Here's one for the computer gurus

[oldguy668]

My grandson asked me to fix it. Slow bootup, very slow internet, tons of junk, no important files.

Dell Dimension E521
USB wired mouse
USB wired keyboard

Standard bootup, normal or safe mode, results in no mouse or keyboard response
Boot into system setup (F2) and the keyboard works normally
Boot into the "Diagnostic partition", and the mouse and keyboard work normally
Boot back into windows, no mouse or keyboard

Whazzup?

[Movieman]

That's a weird one.
If it was me after 15 mins of looking I'd take the time and do a format and a fresh install of windows as from the rest of what you said says to me there are other issues as well.
FWIW a yearly format is the smart play for any machine.
Registry gets filled with garbage and that slows the machine.
If your in NH bring it over and we'll make it sing..:o

[oldguy668]

Thanks for the offer but I'll just wipe it and reinstall XP. If I can find W7 drivers for it, I'll install that.

[Movieman]

Thanks for the offer but I'll just wipe it and reinstall XP. If I can find W7 drivers for it, I'll install that.
Good Luck!

[mrmustang]

Joe,

Might I suggest the following (as the system you are playing with retails for less than $300 refurbished and is essentially obsolete in the computer world) HP refurbished SYSTEM (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Factory-Refurbished+Pavilion+Desktop+/+AMD+Athlon%26%23153%3B+II+Processor+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive/2034074.p?id=1218306466805&skuId=2034074) Think about it this way, for what you'll spend for a licensed copy of Windows 7, you can have what is essentially a brand new killer system that should last him quite some time.......


Bill S.




My grandson asked me to fix it. Slow bootup, very slow internet, tons of junk, no important files.

Dell Dimension E521
USB wired mouse
USB wired keyboard

Standard bootup, normal or safe mode, results in no mouse or keyboard response
Boot into system setup (F2) and the keyboard works normally
Boot into the "Diagnostic partition", and the mouse and keyboard work normally
Boot back into windows, no mouse or keyboard

Whazzup?

[Mustang Man]

Plug in a standard PS2 connector mouse and keyboard and see if it will boot into Windows normally and the keyboard/mouse work then. Perhaps you have a bad USB port driver or mouse/keyboard driver. The USB stuff is convenient, but reaks havoc if the OS doesn't load the drivers properly...

Mark

[oldguy668]

Dell didn't see fit to provide any PS2 ports on this POS...

[Martin]

When I had that problem it turned out to be a faulty hard drive. It sounds strange, but apparently it was a big coincidence that the particular sectors of the hard drive that had errors were right where the drivers were that needed to be loaded for windows to operate.

i.e. depending on how it booted up it would give me different problems because it would load drivers from different parts of the hard drive depending on how I told it to boot up.

I ended up replacing the hard drive and no problems since.

Martin