USB/Mouse vanished? (XP)

I'm writing this from my laptop which still works. My desktop (Core2 DUO - XPSP3), which I used all night last night with no problems, suddenly developed a problem with recognizing the mouse through the USB port. The mouse no longer works and the computer repeatedly puts up the error message:

"USB Device Not Recognized
One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click this message."

Of course, I cannot click on it. I tried that mouse on the laptop - works fine. I tried the mouse from the laptop on the desktop - didn't work. I tried a wired mouse plugged into the ps2 port - same message. Also, rebooting or restarting do nothing different. This happened when I attempted to download pictures from my camera, which I have done over a hundred times before.

Note: the keyboard works fine. I tried moving around with it, got to Device Manager. The entry for USB has the telltale yellow circled exclamation point.

I have a tremendous amount loaded onto the desktop, very important stuff. I do not want to have to reformat the drive... again. I've had viruses that force the issue before. Speaking of which, I have scanned the computer with AVG - no results, en though AVG seems to produce more false positives than the antivirus I am familiar with: Avast.

So, is there something I can do to repair whatever it is in Windows that has gone faulty? Is there something else I could do to remedy this situation? Again, I really don't want to reformat the drive.

Thanks for whatever insights you can offer,
Ken

 

http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/usb-keyboard-and-mouse-not-recognized-at-windows-logon

you can read this thread and see if the solution works for you.

does the same thing occur in safe mode??

if so, it might be something that is loading in normal mode causing this behaviour.

first I would try in safe mode, if mouse works to go to device manager, uninstall mouse and then reboot and let windows find new hardware

You can also try a different usb port as that one may have quit.

if you need to burn a cd with recovery console, here are instructions, this will work as long as your pc does not have sata drives.

Here's how to make a bootable xp recovery console cd
Courtesy of JoseIbarra
You need to start by booting into the XP Recovery Console using a CD you can make (no XP media required) and run a chkdsk with error correction enough times until it runs clean and if that doesn't work, you can create a new boot.ini file (it is usually one of those two things).

Here's how:

Use the XP Recovery Console to verify the file system on your HDD and correct any problems and then try to boot your system - this may be all you need to do. Or, you are welcome to just start trying things that might work.

Boot into the Windows Recovery Console using a bootable XP installation CD.
If you have no bootable XP media (or are not sure what you have) create a bootable XP Recovery Console CD and be sure what you have (no XP media required).

This is not the same as any recovery disks that might have come with a store bought system.

You can make a bootable Recovery Console CD by downloading an ISO file and burning it to a CD.

The bootable ISO image file you need to download is called:
rc.iso

Download the ISO file from here:
http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/?p=8 (courtesy of Daavee)

Use a new CD and this free and easy program to burn your ISO file and create your bootable CD:
http://www.imgburn.com/

When installing ImgBurn, DO NOT install the Ask toolbar.

Here are some instructions for ImgBurn:
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=61

It would be a good idea to test your bootable CD on a computer that is working.
You may need to adjust the computer BIOS settings to use the CD ROM drive as the first boot device instead of the hard disk. These adjustments are made before Windows tries to load. If you miss it, you will have to reboot the system again.

When you boot on the CD, follow the prompts:

Press any key to boot from CD...
The Windows Setup... will proceed.
Press 'R' to enter the Recovery Console.
Select the installation you want to access (usually 1: C:\WINDOWS)
You may be asked to enter the Administrator password (usually empty).
You should be in the C:\WINDOWS folder. This is the same as the
C:\WINDOWS folder you see in explorer.

The Recovery Console allows basic file commands like: copy, rename, replace, delete, cd, chkdsk, fixboot, fixmbr, etc.

For a list of Recovery Console commands, enter help at the prompt or read about the XP Recovery Console here:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...ocs/en-us/recovery_console_cmds.mspx?mfr=true

A good idea before starting things is to first verify the integrity of your file system using the chkdsk command.

From the command prompt window run the chkdsk command on the drive where Windows is installed to try to repair any problems on the afflicted drive.
Running chkdsk is fine even if it doesn't find any problems. It will not hurt anything to run it.

Assuming your boot drive is C, run the following command:
chkdsk C: /r

Let chkdsk finish and correct any problems it might find.

It may take a long time for chkdsk to complete or it may appear to be 'stuck'. Be patient. If the HDD light is still flashing, chkdsk is doing something. Keep an eye on the percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress. It may even appear to go backwards sometimes.

You should run chkdsk /r again until it finds no errors to correct.

Remove the CD and type 'exit' to leave the RC and restart the computer.

You do not have to adjust the BIOS again to boot on the HDD since the CD will not be present.