No keyboard or mouse on startup or dos

Boot into safe mode by holding down the f8 key at startup.

Once in safe mode, get to device manager, and delete both your keyboard and mouse.

Re-boot, and let windows auto detect them again.

If this just happened within the last 3-5 days, then boot up unit and keep tapping the F8 key to bring you to the Win98 StartUp Menu and chose Command Prompt Only. At the command prompt type in scanreg /restore this will bring a blue screen " Registry Checker." You will see different dates chose the date before you made any changes. Hopes this work.

try going into your bios and resetting the default settings first(this varies from system to system, there's usually a prompt on power up)
then as above press f8 to go into the windows startup menu, but choose 6,safe mode cmd prompt only and type in scanreg /restore
this will give you a choice of 5 previous registrys to restore choose one from a date when your computer was working ok

First take a look at the back of your system and ensure that the keyboard and mouse are plugged into the correct ports! The etching adjacent to the port(s) should indicate the device. You should not have a conflict between your keyboard and mb! If this is what win98 is reporting and you have tried following the steps in the first response to your posting here, without positive results then you should consider changing the keyboard. If after trying another keyboard, you have the same issue then there may be a problem with your motherboard, in which case you will have to contact your system vendor or replace the motherboard yourself.

I agree with answer 4,if you are getting an error in windows with your K/B replace it. I can't see how changing a setting in device manager would affect the way the pc boots off a disk?
Change the k/b and boot off of a dos disk and see if the keyboard works,if it does reboot and hit F8 on boot up and select safe mode cammand prompt only, and restore the registry.

P.S. When rejecting an answer it always good to put why you rejected it.
Hope this helps.

I agree with 4 and 5 try with another keyboard and mouse, reboot see if you get any beeping sounds when rebboting. If it does not work with another keyboard or mouse then you will probably need to replace the mother board. Another option is getting a USB Keyboard assuming you have a this type of port and trying to see if you can get your system to reconize the USB keyboard.

Try to boot from Boot Floppy.
If KB and Mouse do not work, then try to replace the them.
If KB and Mouse are USB, may be check BIOS settings.
In USB case, mouse usually connected through KB, so if KB for some reason is dead then mouse will not work anyway.

Back to the basics...

Assumption: The keyboard & mouse are both ps/2 type, with the jacks directly mounted to the motherboard. The computer does not have any "beep codes" (other than the one typical beep) on startup and there are no text errorsreported on screen during the bootup.

1) Make sure the mouse is plugged directly into the mouseport on the motherboard.

2) Make sure the keyboard is plugged directly into the keyboard port on the motherboard. Do not let the keyboard loop through any joysticks or gaming devices.

3) Start the computer, enter the bios setup. Make sure the mouse port is enabled (IRQ 12 typically). Make sure you have selected the appropriate keyboard. Make sure the startup settings include "Stop on Keyboard Error". Make sure it is set to Boot from the floppy before the hard drive.

4) Save the CMOS settings, insert a bootable floppy, and reboot.

5) At the DOS prompt, see if the keyboard works.. if it does, this is a good sign and a signal to try booting up into windows again.

5a) At the DOS prompt, see if the keyboard works.. if it does not, then restart the machine, enter the bios setup, capture the settins of the hard drives and other integrated components, and select the "Reset Bios Settings to Defaults". You may have to reset the HD parameters and integrated component settings (if it doenst do it automaticly). Set the OS type to "NO PNP OS" Save the CMOS settings. Goto Step #5.

If you still do not have keyboard nor mouse, then you should unplug the mouse and try step #5 again.

If you still do not have keyboard, try a different keyboard. If still fails, it is likely its a motherboard/hardware problem.

If it does recognize the keyboard, get into Windows,change yoru settings back to where they were, and then alter the CMOS back to a "PNP OS".

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