Keyboard/mouse will not work

[RBBRMADE]

I have a buddies Dell. It will boot to the log on screen, but there is no mouse pointer, and the keyboard will not do anything. It does the same thing in Safe Mode.
I tried USB mouse/kb and they do not work either.
The mouse and keyboard work before windows starts. (CMOS, boot menu, etc.)
I tried booting to a XP disc to do a repair, and the kb/mouse will not work once the setup gets to 'enter to setup windows, F3 to quit, R for repair'
I have a Bart's PE disc and it boots and runs with no problems. Mouse and keyboard are fine with it.
Any ideas?
Thanx,
Ron

 

[BadThad]

Make sure they are enabled in the BIOS.

 

[RBBRMADE]

Originally posted by: BadThad
Make sure they are enabled in the BIOS.

They are. I found out that I can use the keyboard when I boot with the XP CD if the hard drive is disconnected. (Which doesn't help me fix the problem)

Is there a way to boot to XP using step by step confirmation like older versions used to.

Ron

 

[RBBRMADE]

I was able to boot with the XP startup floppies and the mouse and kb worked. I did a repair install and all seems fine.
Thanx,
Ron

 

[BadThad]

Instead of a repair, why not just reinstall Windows? Obviously, the problem is purely with the registry and not hardware.

 

[RBBRMADE]

Originally posted by: BadThad
Instead of a repair, why not just reinstall Windows?

It's not my machine. The most pain free fix was to let Windows run a repair. There is too much stuff to backup and re-setup again for a reinstall.

Originally posted by: BadThad
Obviously, the problem is purely with the registry and not hardware.

obviously.

Ron

 

[BadThad]

I mean just install windows on top of the current version. That way you can get to the data.

 

[RBBRMADE]

That's what a repair install does.