I have a Dell 9100 and the onboard USB ports do not work. When I boot the computer it stops at the log on page because the mouse and key board connect through USB ports and I can't click on my log in button. Does anyone have a way to work around this problem?

Has this always been the case? Did it happen suddenly? Did you recently upgrade from Windows XP Home to Windows XP pro?

Well I now have a new computer (and online access again). It turns out that when the USB ports failed, it was the mother board going bad. When I turned off the computer after posting this question the Dell 9100 never started again. Well actually it started but with no USB ports there was no way to communicate with the computer (mouse and key board were hooked up to the USB ports).

TRY CONNECTING A PS2 KEYBOARD AND MOUSE, TURN ON THE DELL PC,
HOLD DOWN THE DEL KEY TILL YOU ENTER THE START UP (CMOS SETTINGS)
THAT IS WHERE YOU FIND THE OPTIONS TO ENABLE USB PORTS FOR KEYBOARD AND MOUSE AND ETC.
MAKE SURE YOU SAVE BEFORE EXITING.
UNPLUG THE PS2 KEYBOARD AND MOUSE AND CONNECT YOUR USB ONES AND SEE IF IT WORKS.
THIS WILL SURELY SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

As a work around, you could buy a pci-usb card. It'll give you 4 usb ports in the back of the computer that work like regular usb ports, but are connected through your pci slot. Shouldn't be to much money (I paid $20 for one a few years ago at radio shack).