BleepingComputer.com: Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard Not Being Recognized

I have once again had a problem with my Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard running Vista Ultimate. I was on the net watching a video through CNN when the video froze. The mouse wouldn't function (froze) and the only thing I could do was to restart. When I did the keyboard would not be recognized "no keyboard present or not working" and I could get nowhere.

I tried changing the usb port that I used for the keyboard and nothing happened. Finally (as the last time) I plugged the keyboard into my laptop. Keyboard worked fine. I took the USB plug gor the keyboard out of the laptop and put it back in the USB port I have been using for the keyboard on my desktop and it worked.

Is it possible that the keyboard just gets locked up and that by putting it into the laptop that I was able to straighten it out. I don't have any other answer for this and thought maybe someone else here might know. I am hoping that the keyboard port is not bad. If it were, it shouldn't work now should it?

Any suggestions or ideas would sure be appreciated. Is there a way to repair a keyboard port. I have a homebuilders version of Vista Ultimate that is tied to the motherboard. If I have to change the motherboard, I will loose Vista which I don't want to do.

Thanks for any ideas.

Second paragraph-second line-"I took the USB Plug for the keyboard....

Sorry for the typo!!

Since the keyboard works in another system - it's not the keyboard that's at fault.

I'd suggest checking your system for issues. Go to Start and type in "compmgmt.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter.

Check:
1) Event Viewer - Windows Logs - both the System and Application logs should be checked for errors
2) Reliability and Performance - Monitoring Tools - Reliability Monitor should be checked for erros and warnings
3) Device Manager - check for red x's and yellow !'s

There's apt to be a number of errors. But what we're looking for is a pattern that will point at a specific error or group of errors - most likely occurring around the time of the freeze.

USAMA,

I am overwhelmed with all the various types of errors that I saw in the event viewer and reliability and Performance section. One thing I found that came up over and over was that there was a conflict with IRQ 13. As I checked in Google, I found that it is possible there is a device (card) plugged in a slot that is causing a conflict. Suggestions were to the affect that I might try changing a card to a different slot and see if that doesn't help. The device manager shows no errors and I have not had the problem again today. I would say over the past 6 months it has only happened twice.

I am beginning to wonder if I might be better off just reformatting the drive and reinstalling Vista from scratch. I have a dual boot but could in affect eliminate the dual boot by reformatting both drives and then installing Vista on the new drive. Maybe by reinstalling many of the errors that have shown up could be corrected. Don't know if I am thinking straight but would sure like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks in advznce!!

IMO, this becomes a matter of balancing the time it'll take to fix everything against the time it'll take to do a reinstall.
Other factors are the amount of learning you'll get from repairing things, the amount of time and effort it takes to backup all of your stuff, how willing you are to sit through the Windows updates again, and how much stuff you'd have to restore.

A fresh format and installation of Windows will let you start out fresh - but you won't have everything that you've installed on the system. You'll also have to import all the stuff that you've backed up.

So, now's a good time to discuss imaging utilities. If you image your hard drive once the fresh format and reinstall is done (along with importing all of your settings and reinstalling all your programs) you'll be able to use that image in the future to restore the computer much faster than a format and reinstall would take. FWIW - I use Acronis True Image ($50 US) for this and it's great - 20 minutes and I'm back up and running.

Since you're contemplating a format and reinstall, you don't have much to lose if you try a repair install of Vista. This "should" keep your programs and settings intact, while replacing the Windows system files with those on the disk. Don't forget to visit Windows Update immediately afterwards tho' - you'll have to reinstall the updates after the repair install: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-re...tall-vista.html

Let us know what you decide and how things work out.

EDIT: Sorry for the delay, I posted this at 6am - and my internet connection went out at the same time - found it when I got home from work