[Linus_12]

Maybe you've heard this one before? Very similar to the problem reported here on the forums at:
http://forums.techguy.org/windows-xp...orking-xp.html

Here's the basics:
I have a 7 yr old computer that I am going to replace soon, so I just need to keep it limping along for right now. It was built by Voodoo PC (before they were bought by HP) and had Windows XP installed (no SP!). I have added a few disk drives, replaced one drive, added DVD writer, etc. and yes, replaced the PSU as well, but for the most part not changed (much) of the internal hardware. It has been updated to SP1, SP2 (using a MS XP with SP2 install disk) and about 3 years ago I updated it to SP3.

Other than having tons of photos I have taken and lots of imaging software, there is not a lot installed, but I did have to replace one of the hard drives last year.

Last week I installed MALWAREBytes because my ISP indicated there was some "unusual activity" on my ISP (of course we have multiple PCs and my ISP did not indicate which PC was the problem). It found the usual "problems" which are false positives in the tools used to debug (and Decrapify) my daughter's PC from two years ago. I also checked for rootkits using a few tools from trusted vendors, but found nothing.

Normally my PC is on 24/7, lately though I have been seeing some warnings in the Event Viewer that indicated my "D" drive was having problems writing to the Page file. And every so often when left on for more than 5 days, the system would be "hung" when I turned on the monitor. Rebooting went normal and I was able to log in again with no problems.

HOWEVER yesterday was a different story. I can no longer type in the password on the Windows Logon Screen!

I have read quite a bit of the advice already given here (see above), so here is what I know and what I did:

• Both USB and PS/2 keyboards have the same identical symptoms
• Both USB and PS/2 keyboards will respond during the boot process, running setup (I can use the arrow keys and type in the date and time in the appropriate places), and in choosing which Windows to boot in (normal/Safe/Safe with Network/Safe with Repair console, etc.)
• I can use my Win XP with SP2 Boot Disk to boot with windows and run the Recovery Console, Keyboard works fine!
• I can use my BartPE Boot Disk, with Win XP SP3 slipstreamed to boot, and use the command window for directory maint, Keyboard works fine! (as does the mouse).

As I said I can boot into the Windows logon screen, and Windows Safe Mode logon screen, but as soon as I try to type in a password, nothing.



And yes, the USB Mouse works fine. Yes, I can click in the password field. Yes, I can see the blinking cursor in the password field. Yes, I get only one beep from the BIOS boot (normal for this machine).


And yes, (see list above) I can boot using a BartPE Boot Disk and the keyboard works fine.



Additional info about the setup: C: drive has windows XP, SP3 installed. Drive D: is where my programs are installed. The windows environment variable that normally points to "C:\Program Files" points to "D:\Program Files" so that applications normally install onto the D drive. There are a few programs that ignore this and thus there are a few (less than 10) that install themselves into C:\Program files.


I suspect the Windows keyboard driver has become corrupt, but I'm not sure. I have multiple PCs here, running XP, and a few running Win7. This machine will not run Win7, and it is not worth upgrading at this time (which is why it needs to limp along until I can build its replacement).


I have tried to replace the "c:\windows\system32\system" file using the information in the link above. However, all of the replacement files from 2 Restores prior are the same size and do not fix the problem. The newest one and the one prior are the same size as the "current" file (though different than the others). The one in the "restore" group is almost 2 years old!


So yes, the keyboard does work on this machine, at least until the Windows XP logon screen appears.
If I can get this problem fixed, then I'm looking at being able to build my new PC in about a month and a half. (hopefully the new 3TB disk drives will be available by then!)


Thanks for any help,
Linus_12

[CFLager]

In my experience, Malwarebytes has few false positives. That aside, is that an orig. HD? At 7 yrs. you are on borrowed time. I would suggest backing up your photos, etc. to something like the cloud or something redundent, like usb and DVD. (use a flavor of Linux live or hook your HD to another systen and back up the drive if you can't boot).
Not trying to be difficult, but why is 3TB a goal? The more data you dump in one place, the more data you lose when it dumps on you. You can put a boatload of partitions on a drive, but when it's dead .....

[Linus_12]

Originally Posted by CFLager

In my experience, Malwarebytes has few false positives.

In this case the files are modified versions of OTMoveIt and another Virus killer that were used to identify and eliminate a very nasty rootkit that got installed on a different machine. Nasty enough that no, we couldn't even boot from a CD or USB. Luckily I found someone to help me out who knew how to modify the programs so that they would run on the infected system. These files gave false positives as soon as they were copied to my system, even though they were only run on the infected system. They are known to me and to the developer, but it wasn't worth the effort to inform MALwarebytes about them since they were essentially written for one system. And were only being stored on my machine in the event that they were needed again.

Originally Posted by CFLager

That aside, is that an orig. HD? At 7 yrs. you are on borrowed time. I would suggest backing up your photos, etc. to something like the cloud or something redundent, like usb and DVD. (use a flavor of Linux live or hook your HD to another systen and back up the drive if you can't boot).

Um, hello? Did you read that I am in the process of trying to get things together to build a new system? Until that happens I need to keep this system up and running. While there are not a lot of things installed, there are some image editing tools and video processing tools that will a) Only run on this machine and none of the others I currently have, and b) I Can BOOT, It is just the keyboard that is not working AFTER the boot into windows.

Originally Posted by CFLager

Not trying to be difficult, but why is 3TB a goal? The more data you dump in one place, the more data you lose when it dumps on you. You can put a boatload of partitions on a drive, but when it's dead .....

It is the availability of the 3TB Drives. With just under 7TB spread out over 6 drives right now, the 3TB drives actually make backing up much easer.
And when your "cloud provider" goes belly up? Oh wait, that has NEVER happened before, right? What do you think the "cloud" is? It's a bunch of server farms with lots of disk drives that we HOPE are redundant and/or backed up. Of course Google and Yahoo have NEVER lost any emails or other files before either, right? And photo sharing sites will never lose your photos or go bankrupt, right? I guess you expect me to have unlimited bandwidth as well? Sorry, but I'm given a paltry 250GB of bandwidth for my $45 bucks a month. For that I can maybe backup 1/3 of my photo collection (yes, photos I've taken!)

So yes, I was looking for some "help" in getting my current system back up and running so I can limp along until I can get my new system up and running.

After waiting days for a reply, this is not what I was expecting. Especially with the number of VIEWS on this problem, and the number entries on this and other forums with NO RESOLUTIONS, I guess I expected that someone would want to work with me on this to document some steps to taken that might lead to a resolution that others could use.

But hey, at least you answered.

[CFLager]

I was hesitant to reply also. If you carefully read you initial post and your reply to me, you may see why you received no responses.

[Linus_12]

Ah I see now. Thank you. I guess I was under the impression that this forum was here to help people fix problems with their machines. According to you it is a place to get advise to toss their current machines and get new ones. Thanks for clearing this up.

I apologize to everyone for trying to be clear in my first message and stating everything I had done prior to seeking help. I guess I should have just said "help me! My keyboard doesn't work". and then I would have 50 replies asking me all kinds of questions about whether the keyboard works with other computers, whether it works in the BIOS, what version of the OS I was using, do I have restore discs, do I know what a CD is, etc. All questions that were asked in at least 30 other posts with this same problem here on this forum, and others. So yes, I tried to answer those questions up front.

Yes, I am frustrated. Yes, I may be a bit long winded. But I came here looking for "Tech" help, not a reply telling me to toss the machine and replace it with "the cloud".

I guess my question here is just too "Technical" for a "Tech Support" forum.

Yet I still hold out hope that there is someone out here willing to help a frustrated user.

[CFLager]

Inappropriate comments removed.

[Cookiegal]

Both of you need to cool it. I've edited posts for each of you for profanity (getting around the filters).

CFLager, your comments have earned you a 3-day temporary ban.

We will not tolerate this sort of back and forth jabbing at each other on the forums. If you have nothing constructive to add then don't add anything at all.

[Linus_12]

My apologies Cookiegal, and all the other members of this forum. With over 30 years of experience on forums like this, dating back to the USENET groups, I should know better than to get drawn into this type of back and forth. My main system where I make a living is down and my frustration level is very high right now. This not an excuse, just an explanation of the situation. It was never my intention to use profanity or any do anything else prohibited. I just got caught up in it all. Again, I truly apologize.

Linus

[TerryNet]

If I understand correctly you need no help from us backing up any data to safeguard it, and you've tried about twice as many things than I can think of with the keyboard. I have only one idea, which you've probably tried if it is feasible, ...

If the special Administrator account has a null (blank) password perhaps you can login to it in Safe Mode.

[Cookiegal]

Originally Posted by Linus_12

My apologies Cookiegal, and all the other members of this forum. With over 30 years of experience on forums like this, dating back to the USENET groups, I should know better than to get drawn into this type of back and forth. My main system where I make a living is down and my frustration level is very high right now. This not an excuse, just an explanation of the situation. It was never my intention to use profanity or any do anything else prohibited. I just got caught up in it all. Again, I truly apologize.

Linus

I understand and thank you for the apology. I hope you find the answers you need soon.

[Linus_12]

Hi TerryNet, yes you are correct. All of my data is backed up. It is just the keyboard problem I am looking to solve. As for the Admin Password, yes, that too is non blank. SafeMode is a boot option and I didn't want anyone else just rebooting and getting into the system through that oft overlooked "backdoor".

I'm pretty sure either one of the Keyboard dll's is corrupted, or the registry is corrupted. But I'm not sure which of the hundreds of dll's I should look at. If the it is the registry, I might be able to editit while logged using the BartPE disc, but again, I need help in knowing where to look. (I know my way around certain parts of the registry, but not all of the hives).

[Cookiegal]

The standard keyboard generally uses the following two drivers. I would see if you can boot using a boot disk and then see if these files exist in the drivers folder:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\i8042prt.sys
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\kbdclass.sys

If they do exist, one or both could possibly be infected or corrupt. I'm not all that sure how much you can do with a boot disk but if you can get to the properties, can you provide the version of those files?

If one or both don't exist there then it would be necessary to copy them over from another location, such as the i386 folder.

[Linus_12]

Sorry for the delay, I was spending yesterday with the family, trying to stay grounded.

I have been able to pull the files off of the system and place them on another system for debugging purposes. I am listing the information below, along with the information from the file from the
c:\windows\i386 directory.I have only listed differences and have bolded the i386 info.

For C:\Windows\System32\drivers\i8042prt.sys I have the following:
Size: 52,480 bytes 52,736 bytes
Size on disk: 53,248 bytes 53,248 bytes
Created: 2004-08-04 2012-07-16
Modified: 2008-04-14 2004-08-03
Accessed: 2012-07-16 2012-07-16
Version Information:
Version: 5.1.2600.5512 5.1.2600.2180
Description: i8042 Port Driver
Copyright: (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved

Company: Microsoft Corporation
File Version: 5.1.2600.5512 5.1.2600.2180
(xpsp.080413-2108) (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Internal Name: i8042prt.sys
Language: English (Unitied States)
Original File
name: i8042prt.sys
Product Name Microsoft (R) Windows (R)
Operating System
Product Version: 5.1.2600.5512 5.1.2600.2180

For C:\Windows\System32\drivers\kbdclass.sys I have the following:
Size: 24,576 bytes 24,576 bytes
Size on disk: 24,576 bytes 24,576 bytes
Created: 2004-08-04 2012-07-16
Modified: 2008-04-14 2004-08-03
Accessed: 2012-07-16 2012-07-16
Version Information:
Version: 5.1.2600.5512 5.1.2600.2180
Description: Keyboard Class Driver
Copyright: (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved

Company: Microsoft Corporation
File Version: 5.1.2600.5512 5.1.2600.2180
(xpsp.080413-2108) (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Internal Name: kdbclass.sys
Language: English (Unitied States)
Original File
name: kdbclass.sys
Product Name Microsoft (R) Windows (R)
Operating System
Product Version: 5.1.2600.5512 5.1.2600.2180

After seeing the differences in file sizes for the I8042prt.sys file, I checked the file that is in on the boot disk for BartPE. This is an XP SP2 disk with SP3 slipstreamed into it. It has the size of 52,480 bytes, the same size that is on the "problem computer". I also checked the size of the file as extracted to the c:\i386 directory of another system it it has the 52,736 size of the file in my c:\windows\i386 sub directory.

So it looks like the files should be ok. But just to be sure, I used a compare program to compare the two files, at a binary level and they say the files (i804prt.sys and kbdclass.sys) match. That is, the ones on the problem system, match the ones from the XP SP3 disk. Again that is using a binary compare of the entire contents, not just the file size.

What else should I be looking for?

[Cookiegal]

Yes, it does indeed look like the file versions and sizes are correct. Unfortunately, I really don't know what else to suggest.

[managed]

I believe pressing Ctrl+U at the login screen will bring up the on-screen keyboard, if so you should be able to enter your password using just the mouse.

If it works maybe you should set it up to go straight to the desktop without a password ?