IT Problems

I know theres some IT guys on here, hopefully you can help.
This last round of windows xp updates (6 altogether) seems to have affected my keyboard and mouse. Both are operating erratically. Keys are duplicating and triplicating with one stroke, the mouse clicker is erratic as well highligting all desktop icons etc when I just meant to hit one. So I’m thinking its the drivers that are affected.

I have tried to locate the new versions of both drivers online, but unless i’m doing it wrong there are none available. not to mention my only interface with the computer is with a fautly mouse and keyboard so its almost impossible to do anything on the first try. I am thinking about doing a system restore from a date before the windows update, but will that leave my computer vulnerable to anything the new updates patched? what should i do?

Where to begin…

Well, first I’d try and boot into safe mode (tap the F8 key before the Windows XP splash screen appears, and you’ll see the menu)… see if your kb/mouse are still wacky in safe mode. If not, reboot. Sometimes, and I don’t know why, just going into safe mode will fix little idiosyncracies like that. Us IT guys coined an acronym for that… PFM (pure fucking magic).

If the problem doesn’t exist in safe mode, but still happens in regular mode, boot back into safe mode with networking, and reinstall Service Pack 2 and see if you can find drivers for your motherboard (you won’t find seperate kb/m drivers, those’ll be rolled into the mobo drivers).

PM me if you need more help. Good luck!
Bob

F8 might not work, for instance ASUS and some brands like Alienware have and do use F5 for safe mode , F8 brings up boot device menu.

Best idea is go buy a new kb and mouse they are not exactly much money.

What kind of computer is it? clone? dell? emachines? hp? etc.

wireless kb? usb? ps2?

[quote]stig II wrote:
F8 might not work, for instance ASUS and some brands like Alienware have and do use F5 for safe mode , F8 brings up boot device menu.

Best idea is go buy a new kb and mouse they are not exactly much money.[/quote]

F8 is built into winXP, not the bios.
It will work.

OP a couple notes…

  • Borrow a mouse/keyboard from another computer and try it. This is the easiest test.
  • Is it a wireless keyboard/mouse? If so, fresh set of batteries might work.
  • Replaceing the winxp mouse and keyboard drivers will not fix the problem.

I would suggest trying other mice,keyboard and if that doesnt work. Do a system restore then do another update.
I know it sucks, but when you get weird behavior like this, you might be better off just doing a quick re-install of XP.

Oh one more thing… If you are using PS2 (regular 8 pin keyboard/mice) you might want to try switching to USB. If the problem is hardware related on the motherboard, switching to usb keybaord and mouse will fix it since it will use the usb connections instead.
This will also fix it if the problems are caused by bad drivers since it will load new usb drivers.

A reinstall?

Isn’t this what System Restore is for?

Just go into the Help and Support place and search for System Restore. Restore it to before you were haveing a problem (obviously) and then install updates one at a time…

[quote]maxx power wrote:

F8 is built into winXP, not the bios.
It will work.

[/quote]

So I made that up ?

http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-10149-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=120306&messageID=1373803

There is someone else saying the same thing, I can post hundreds more off google.

thanks for all the suggestions, i tried getting into safe mode, but the keyboard is
unresponsive now so the f8 thing didnt work, i did a system restore to before the updates but the problem was still there. i tried uninstalling and re installing the drivers too but that didnt work. im gonna try to get a usb kb/m and see if the problem persists…

If you are noticing what might be hardware problems, get a backup of everything you can off that thing right away.