Here's a Stumper for you: Cant Log Into Vista

Mac user here, tryin to help a friend of a friend

They gave me a Gateway GT5404 maching running 1gb of RAM and Vista operating system with 350gb hard drive and 200gb's free...

Owner said it was doing one of those numerous windows updates and after that cannnot use a mouse or a keyboard.... that was the original problem..

BUT it really goes beyond that.. if you try to boot up vista normal, it will get to the login page, the admin plus two user accounts...

When booting normal and you arrive to this screen the keyboard and MOUSE are both unresponsive as if they are not even plugged in.. but mouse has lights and so does keyboard.. if i restart and go to the Safe Mode selection screen then keyboard works fine.. but as soon as it gets to that login screen again "dead"...

Another puzzling thing is no matter what.. the PC willl not BOOT up in safe mode? no matter which option of safe mode i select it goes to that normal login screen which again I can't do anything due to the "dead" keyboard and mouse...

so not being able to get into Safe Mode is very odd to me...

I was able to get a vista upgrade disc which allows a repair mode entry.. and once that window pops up the mouse and keyboard WORK FINE!! I spent 8 hours yesterday till 2am trying to fix this!! I restored and restarted from MULTIPLE restore points(all prior to this windows update that he claims caused this)

the odd part is this.. when I restore to prior point and arrive to the normal login screen the mouse and keyboard work for a CERTAIN frame, aprox 2-3 minutes..but if I dont' do anything in those 2-3 min's it goes back to "dead" mode...

furthermore if I click on the admin account and try to SIGN IN, again the keyboard and mouse go "dead"

I can log into the user accounts and have use of the MOUSE but NOT the keyboard.. but after 2-3 minutes where it loads all its junk upon loading the user acccount...again the MOUSE goes "dead" and I can't do anything but restart....

can ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THE BLOOD CLOT IS GOING ON?


what am I missing or what can i do to fix this?

there is something about this that I can't place my finger on:

c: 350gb max with aprox 200gb free
d: recovery drive 9gb max, <-- this had 1mb of free space when I recieved it
x: boot drive 24mb's.. <-- not sure what this is about?

I reformatted and installed Vista on the D: recovery drive and that now loads up vista fine and no problems..

i have tried usb mouse and keyboard and I have even tried ps/2 connections and same thing..

someone PLEASE clarify this..

THANK YOU!!


oNe


p.s. I know I can fix this easily by wiping the whole thing. but I'm tryin to save this guys data for him and his family...

Hello Sean welcome to VistaX64.com!

hmm...When Vista locks-up at the login screen does pressing any NumLock/CapsLock/ScrollLock make the keys light up?

(pressing F8 after turning the comp on should allow you to get to safe-mode)

Its probably a driver or addressing issue. I suggest you've wasted enough time on this. You intentions are admirable, but now you need to just make a backp of the critical data and just redo. If you got more then 3 hours in a problem thats your best recourse. If making a backup is hard or impossible due to keyboard and\or mouse malfunction. Remove the HD from the injured system and slave it into another PC and copy away. All files saved and your free to get on with it.

Good luck.