USB Keyboard problems, WINDOWS XP

[brommer66]

Hello everybody

I am new here and hope to find an answer to my computer problem. I am Dutch, live in Germany and work with compuers for quite a while (home and work)

I have a big problem with my USB keyboerd that stopped working after a restart some days ago. Since then the keyboard does not work anymore.

My computer runs with Windows XP, SP2

I have so far tried all the classic tricks I could think of and ran out of ideas.

The funny thing is that the keyboard will function before windows starts.

Let me list all issues:

1) In BIOS the keys do work.

2) As soon as Windows starts the regular keys do not work anymore, however the special keys on top, s.a. Homepage, email, standby etc. continue to work (!)

3) I think it is NOT a USB problem, as my USB mouse has no problems.

4) Repairing XP (using R“, NO re-installation) made no difference

5) The keyboard is recognized by Windows, and the drivers appear to be OK. Reinstalling te driver does not make a difference.

6) Changing keyboards made no difference either, same problem with the other keyboard

Hope somebody can give me a clue.

Thanks in advance

[Nightbringer]

I am having the same problem... except this has happened with 2 keyboards on 2 computers.

Last year, I was using an old Compaq Presario 7000 that we had purchased in 1999. It had been re-fitted with Windows XP in 2004 and it was the computer I used up until Christmas of last year. Starnge things started to happen with it's keyboard though.

The computer itself was littered with spyware, and since I had never been able to flush it out with the free spyware programs it lingered until the very day it was replaced. But on to the matter at hand, the keyboard stopped working suddenly after startup. It worked fine in safe mode and worked on startup.. but once it got to the welcome screen it stopped functioning. Re-plugging it in didn't work as it would make the hardware fail sound, and not accept it. My old keyboard was a USB, and figuring the keyboard was faulty I threw it out and I was able to use the one that came with my Xmas Computer. (Mom let me get it. :D)

For a small time, it worked. But not long afterwards it started to fail too. And like the poster above, I did everything i could think to make it work, and finally I was able to do it. But it was an odd way to do it. I made a guest account and re-plugged in the keyboard and was able to get it working on the guest account.

Time passes and Christmas comes and I get to use my new computer! Using the keyboard that had come with it (The same I had been using with my old computer for a time) it worked perfectly until it too fell victim to this strange error. Can keyboards carry over malware? I sent some files over from my old computer, and it likely has something to do with it but spyware scans halt nothing. I am totally at loss and I really don't have the money to buy a new keyboard, let alone knowing that it too could succumb to this failure. Can someone please give insight?

[maui_mallard]

I don't think that keyboards can carry over malware because they do not have anything to store data on....... unless there is some type of new keyboard i have never heard of that stores massive amounts of DATA.....

So...my suggestion is to try using keyboards with a ps/2 connection or get a connector that changes the usb to a PS/2. I have one that i use and mine works fine now

Hope this helps!!!!!!!!!!

[aspicer]

I don't think that keyboards can carry over malware because they do not have anything to store data on....... unless there is some type of new keyboard i have never heard of that stores massive amounts of DATA.....

So...my suggestion is to try using keyboards with a ps/2 connection or get a connector that changes the usb to a PS/2. I have one that i use and mine works fine now

Hope this helps!!!!!!!!!!

* It doesn't. The fix to a USB keyboard not working is NOT to put a cheap adaptor on it and run it as a PS/2 keyboard.

Some computers like the mini Dell PC I'm looking at right now don't even have a PS/2 connector at all. Nope no mouse no keyboard hole to plug these things into. Only USB...

So here's a good dilema for you... if you get to the Login Screen and your USB Mouse and Keyboard don't work, how do you login and go about fixing it? PS/2 is not an option! Failure is not an option!

[dcc]

Have you looked in the BIOS to see if the USB keyboard feature has been disabled?

btw...your keyboard will not work in the BIOS, you have to use the F keys, up and down keys, + or - keys, and let's not forget the enter and esq keys.

[aspicer]

Have you looked in the BIOS to see if the USB keyboard feature has been disabled?

btw...your keyboard will not work in the BIOS, you have to use the F keys, up and down keys, + or - keys, and let's not forget the enter and esq keys.

Gosh I hope it's not that simple and I'm not that stupid. No it's not that, the keyboard works up until the Login Screen in Windows XP Media Center Edition. This is occurring after having to remove the hard drive because of Blue Screen of Deaths: 0x000024 and having to remove the hard drive from original PC and place it in another one in order to run "chkdsk /f" on the drive.

I would imagine that the USB drivers or such are now toast because of the hard drive corruption that was obvious from the results of the repair by chkdsk. I think NTFS stands for New Technology for Failing (File) System.

I guess I thought you'd tell me how to slipstream the USB into the running system. We have no floppy drive and no PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports. We're waiting on a copy of the Dell Recovery CD.... hopefully there will be a way to fix this from that.

P.S. The mouse and keyboard work in BIOS (Keyboard) and the Dell Recovery Partition programs (Keyboard and Mouse) as well as in other Operating Systems, e.g. Linux Live CD types.

[outlaw1982]

i had the same problem i thought it was a usb port problem it turns out some keyboards dont like usb2.0 so disable usb 2.0 support option in bios mine worked fine after i did this

hope it helps

[disophisis]

My work has a bunch of dell optiplex gx520s. they are micro computers and I have no place in my heart for them. Since we have got them, they have had random problems with the keyboard not working anymore. I work at a library, by the way, and I had to log in tot he check in program last night, but the keyboard would not function at all. I tried some keys, and found that the escape key opened the windows start menu, and the scroll lock worked as the escape key (weird). I did several things to get it to start working again such as restarting the computer, and changing the port to which the keyboard was plugged - neither of these had any effect. So I went into control panel and into the keyboard menu, and there was a dialog box that said to type to test the cursor speed. I tried typing in this box and it worked. Dumbfounded, I was. I figure that the problem was solved by going into this keyboard dialog box, I don't know how it would magically have fixed itself.

[agreat]

Yeh I had this problem ages ago & forgot how I got round it when it happened again. This time I scanned all progs loaded @ startup using "Quick Startup 2.0" & there it was "filter Keys" was turned on. It does have a sys tray icon where you can turn it off but it tends to hide.

Extract from F1

"To turn on FilterKeys
FilterKeys is a keyboard feature that instructs the keyboard to ignore brief or repeated keystrokes. Using FilterKeys, you can also slow the rate at which a key repeats when you hold it down.

Open Accessibility Options.
On the Keyboard tab, under FilterKeys, select the Use FilterKeys check box.
To turn off FilterKeys, clear the Use FilterKeys check box.

Notes
To open Accessibility Options, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Accessibility Options.
If the Use shortcut check box in the Settings for FilterKeys dialog box is selected, you can turn FilterKeys on or off by holding down the right SHIFT key for 8 to 16 seconds (depending on the other settings you have selected in the Accessibility Options dialog box). To open the Settings for FilterKeys dialog box, open Accessibility Options and then, under FilterKeys, click Settings."

Hope this one is the dfinitive answer!!

[MeadowsPV]

This is of Intrest.
I have a similar problem, BUT only after I removed the ATI AGP video Card, and installed a nVidia 64MB AGP card - then allowed Windows XP to update. I now lose the keyboard after a log off , and attempt to either fast user switch OR log back in to the original profile.
A full restart restores keyboard ... until I log off again..
Removing nVidia drivers and the card and re-installing the ATI AGP , allows full keyboard functionality [ Note I also use a two port KVM ]
Regards;
PV

[awilde1]

Yeh I had this problem ages ago & forgot how I got round it when it happened again. This time I scanned all progs loaded @ startup using "Quick Startup 2.0" & there it was "filter Keys" was turned on. It does have a sys tray icon where you can turn it off but it tends to hide.

Extract from F1

"To turn on FilterKeys
FilterKeys is a keyboard feature that instructs the keyboard to ignore brief or repeated keystrokes. Using FilterKeys, you can also slow the rate at which a key repeats when you hold it down.

Open Accessibility Options.
On the Keyboard tab, under FilterKeys, select the Use FilterKeys check box.
To turn off FilterKeys, clear the Use FilterKeys check box.

Notes
To open Accessibility Options, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Accessibility Options.
If the Use shortcut check box in the Settings for FilterKeys dialog box is selected, you can turn FilterKeys on or off by holding down the right SHIFT key for 8 to 16 seconds (depending on the other settings you have selected in the Accessibility Options dialog box). To open the Settings for FilterKeys dialog box, open Accessibility Options and then, under FilterKeys, click Settings."

Hope this one is the dfinitive answer!!

Thankyou I followed the instructions above for my mate and work it did- though heaven knows why a tick there should disable the darn thing in the frst place

[HuBeZa]

i had the same problem i thought it was a usb port problem it turns out some keyboards dont like usb2.0 so disable usb 2.0 support option in bios mine worked fine after i did this

hope it helps

This one worked for me. I enabled the Support legacy usb on the BIOS.
Thanks :)

[leggy]

Hi

This USB keyboard problem in Windows can often happen after spyware scan / removal.

You will need to check the registry keyboard filters.

I had this problem recently on a customers machine and this fixed it. You will have to go into regedit to edit a registry key.

Caution - take care when editing registry as serious problems can be caused by deleting data here - best to make a backup first before performing any changes.

Now since the keyboard is not functioning you will have to type using the on-screen keyboard feature in XP with :

Start – programs – accessories – accessibility – on-screen keyboard.

Then to run regedit go :

Start - run and then type regedit.

Then navigate to the following :

Here is the main keyboard registry key :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E96B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.

( i.e. this should be the one which applies to the keyboard )

There should be only one entry in the Value Name : “Upperfilters” and the “Value Data” should be “kbdclass”

There may be an additional value called “sskbfd” which is the Spy Sweeper keyboard filter driver, or some other values in there for that keyboard key.

Delete out any others so that only “kbdclass” exists as the multi-string value data.

Then after a XP reboot all should be fine - device manager should now show the keyboard driver and this device is working properly, so no more error codes, and normal typing should be possible.

Hope this works

All the best

[fafamhox]

Start > Right click My Computer > Properties > Hardware Tab > Device Mngr. > Expand Human Interface Devices

Double click the device with an exclamation icon under Expand Human Interface Devices

The device properties window will open
Driver Tab > Update Driver > "No, not this time" next > (Advanced) next > Don't search. I will choose the driver to install. next > Check the box "Show compatible hardware" > Double click the available model for you. > Click "Finish"

I hope this helps.

-SM-Yague ([e-mail]) Philippines

[ronin3d]

Tried what Leggy suggested, found an extra value attached to the kbdclass and deleted it....I thought I had it, but then it still didn't work after a reboot. It gives me an error code 38 still...and the keyboard dies right after the windows start upscreen. Any other thoughts? Is there a driver file out there for keyboards that might fix this issue?

[Shott]

I have the same problem, worked in bios and safe mode(adminster) but not user account,
so i make a new user account and saved the data from old account doc and settings.
I saved mine to exteral hard drive. Then deleted the account and all data. I logged on to the new account and moved data back.(Did all in safe mode). Restart and it logged right in to the new user the desktop background was missing and icon what misses placed, but the keyboard works. Hope this helps someone.

[mtaher]

Suddenly usb ports stop working in winxp sp2 usb kb mouse and printers and usb flash drive kindly advise.

[chrisny]

My keyboard was working fine yesterday and then I had to restart my system to get a fax program working. When the computer restarted the keyboard no longer worked (no lights at top of Dell keyboard). My mouse works fine and I tried another keyboard which also did not work. After reading thru posts I went to BIOS and see the USB ports and controllers are all enabled. My keyboard responds and has green light when in BIOS but after exiting and getting to log in screen it stops working. Any reason for this? How do I fix?

[hwrd]

I had the same problem and solved it through the ff:
1. (F8) boot to safe mode
2. log on to Administrator account (default account created by XP)
3. restore XP to earlier date

Hope this helps.

[kenyar95]

OMG!!!

I've spent the past two days trying to find a way to fix my work pc and there it was finally!!!!

I've never posted a reply to a forum but it took me so long to fix this issue that I hope this helps. Thanks to the last post I was able to fix it.

Here is my scenario:
I installed an antivirus that didn't work and uninstalled it. I then used ccleaner to make sure it was gone and on the last restart my keyboard stopped functioning. I had tried everything - fixing registries, tried driver uninstall/reinstall, changed keyboards etc.. I tried a system restore and they never went through. It was not until I logged in as Administrator in safe mode (the account that windows creates not one created by you with administrative permission).
**If you have this password protected and are not able to login b/c your keyboard doesn't work then login to another account that is not account protected go to control panel and users and edit the administrator account so that it won't need a password. I just left all the fields blank and clicked on save changes**
Once you are logged in as administrator run a system restore to a point where your computer was working and viola!! Magic!!!
At first I thought I'd get the same response, something like your computer could not be restored no changes have been made... but it took longer this time and it worked!!!

Thank you once again for your suggestion!!

[benmar]

try to replace your keyboard, or borrow from your friend see what happened.

[rptasiuk]

I just experienced this same problem. USB Keyboard did not work after Windows boots (ok in BIOS) USB mouse continued to work. This occurred immediately after a windows update. There was no listing in Device Mgr other than the mouse, no hardware listed in Keyboard Control Panel. I unplugged the keyboard for a few seconds and plugged it back in. Hardware wiz found new USB device and installed HID keyboard device. Now working again. Hope it this simple for the next person.

[savedlema]

Guys, I just want to let you know that leggy's solution helped me. (3 years after the solution was posted!)

[anthony.hynes.14]

I cannot believe it taken me over 8 days and more than 20 hours to find this post, and WOW my keyboard was locked up over a check box in filter keys in accessability options.
Note to everyone check to makesure your keyboard works under another user login before concluding that you have to reformat or repair. Thanks guys I didnt have to do that.

[savedlema]

That's great Anthony!

[Karl_7]

Dec. 2017. I had the problem of the keyboard not working in XP and couldn't find a solution. As it turned out, I had removed an anti-virus program and didn't realize that had caused the problem in the registry. Leggy's solution from 7 years ago worked, only took a couple of minutes and the keyboard is functioning as it should. THANK YOU LEGGY!

[Micheal_9]

You can try to change the mother language of your PC. maybe your language settings has been changed. A few years eariliar i have also faced this problem .

[PRCx]

Leggy scores again in 2019. Was about to ditch a much-used (software which won't run on Windows versions later than XP) Dell GX280 desktop with the symptoms described. Tried then using XP (32-bit) installed as well as 10 (64-bit) on a Dell Latitude E6350 laptop - SAME PROBLEM!!!

Followed Leggys' solution and found "Value Data" for "UpperFilters" was "kbdclass avgkbd" - AVG virus protection presumably added the "avgkbd".

Removed the "avgkbd" to restore "Value Data" to just plain "kbdclass" and reboot - FIXED!!!!!!!

Will try try this now on the Dell GX280 desktop but am confident of same result because the Dell GX280 desktop also has AVG antivirus installed.

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou Leggy.