XP Pro - No USB Keyboard or Mouse

[Mike McCall]

So, I'm doing 3 workstation (Dell Optiplex 360) upgrades from XP to Win 7 as a subcontractor for a sys admin. No problem getting by the passwords, but on the 3rd system I lose the keyboard/mouse when it starts Windows. They work fine in the BIOS, and restore console, but not once XP begins to start. Tried restoring from the console several times, but even when precisely following directions, the console doesn't recognize the commands, or cannot find the file. The reason I need in is because the client wants the keys. So, I'll keep trying but am open to suggestions. One thought I had is that it used to be that proprietary restore disks (like from Dell) were tethered to a specific machine. So I couldn't use your restore disc on my machine even though they were identical. Could that be the case here?

 

[NJW]

The reason I need in is because the client wants the keys.

Produkey can recover keys from an offline system, so temporarily move the hard drive to a working machine.

 

[Mike McCall]

Yeah, moving the drive to a different machine didn't help. I followed the directions here at Tom's Hardware, but it made no difference. Perhaps the OS doesn't have service pack 3? Anyway, moving it to an 8.1 box upstairs didn't improve things as it's unable to load it as an external drive. It sees that it's there, but can't fully mount it so I can get into it. Magic Jelly Bean can't see it if the OS can't mount the drive.

 

[JustInspired]

I've found the same with the Dells running XP - those that don't have PS/2 ports!
In the past I've run a repair install of XP (remember the good ol' days when you didn't have to be able to boot into Windows to do a repair install?), to get past this.

However, since then I've found a Dell branded mouse and keyboard seem to work fine where others do not in this instance. I bought an old Dell mouse and keyboard for this purpose. Aaaand... when it gets really bad, I have a PCI card with a PS/2 mouse and keyboard port that I can use.

(BTW Mike, sorry for the delay - will get sorted tomorrow or Monday!)

 

[Martyn]

I've found the same with the Dells running XP - those that don't have PS/2 ports!
In the past I've run a repair install of XP (remember the good ol' days when you didn't have to be able to boot into Windows to do a repair install?), to get past this.

However, since then I've found a Dell branded mouse and keyboard seem to work fine where others do not in this instance. I bought an old Dell mouse and keyboard for this purpose. Aaaand... when it gets really bad, I have a PCI card with a PS/2 mouse and keyboard port that I can use.

(BTW Mike, sorry for the delay - will get sorted tomorrow or Monday!)

I've found the same, got a spare of each myself.

 

[Mike McCall]

I've found the same with the Dells running XP - those that don't have PS/2 ports!
In the past I've run a repair install of XP (remember the good ol' days when you didn't have to be able to boot into Windows to do a repair install?), to get past this.

However, since then I've found a Dell branded mouse and keyboard seem to work fine where others do not in this instance. I bought an old Dell mouse and keyboard for this purpose. Aaaand... when it gets really bad, I have a PCI card with a PS/2 mouse and keyboard port that I can use.

(BTW Mike, sorry for the delay - will get sorted tomorrow or Monday!)

I learned to hate Dell for this kind of stuff in the '90's. However, I'm not sure this is a Dell issue.

So, I've managed to get the drive mounted on the 8.1 box and can access the drive. I've tried the free version of Magic Jelly Bean, but it's unable to see the drive at all. I have also tried Produkey which sees the drive and all files, but when I tell it to recover the keys from the Windows folder it says I need special permission. Tried running it and Administrator, but that didn't work either.

(Julian, no worries.)

 

[Mike McCall]

Since I'm able to now access the drive, is there a way to obtain the keys manually?

 

[seedubya]

Mike, try taking ownership of the Windows folder and see if that helps.

 

[Mike McCall]

Mike, try taking ownership of the Windows folder and see if that helps.

Yes, did that and still no go. So, I pulled the HD from my 8.1 box and installed the problem drive into the machine. Once I got past the UEFI in the BIOS, I get a BSOD after the XP startup screen:

0x0000007b (0cBA4C3524, 0xC00000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

Am currently here.

 

[Larry Sabo]

You could also try SIW, which I've found very good recovering passwords.

 

[Mike McCall]

You could also try SIW, which I've found very good recovering passwords.

Getting past the passwords was easy. It's getting USB keyboard/mouse support to get into XP to retrieve the keys.

 

[NJW]

So, I've managed to get the drive mounted on the 8.1 box and can access the drive.

You might have better luck with an older (less restrictive) version of Windows?

Hiren's has Produkey in the MiniXP.

 

[Mike McCall]

Booted into Gandolf's and again ran Produkey from there. This time got an error saying the file is corrupt.

Fortunately I received an offer for "Free Prepaid Cremation" from the National Cremation Service. I feel so much better now!

 

[Larry Sabo]

Getting past the passwords was easy. It's getting USB keyboard/mouse support to get into XP to retrieve the keys.

I should have said, You could also try SIW, which I've found very good recovering passwords...and license keys.

 

[Mike McCall]

I should have said, You could also try SIW, which I've found very good recovering passwords...and license keys.

SIW?

 

[Mike McCall]

I should have said, You could also try SIW, which I've found very good recovering passwords...and license keys.

Found it, Larry. Unfortunately it locked-up my machine so it didn't help.

I think it's time to put it back in it's host machine and continue working on it.

 

[Mike McCall]

So I put the drive back in, booted into Gandolf's, ran ProduKey:

"Error 1009: The configuration registry database is corrupt."

Ma I hosed?

 

[Mike McCall]

I'm in! But had to use fixboot to get in. That doesn't make sense to be, but whatever. Client is happy and that's what counts. Curse you, Dell!

 

[Mike McCall]

Hey, thanks for the help!

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

FYI regarding XP and cloning and no keyboard and/or mouse once the GUI loads......I've run into that with XP in the past, but when we imaged a fleet of Lenovo ThinkCentre desktops. The keyboard used for the image build built was different than the keyboards used at the clients desks. Since we prepped the image with a password for the Administrator account, we couldn't get to desktop to allow plug 'n play to load it. So had to bring the keyboard we used at our office in building the image, to our clients office....plug it in to each computer one by one to get to log in and get to desktop and then swap keyboards and allow plug 'n play to load the driver for their keyboard.

USUALLY plug 'n play will load peripherals like HIDs just fine before needing to log into desktop....if you just sit and wait long enough. BUT...chalk it up to some weird combo of particular kb driver and particular chipset. Or perhaps the BIOS of the rig used for the initial image was not set for plug 'n play OS.

Anyways..just thought I'd note it here....happens to brands other than Dell.