Help with a stupid mistake

[goblingee]

Hi All,

I have done something silly, I mistakenly disabled the main usb hub in device manager.

Unfortunately the pc I did it on has no ps2 ports to connect a keyboard and mouse to.

I have a serial mouse that I can use through a serial port and am able to log on to a limited account.

The problem is that I cant log on as admin to re-enable the usb devices as the keyboard does not work due to no usb being active in windows so I cant enter the admin password at the welcome screen.

However when I log on as limited with no password I can access the onscreen kb in accessories. I know that is should be possible to then end explorer in task manager and then run cmd and use the still active onscreen kb to type " runas /user:administrator "explorer" " although this does not seem to work either.

My only other option is to put the hdd into a comp that has ps2 ports and boot it and use ps2 mouse and kb to re enable the usb ports in windows and then put the hdd back into the origional pc afterwards but this means that I have to go and get my pc from home and bring it here.

Any ideas?

Cheers.

[Scarecrow Man]

To re-enable a disabled port:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.

2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.

3. Locate, and then click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor

4. In the right pane, double-click Start.

5. In the Value data box, type 3, click Hexadecimal (if it is not already selected), and then click OK.

6. Quit Registry Editor.

However, there can be other ways too to bypass this issue, one of the easiest is to invest in a PS2 to USB port converter. You may also want to invest in a PS/2 keyboard.

You could also try booting into safe mode and using system restore..... well, if you had a PS/2 keyboard you could. Are you sure you don't have one? Perhaps borrow one from a friend or an older system.

[goblingee]

Thanks, does this work with a limited account though.

Also the usb-ps2 issue wont work as the issue is that the usb ports will not work and there is no ps2 port on the machine.

[Scarecrow Man]

OH! I mis-read. There is NO PS/2 ports... hmm... What about using another PC to connect remote to this one?

FYI:

runas /user:computername\Administrator explorer.exe

Try including the computer name. You may also want to add the domain name if on a domain.

runas /user:[email protected] explorer.exe

[goblingee]

Tried that, but remote access is not set up on the affected machine.

I guess I will be bringing my pc in and connecting the hd to my motherboard and using a proper motherboard that is sensible and has ps2 for such eventualities. at least that way I can reactivate it in windows and put the drive back after.

[Scarecrow Man]

This may be your only option. I'm out of ideas. Why were you disabling the USB in the first place?

[goblingee]

In answer to your question..... as stated in the title it was a stupid thing to do......

Thanks for your suggestions, much appreciated.

I have now sorted it, I disabled the back usb ports in bios.

purchased and installed a plug and play 4 port usb card.

booted windows into the limited account using a serial mouse and waited while it went through installing new hardware routine.

shut down the machine and plugged the kb and mouse int the new usb ports and switched the machine on

enabled the back usb ports in bios again and booted up, now the kb and mouse work with the new card so I can log into the admin account and reactivate the main pci-usb bridge.

If anyone else is ever silly enough to do this just save yourself a headache and go out and spend £10 on a new usb card.

Thanks again for your suggestions scarecrow man