[Jeffack]

Hi,

I have a strange problem. I am running a Windows Vista on a Dell desktop. Whenever I restart my computer, my keyboard and mouse stop working. The mouse pointer won't move and I can't click. The keyboard has no lights (it usually has the num lock light on whenever the computer is on) and none of the keys get a response from the computer. It gets stranger - all I have to do is unplug and replug the USB cables for these and they work perfectly. I've been using computers my whole life and all of my troubleshooting efforts have failed. The only hardware mod I've made is to add a video card, and this has nothing to do with the problem - it started before I changed the video card.

The keyboard and optical mouse are the standard ones that come free with a dell desktop.

Thanks in advance for your help. This is my first post.

[Rich-M]

I would reset the bios optimum defaults. To enter bios on most Dells, you tap F2 continuously after pressing power button and until you enter "setup".

[Jeffack]

Thank you for the fast reply! I went into bios. Not sure what I should be looking for. All usb ports are on. pc is dimension E521.

[GripS]

You're just looking for an option when you enter the bios to set everything to their default setting. It will be one of the 'F' keys and probably will be showing at the bottom of the screen.

I would uninstall any keyboard or mouse software. Not really needed to function in most cases and less bloat for your system. Also you could uninstall the usb devices via device manager and let them get redetected on reboot. Refer to the following link for instructions:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817900