At home we have DSL and a wireless network with 4 computers, 2 connected directly to using ethernet cables and the other 2 being wirelessly connected laptops. Every computer's been fine except one which has been having problems unrelated to the internet (connected w/ ethernet). Recently it couldn't connect to the internet no matter how many times you restarted, scanned for viruses, etc. I brought it to work to get it looked at by a co-worker and it wouldn't recognize any keyboards/mice. I then got the wireless USB keyboard, mouse and receiver (exact same model, just from the other computer) and it still wouldn't work. Will it make a difference if I bring the same exact set that was used with the problematic computer?

To replace that main computer we brought the desktop out and hooked everything up (ethernet cable). It's been fine until today when it didn't work at first. Now it's working. WTF! I thought there wouldn't be a need to connect to any network, would there?

If someone could explain to me what the hell's going on or has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Your mouse/keyboard have nothing to do with Ethernet controller, as these are I/O devices.

But I know exactly what you are talking about, I had a similar problem when installing a Sprint USB internet to a laptop....basically, your original mouse/keyboard drivers are damaged, and you must replace them. When I installed the drivers for the USB Internet, it overwrote some dlls, and actually caused the laptop to freak out.

Go to the device manager (system-control panel), you should see a few warnings there for each device that has a damaged driver... Try to restore your old drivers via rollback or restore options.

Did you install any software recently? Also boot to safe mode (diagnostic) to see maybe some software at start up is locking your input devices.

Give us more info, good luck.

 

From what I know there weren't any new programs installed recently, though the wireless keyboard/mouse been there for only about a month or so. I wasn't worried about the internet being affected by the keyboard.... I was just confused how it can't connect to the internet immediately upon startup.

My co-worker started the computer in safe mode but none of the devices worked still, so he tried checking the BIOS (thats where he lost me) and couldn't find anything wrong. I'll let him know though, thanks!

 

I sort of had the similar problem on my dad's computer. Turned out to be bad RAM. Removed one of the cards and worked perfectly. So, just an idea.

 

^ if it was bad RAM, your BIOS check would of failed, and you wouldn't boot to OS

 

the only thing i could think of was drivers... If you have an internet card in ur pc then device manager would be the place to start looking

 

So what's the current status of everything ? I'm a bit confused by some of your questions..

Although, I can assure you being hooked up to a network is NOT a necessity.

 

Sorry let me rephrase, its way too early for me.

There's 2 different problems. One is the computer won't connect to the internet, despite being hooked up directly to the modem. Internet works fine on all other computers.

The second separate problem is recently the computer stopped recognizing the drivers for the keyboard and mouse I'll assume. The computer DOES go to the desktop screen, and when you press the power button it does show the shutoff screen sequence, so everything else seems good hardware-wise.

I didn't mean to link the two problems together. Appreciate all the suggestions though.

 

^ If you connect this computer DIRECTLY to the modem, does the internet work?

 

A very simple test would be to try another cable thats connecting the problematic computer to the router. swap cables with another one and make sure thats ok. if that works out ok, then go to the computer that won't connect and go to start > run and type "cmd" without quotes. then type "ipconfig /all" and see if you are getting an IP address on the network card. report findings.

 

Good advice here.

 

start>Run>cmd>format C:

 

And now some bad advice....

 

Balance is important.

 

That's not necessarily true

 

Modems are not necessarily like routers or hubs or switches ... you need to examine your network connections to see if the modem is recognized ... and "online."

 

I agree.

Yin and Yang

Cheech and Chong

Bacon and Bacon.

 

DUDE. what the hell man? I am so going to fucking kick your ass, you know that? j/k!






anyway I'm gonna try some of the suggestions you guys gave me when I get the computer back. I forgot, haven't hooked up a computer with a plain old phone or ethernet cable in a while (instead of wirelessly) so I don't remember how to diagnose connections.

 

Signal from wall good? Check.

Cable good? Check.

NIC card good? Check.

Connection set up in Connection Manager? Check.

Send Stogie a check? Check.