Last attempt to restart the system. Keyboard doesn't work after Windows boots

Hello everyone, dear friends. Quite recently, a strange situation occurred at my work, as it seemed to me. The keyboard just stopped working. Or rather, it didn’t completely stop. As it turned out, the keyboard only works in the BIOS, and upon further boot it simply stops responding to any presses.

And then an unpleasant situation occurred, or rather a failure. After the reboot, I had to select the boot mode, but I could not do anything, since none of the keys responded. First of all, I thought that it was the keyboard’s fault, after which I replaced it with a new one, but it turned out, but after I I installed another device, the situation did not change.

In general, I won’t bore you. Most likely you used a USB keyboard, since no one had such problems with PS/2. The thing is that your BIOS disables USB keyboard support when Windows boots.

"How so? After all, everything worked before,” you say. Yes, indeed, everything could work for you, and you could not notice anything, since when you load the operating system, it will automatically activate this support. But once a crash happens and you need to do something during the loading screen, then unfortunately there is nothing you can do.

What to do then? I want to say right away that the first thing you need to do is check the simplest thing that can only come to your mind, because sometimes the problem can really be somewhere on the surface. Therefore, first check whether the keyboard cable is connected to the computer, try moving it to another USB port, and if possible, connect another keyboard.

If none of this helps, then most likely it's a configuration issue. You need to login BIOS, namely at the very beginning of booting your computer, press the function key responsible for entering. Most often this is the key DEL, but in different cases this may be F1, And F2.

As a result, when you get into the BIOS itself, depending on the version, you will need to find an item related to USB keyboard support. It may be called "USB Keyboard Support" or "Legacy USB Support". If you see that the “Disabled” mode is next to these items, then support is disabled and you need to activate the “Enabled” mode.

After that, save all the settings, reboot and voila.

As a rule, this setting is the solution to this problem. Although I heard that this solution did not help someone, and he decided to try to look for the problem in the components. It turned out that one stick of RAM was not entirely working (in his words) and when he pulled it out, the keyboard started working normally. I don’t know how this is connected, but if something happens, you can try this method.

Well, I’ll end here. I hope you liked my article. And if you still haven’t subscribed to my blog updates, be sure to do so now so as not to miss the most interesting things. Well, I'm waiting for you again on my blog. Good luck to you. Bye bye!

Users usually notice this when reinstalling the operating system, when it is necessary to set boot priority, or when changing additional settings of the primary I/O system. What is the reason for this phenomenon and how to deal with it will now be discussed. I would like to point out right away that not everything is so bad. There are several basic methods that can solve the problem within a few minutes. Let's look at them.

Keyboard does not work in BIOS: reasons

Many users pay attention to the fact that in a normally functioning operating system such situations, although observed, are very rare. For the most part, this applies to the BIOS.

Among the main reasons for this situation, most experts identify the following:

• physical damage to plugs and wires;
• incorrect connection;
• an old computer without support for a connected device;
• Incorrect configuration of BIOS parameters.

Issues related to physical defects or damage will not be considered at this time. As a last resort, if the keyboard does not work in the BIOS, you can check the functionality of an external device of the PS/2 or USB standard quite simply by connecting it to another computer terminal. If everything is fine on it, you need to look for the reason in your system unit (more precisely, in the sockets and ports to which the connection is made).

What to do first?

As for troubleshooting, the first thing you should do is check that the connection is correct.

In the case of USB keyboards, it is quite difficult to make a connection through the appropriate port incorrectly (although sometimes it may be that the keyboard belongs to the USB 3.0 standard, but is connected to a USB 2.0 port).

But most often, the occurrence of such a situation is more typical for keyboards of the old PS/2 standard. The connection must be made taking into account that the colors of the keyboard plug and the corresponding socket must match (they are purple). However, even in this case it is quite difficult to make a mistake.

How to enter the BIOS (the keyboard does not work)?

When trying the primary system, which can very often be the cause of failures, the question of access to them also arises, because in most cases it is impossible to do without a keyboard to call up the BIOS or navigate through the settings sections.

But there is a solution. For example, we have a situation where the keyboard on a laptop does not work in the BIOS. You can enter the settings system using several methods. Some laptop models are initially equipped with special buttons on the panel, with the help of which the BIOS settings section is called up. In particular, this applies to products from Lenovo, Sony VAIO (ASSIST button), etc.

The second access option in the case when the keyboard does not work in the BIOS is to connect an external analogue via a USB port. But here you need to remember that it is advisable to connect the external keyboard without power, and only then turn on the device to boot.

Reset

The previous solutions can be called universal in a sense, however, they may not give the desired result. This can be observed when the USB keyboard does not work in the BIOS. This problem is only due to the fact that some kind of failure occurred in the system itself.

In this case, you should perform a complete reset of the installed parameters. Any, even an old desktop computer, allows you to get to the motherboard on which the CMOS battery is installed. You just need to pull it out of the slot for a few minutes, insert it back and try to enter the settings by turning on the terminal to boot.

Setting the correct parameters

But even here there are pitfalls. In the case of USB keyboards, the problem may be that support for such devices is deactivated on the primary system itself.

In this case, you will have to connect a PS/2 keyboard or, if possible, enter the BIOS on the laptop by pressing a special button, then find parameters like Legacy USB Support or USB Keyboard Support and look at the set value. If this is indeed the reason, it will be set to Disabled. You need to change it to Enabled and save the changes when you exit (F10, Y). A reboot will follow. Perhaps this is the only way to fix the problem.

What else could it be?

As reviews indicate, sometimes a keyboard failure can be associated with damage to the RAM sticks, malfunctions in the power supply, short-circuiting of some contacts directly on the motherboard, malfunction of the ports, etc. Here, you cannot do without a full diagnosis of the entire system.

Finally, there may also be a problem with the BIOS system itself, which consists of disruption of its operation or obsolescence. In this case, you will have to do a complete flashing, but this process is unsafe, and without special knowledge, an ordinary user can cause irreparable damage to the computer, as a result of which the PC will stop working altogether.

Instead of a total

Based on all of the above, we can conclude that, regardless of the current situation, not counting physical damage or defects, the problem of the keyboard not working and access to the primary system is solved quite simply.

But there can be many reasons for this phenomenon. And they are not always associated exclusively with physical defects. In most cases, for the same USB devices, it is enough to simply enable support or do a general reset. This helps 99 times out of 100.

Finally, if we talk about a global problem, when the keyboard does not work at all, you can determine it immediately on the welcome screen when you turn on the computer terminal (it will be reported that the keyboard is missing). In this case, you will either have to check the correct connection, or use the methods suggested above, including replacing the failed device with a new one.

You may encounter the fact that the USB keyboard does not work at boot in different situations: this often happens when reinstalling the system or when a menu appears with the choice of safe mode and other boot options Windows.

As a rule, this situation does not occur with a keyboard connected via the PS/2 port (and if it does occur, the problem should be looked for in the keyboard itself, the wire or the motherboard connector), but it may well occur on a laptop, since the built-in keyboard may also have USB interface.

Before continuing reading, check if everything is in order with the connection: whether the USB cable or wireless keyboard receiver is in place, or whether someone touched it. Even better, take it out and plug it in again, not in USB 3.0 (blue), but in USB 2.0 (Best in one of the ports on the back of the system unit. By the way, sometimes there is a special USB port with a keyboard and mouse icon).

Is USB keyboard support enabled in BIOS?

Most often, to solve the problem, just go to the BIOS computer and enable the initialization of the USB keyboard (set USB Keyboard Support or Legacy USB Support to Enabled) when you turn on the computer. If this option is disabled for you, you may not notice it for a long time (because Windows itself “connects” the keyboard when you boot and everything works for you), until you need to use it when loading the operating system.

It is possible that you cannot enter the BIOS, especially if you have a new computer with UEFI or 8.1 and fast boot enabled. In this case, you can get to the settings in a different way (Changing computer settings - Update and recovery - - Special boot options, then in the additional parameters, select entering UEFI settings). And after that, see what can be changed to make everything work.

On some motherboards, the setup for supporting USB input devices at boot is a little more sophisticated: for example, on mine settings UEFI has three options - disabled initialization with ultra-fast boot, partial initialization and full initialization (fast boot must be disabled). And the wireless keyboard works at boot only in the latest version.

I hope the article was able to help you. And if not, describe in detail exactly how your problem arose and I will try to come up with something else and give advice in the comments.

Sometimes the computer crashes, which can cause problems with the keyboard displaying in the system. If it does not start in the BIOS, then this greatly complicates the user's interaction with the computer, since most versions of the basic input and output system only support the keyboard. In this article, we will look at how to enable the keyboard in the BIOS if it refuses to function there despite its physical functionality.

If the keyboard works normally in the operating system, but before it starts loading it does not work, then there may be several explanations for this:

• Support for USB ports is disabled in the BIOS. This reason is only relevant for USB keyboards;
• A software glitch has occurred;
• Incorrect BIOS settings were set.

Method 1: enable support in BIOS

If you just bought a keyboard that connects to your computer via USB, then there is a chance that your BIOS simply does not support USB connection or for some reason it is disabled in the settings. In the latter case, everything can be fixed quite quickly - find and connect some old keyboard so that you can interact with the BIOS interface.

Follow these step-by-step instructions:

If your BIOS does not contain items regarding USB keyboard support, then you need to update it or buy a special adapter to connect a USB keyboard to the PS/2 connector. However, a keyboard connected in this way is unlikely to work correctly.

Method 2: Reset BIOS Settings

This method is more relevant for those whose keyboard previously worked normally in both BIOS and Windows. In the case of resetting the BIOS settings to factory settings, you can return the keyboard to functionality, but at the same time, important settings that you made will also be reset and will have to be restored manually.

To reset, you need to disassemble the computer case and temporarily remove a special battery or jumper the contacts.

The above methods for solving the problem can only be useful if the keyboard/port does not have any physical damage. If any were found, then some of these elements need repair/replacement.

Instructions

The main reasons for such a malfunction lie in a hardware failure or software error. Checking the hardware version is very simple - check the plug on your keyboard and the connection connector. If everything is visually in order, replace the keyboard with a working one and reboot the computer. If you continue to be unable to use this device, you should check the version of the software fault.

First, try rebooting the machine. Perhaps the operating system will localize and fix the software glitch. Try reinstalling the keyboard. To do this, in the “System Properties” window of the “System” item “Control Panel”, find the “Hardware” tab. Click the "Device Manager" button. In the "Device Manager" window, select the "Keyboard" item and delete it, close the "Device Manager". Then enter the “Hardware Installation” item and run the “Setup Wizard”. Click Next and wait for the installer to detect the keyboard. The OS will indicate that the keyboard is detected and functioning by turning on the Num Lock indicator light. If the program displays a message that the installation of new devices is complete and prompts you to reboot, then click the “No” button, since the keyboard is already functioning. Also click the “Finish” button in the “Found New Hardware Wizard” window and exit the “System Properties” menu.

One possible problem could be that the operating system does not detect the required driver. To reinstall the driver, go to the website of your keyboard manufacturer, select the desired model, download the archive and unpack it. As a rule, such drivers come with their own installation program, and then you just need to run the file. If there is none, you will have to launch the “Device Manager”, select the “Update Driver” command and specify in manual search mode the path to the directory in which the unpacked driver is located. The computer must be restarted after installation.

Often, a non-functional keyboard is a consequence of a virus program that has taken up residence in your machine. A characteristic sign of this is the failure of the mouse, as well as the touchpad. Check your system with an antivirus program. It is better not to rely on free utilities that promise instant success and a cure for your computer. Use reputable and well-known antiviruses. The chances of success with such security are much higher.

A very real reason for a keyboard failure may also be the lack of BIOS connection. This failure is especially common on machines with a built-in keyboard. Correcting the situation can be quite simple. As your computer boots, enable the BIOS. Find the tab with a list of input and output devices. Select USB Controller and turn on Enabled. Enable the same mode for the USB Keyboard Setup item. Exit the BIOS with confirmation to save the new settings. If none of the above helped you, contact the service center.