Mouse and keyboard not doing anything in Windows XP

[Joealex24]

Hi just tried to go onto an old Dell Dimension XPS T500, running Windows XP and on the log in screen the keyboard and mouse both do nothing. They work in the BIOS. They are plugged in via USB.

Any help would be appreciated thanks

[Radium_Angel]

4 minutes ago, Joealex24 said:

Windows XP

 

4 minutes ago, Joealex24 said:

They are plugged in via USB.

Could be trying to load the USB drivers in the background, when you hit the log in screen of WinXP, do you see the hard drive light come on?

Also, what *kind* of USB keyboard and mouse? If it's USB 3.0, it might flip out XP...

[WhitetailAni]

I have never heard of a USB 3.0 keyboard/mouse.

But yes, USB 3.0 devices on XP are a bit weird - my 3.0 8GB flash drive takes about 1 minute to pop up in the XP File Explorer equivalent.

[GoodBytes]

10 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Could be trying to load the USB drivers in the background, when you hit the log in screen of WinXP, do you see the hard drive light come on?

Also, what *kind* of USB keyboard and mouse? If it's USB 3.0, it might flip out XP...

 

His system is powered by a Pentium D CPU and Nvidia Nforce 4 chipset. It was before USB 3.0.

It is a 2007 system

 

[Joealex24]

8 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

 

Could be trying to load the USB drivers in the background, when you hit the log in screen of WinXP, do you see the hard drive light come on?

Also, what *kind* of USB keyboard and mouse? If it's USB 3.0, it might flip out XP...

It's the modern dell oem keyboard that most schools and offices use so I wouldn't think that it would be usb 3. Also a technet gaming mouse and a basic lenovo mouse. I'll have a lok for the hard drive light now.

[Joealex24]

12 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

 

Could be trying to load the USB drivers in the background, when you hit the log in screen of WinXP, do you see the hard drive light come on?

Also, what *kind* of USB keyboard and mouse? If it's USB 3.0, it might flip out XP...

guessing the hd light is the green one under the power buttom.

Was on most on the time whilst booting and then goes on and off whilst on the log in screen

[GoodBytes]

4 minutes ago, Joealex24 said:

guessing the hd light is the green one under the power buttom.

Was on most on the time whilst booting and then goes on and off whilst on the log in screen

 

 

 

I am wondering, when you say that the keyboard/mouse is not working, was the system connected on the internet, and did you wait 10min before trying?

If you did clean install Windows XP, was it working in the setup stages?

[Joealex24]

3 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

I am wondering, when you say that the keyboard/mouse is not working, was the system connected on the internet, and did you wait 10min before trying?

If you did clean install Windows XP, was it working in the setup stages?

no its not a clean install and has not been used in years. The keyboard works in the BIOS so I am assuming that this is a windows issue. And it has not been connected to the internet since it was used years ago

[GoodBytes]

4 minutes ago, Joealex24 said:

no its not a clean install and has not been used in years. The keyboard works in the BIOS so I am assuming that this is a windows issue. And it has not been connected to the internet since it was used years ago

 

 

Windows XP takes ages to detect new hardware, and probably needs to connect online for USB keyboard/mouse drivers (this also took a long time).

[Joealex24]

Just now, GoodBytes said:

Windows XP takes ages to detect new hardware, and probably needs to connect online for USB keyboard/mouse drivers.

ok ill try plugging in an ethernet cable

[Joealex24]

3 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Windows XP takes ages to detect new hardware, and probably needs to connect online for USB keyboard/mouse drivers.

can't plug in a cat5 its the smaller thing. I have a cable which fits but doesnt fit into my wifi extender 

[Joealex24]

5 minutes ago, Joealex24 said:

can't plug in a cat5 its the smaller thing. I have a cable which fits but doesnt fit into my wifi extender 

Oh the 'smaller thing' is dsl

[GoodBytes]

Correction on what I said, the computer is from 1999.

 

8 minutes ago, Joealex24 said:

Oh the 'smaller thing' is dsl

 

 

 

 

No, it's phone line cable.

The computer is equipped with a 56K Modem.

 

The computer was before Ethernet was a common thing in home computers. Back then, having 1x computer was a HUGE thing in a home. Routers weren't a thing. People corrected directly online, and via telephone. Before going online, you had to run a program to connect to the internet, and then you get to hear a modem handshake with the provider, which sounded like this:

You were able to enjoy internet speeds of... at most (but no one really had such speeds): 56 Kbps. Or 0.056 Mbps if you prefer.

It would also occupy the home phone, so it could not be used. This was a big problem in the days, as second telephone lines were typically very expensive to get, and cellphones was not really a thing for most people, in those days. Very few people had them.

 

This video might be of interest on how Internet worked back in the days:

 

So, for Ethernet you needed to by an extra card and install it in the system.

 

 

[Joealex24]

42 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Correction on what I said, the computer is from 1999.

 

No, it's phone line cable.

The computer is equipped with a 56K Modem.

 

The computer was before Ethernet was a common thing in home computers. Back then, having 1x computer was a HUGE thing in a home. Routers weren't a thing. People corrected directly online, and via telephone. Before going online, you had to run a program to connect to the internet, and then you get to hear a modem handshake with the provider, which sounded like this:

You were able to enjoy internet speeds of... at most (but no one really had such speeds): 56 Kbps. Or 0.056 Mbps if you prefer.

It would also occupy the home phone, so it could not be used. This was a big problem in the days, as second telephone lines were typically very expensive to get, and cellphones was not really a thing for most people, in those days. Very few people had them.

 

This video might be of interest on how Internet worked back in the days:

 

So, for Ethernet you needed to by an extra card and install it in the system.

 

 

Appreciate the history lesson  So I wouldn't be able to get online for it to be able to download the drivers without using the keyboard and mouse. I suppose it wouldn't be possible to use a usb hotspot with my phone would I?

[GoodBytes]

Just now, Joealex24 said:

Appreciate the history lesson  So I wouldn't be able to get online for it to be able to download the drivers without using the keyboard and mouse. I suppose it wouldn't be possible to use a usb hotspot with my phone would I?

If you have a USB Wireless adapter with Windows XP drivers on a USB Flash drive or disk, you can plug that in, install the drivers, and you should be able to connect to your WiFi that you have and the system should come online.

 

Alternatively, connect a PS/2 Keyboard or mouse, or use an adapter (keyboard/mouse may or may not work with the adapter, all depends if it still has support for it).

 

By the way, I am assuming you tested the USB ports under Windows XP. As in, you plug a USB flash drive or something and heard Windows XP hardware added sound or something. If not, probably the previous user simply uninstalled USB 2.0 controller under Device Manager, in which case, probably the easiest thing, is to clean install Windows XP.

 

[Joealex24]

12 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

If you have a USB Wireless adapter with Windows XP drivers on a USB Flash drive or disk, you can plug that in, install the drivers, and you should be able to connect to your WiFi that you have and the system should come online.

 

Alternatively, connect a PS/2 Keyboard or mouse, or use an adapter (keyboard/mouse may or may not work with the adapter, all depends if it still has support for it).

 

By the way, I am assuming you tested the USB ports under Windows XP. As in, you plug a USB flash drive or something and heard Windows XP hardware added sound or something. If not, probably the previous user simply uninstalled USB 2.0 controller under Device Manager, in which case, probably the easiest thing, is to clean install Windows XP.

 

Ok I'll test the USB ports tomorrow and possibly buy a ps/2 or wireless adapter. Maybe a silly question but could I just plug the drive into a windows 10 pc and access the files like that? 

Edit: of course it doesn't use sata it uses some wide flat thing so that'd be a no

Another edit: also why tf does it use 3 sticks of ram lol I would've thought computers couldn't use 3 sticks of ram for some reason, it just seems wrong.

[GoodBytes]

20 minutes ago, Joealex24 said:

Ok I'll test the USB ports tomorrow and possibly buy a ps/2 or wireless adapter. Maybe a silly question but could I just plug the drive into a windows 10 pc and access the files like that? 

Yes, provided you have the connector

Quote

Edit: of course it doesn't use sata it uses some wide flat thing so that'd be a no

 

 

 

IDE. If your motherboard has one, then yes you can. Esle you'll need an adapter.

 

Quote

Another edit: also why tf does it use 3 sticks of ram lol I would've thought computers couldn't use 3 sticks of ram for some reason, it just seems wrong.

 

 

 

Someone most likely upgraded the RAM. Considering that RAM prices back in the days were super expensive for what you get, that person probably only got 1 stick. It breaks dual channel memory, which isn't good, but people today still make this mistake, and even PC today manufactures does this (as consumers don't check or ask or know... with the race of the lowest price and consumers looking for that for the given specs... manufacture put whatever they have lying around that needs to be dump out)

[Radium_Angel]

2 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

It was before USB 3.0.

Indeed, what I meant is if the keyboard and mouse were USB 3.0 plugs, they may not have been backward compatible or whatnot (I've seen that with some ultra cheap USB 2.0 sticks that won't work in 3.0 plugs)