
The MS-DOS startup disk you create will allow you to boot into MS-DOS.

Insert a floppy disk into your computer's floppy drive.
Open My Computer, and then click the floppy disk drive to select it.
On the File menu, point to the name of the floppy drive, and then click Format.
Under Format options, click Create an MS-DOS startup disk.
Click Start.
Important

Creating an MS-DOS startup disk erases all information on the floppy disk.
Notes

To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.
The MS-DOS startup disk only allows the system to boot into an MS-DOS prompt. The disk contains no additional tools.

Once to the A: You type in scanreg /restore (there is a space between the g and the / ) Hit enter... You should be given 5 choices to regurn you system to an earlier time when it booted properly...

If that worked, then the problem is with Windows...

In your BIOS look for a setting labeled something like Quick POST/Fast Boot/Full Memory Test or something like that...if it is Quick POST/Fast Boot disable it...full mem test, enable it. They will give you a bit more time before Windows starts loading to try to get into Safe Mode.

OH, remember to remove the floppy disk before you reboot...or, it will want to boot from the floppy once again... ;)

Oops, didn't see mjc rentered the fray...

I'll defer to his suggestions... :))

We could try a Windows boot disk...do you have a floppy drive?

If so:

To create an MS-DOS startup disk
The MS-DOS startup disk you create will allow you to boot into MS-DOS.

Insert a floppy disk into your computer's floppy drive.
Open My Computer, and then click the floppy disk drive to select it.
On the File menu, point to the name of the floppy drive, and then click Format.
Under Format options, click Create an MS-DOS startup disk.
Click Start.
Important

Creating an MS-DOS startup disk erases all information on the floppy disk.
Notes

To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.
The MS-DOS startup disk only allows the system to boot into an MS-DOS prompt. The disk contains no additional tools.

Once to the A: You type in scanreg /restore (there is a space between the g and the / ) Hit enter... You should be given 5 choices to regurn you system to an earlier time when it booted properly...

I can't even get that far now, my keyboard locked up shortly after I got to the blue BIOS screen. Thanks though.

If it locks up that early, I'd say try a different keyboard...

If that worked, then the problem is with Windows...

In your BIOS look for a setting labeled something like Quick POST/Fast Boot/Full Memory Test or something like that...if it is Quick POST/Fast Boot disable it...full mem test, enable it. They will give you a bit more time before Windows starts loading to try to get into Safe Mode.

I disabled that option and was able to get into safemode, but my keyboard and mouse both locked up within moments. Ths is not looking good for my old PC....

I had the exact same thing happen just a few days ago to my computer running Windows XP. However I had adaptors to plug both the mouse and Keyboard into my USB ports and they work that way.

I'll try the suggestions posted so far and see if that works. If not I'll reply back and see where it goes from there.

Someone on another site mentioned that it could be a virus, however I scanned with both an updated Norton and Mcafee and came up clean.

Velvetrs69, if it doesn't, when you post back, please start a new thread. You can link back to this one, if you need to, but it would be best to have your own thread.

YouStayClass do you have 2 USB ports on your comuter? I had a similar situation some time ago and was able to at least use my computer with a USB mouse and keyboard until I corrected the problem with my PS/2 ports. (If memory serves me it was a problem with the PnP OS option in my BIOS which somehow got disabled and I still don't know how or why.) Anyway, you don't need to go out and buy a new keyboard and mouse. Maybe you can borrow them from a friend or find them at a used computer parts flea market or something like that. Hopefully it's only a temporary need until your PS/2 ports are again working.