• USB keyboard does not work at boot. The keyboard on the computer does not work: what to do, reasons. What to do if the keyboard does not work on the computer via USB protocol

    Sometimes it happens that PC users are faced with the following situation: when they turn on the computer, the keyboard does not function. Everything seems to be connected, but the buttons do not respond to pressing. When the device is rebooted, the keyboard works, but only in the BIOS. As soon as the download starts, it turns off again and shows no signs of life. In addition, a warning may appear on the screen asking you to select safe mode, and simply pressing the F8 button does not produce any results.

    The first thing that comes to mind is to replace the keyboard. However, there is no need to rush. If the problem is not in the part itself, then the new one will react in exactly the same way when loaded, or rather, not at all. So check other potential causes first.

    The problem may not be the keyboard at all, but rather a tricky Windows setting. As a rule, most users today use USB devices; others are no longer produced. In this case, the problem is related to the BIOS disabling support for your keyboard when the system boots.

    What went wrong and how to fix the situation?

    Such troubles arise precisely because of an OS failure. When you turn on the computer, the system stops responding to the device that previously connected automatically, and as a result, the keyboard does not work. In other words, the operating system simply “does not see” the device.

    But don't despair. The recipe for correcting the situation is much simpler than it might seem at first glance. You need to make sure that the keyboard is working and connected. Otherwise, everything that will be discussed further will not work. In this case, you will still have to look for a replacement. First, try reconnecting the keyboard to a different port. If it doesn't help, move on.

    The next step is to enter the BIOS. To do this, hold down the Del, F1 or F2 key (on different devices, the menu is entered using different buttons, most often it is Del). Hold down the desired key for a few seconds.

    On the blue screen you need to find the menu item associated with our keyboard. It is usually called USB Keyboard Support, and on some models may be called Legacy USB Support. In this case, there will be a note next to the item indicating that the option is disabled. To activate the keyboard in the BIOS, just switch to Enabled mode. Don't forget to save your settings. To do this, press the F10 key and confirm your changes. Now restart your computer and check the result. The keyboard now works normally.

    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 quite working (according to his words) and when he pulled it out, the keyboard worked in normal mode. 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!

    The keyboard is the main tool for entering information, without which working on a computer is impossible. Most often, for this device to work flawlessly, you just need to connect it to your computer, and it will install all the necessary drivers automatically. This happens in most cases, but not always. There are situations when, when you connect a keyboard to a USB or PS/2 connector, it is not detected on the computer and does not show any signs of operation - the indicators do not light up and the buttons do not work. In this article, we offer instructions on what to do if the keyboard on your computer does not work.

    We recommend reading:

    Connecting the keyboard to the computer is as simple as possible - just insert its wire into the corresponding connector on the motherboard, and after that the device will start working. There are wireless keyboards, the radio receiver of which is inserted into a USB connector, after which the device works if the distance between the transmitter and the device is maintained.

    Due to the simplicity of the process of connecting a computer, we can conclude that there are only 2 reasons why the keyboard does not work on the computer:

    • Mechanical. There may be problems with the keyboard itself or the wire that connects it to the motherboard. The cause of the malfunction may also be a broken connector on the motherboard.
    • Software. Keyboard drivers are installed automatically, but failures can occur during the installation of any software, and this situation is no exception. In addition, problems may occur not at the operating system level, but in the BIOS, where the appropriate settings for the keyboard are disabled.

    Depending on which connector the keyboard is connected to the computer, we offer different options for solving problems that arise.

    What to do if the keyboard does not work on the computer via USB protocol

    The most common interface for connecting a keyboard to a computer is USB. The speed of information transfer from a peripheral device to the computer is sufficient, both via the USB 2.0 protocol and via USB 3.0, so there is no difference in which connector the keyboard is connected to.

    If the USB keyboard does not work when you turn on the computer, you need to do the following:


    It's worth noting that users with a keyboard connected to the motherboard via USB may have trouble getting into the BIOS on the computer's boot screen if they are using an older version of the underlying software. In this case, you need to find a keyboard with a PS/2 connector or use the appropriate adapter.

    What to do if the keyboard does not work on your computer using the PS/2 protocol

    Keyboard manufacturers are trying to move away from the PS/2 connector, abandoning it in favor of USB. It is very difficult to find a keyboard with a PS/2 connector on sale, but if you come across such peripherals and it does not work when loading Windows, most likely the problem is related to the drivers. To make the keyboard work, you need to do the following:


    It is worth noting that a similar problem with keyboards connected via the PS/2 protocol most often occurs due to an error when installing the i8042prt.sys or kbdclass.sys driver.

    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 one of these elements needs repair/replacement.