Intermittent keyboard & mouse

Are you running windows 98 uring that year without reinstalling it.
Then there you may find the solution.

If you install a lot of programs, deinstall them, and install others again. Then it may be possible that windows is so filled up with a lot of old systemfiles, that it works real slow

Run scan disk and defragmentor from the accessories\systemtools  floder first.

Jatcan

Can you please run System Monitor? Let us know how many bars there are (and of what color) in the icon in your Tray as it locks up? Also, could you tell us the percentages of all 3 things AFTER a lockup? I mean just after- as soon as you can, double click thet icon after a lockup!
--SmartGamer

barry d, do I need to uninstall Win 98 before reinstalling it? If so, that means I would have to virtually reload everything. Not a  promising solution as I have tons of software installed.
iatcan- I run scan disk and defrag every week.
SmartGamer- How do I get System Monitor in my Tray? I can run it in a Windows window, but not on the tray. And I don't clearly understand your questions about colors, etc.

I know it is a terrible solution to reinstall every single program, but i dont even make it to keep the same Windows on my harddisk for more than 4-5 months. Scandisk and defrag will help, but there are still a lot of (system)files that slow windows down alot.

The CPU priority for the mouses' timeslice is quite high in the que list.  There is very little that should "freeze" your mouse.

I know that many of us have had the experience of the OS locking up completely but the mouse will still move around the screen.  This is an example of the mouse priority to the system.

If you are hacing a problem with the mouse and keyboard locking at the same time, there is more than likely an IRQ problem with your system.  Something is trying to grab the IRQ or DMA of the PS2 (or serial) port.  

Right click on "My Computer" and then click on "Properties".  Check your IRQ and DMA assignments see if you have more than one thing assigned to the mouse port (11 or 12 usually).

Post here when you have done this.

Also, does this happen more than once or is a once-per-boot thing?

Good Luck,
-Jay

I think we're talking about different things here. This checks for CPU and RAM overload.

[Start]
|Programs
         |Accessories
                     |System Tools
                             |Resource Meter


It's Resouce Meter, not System Monitor. Sorry.
Please try my test a few comments ago.

--SmartGamer

I would have to agree with smartgamer.
Right click on my computer choose properties and go to the performance tab what does it say for system Resources (do this at boot up ).

I have installed Resource meter in my startup folder so it will run each time I start the computer.
The problem is NOT once per boot but very frequent and it seems only when I am on the internet to be a problem, but am not sure about that.
I have checked Device Manager. Keyboard is IRQ 1 and mouse is IRQ 12. There are no conflicts shown and no other components installed on those IRQ's. However, I recently forced two IRQ settings. My ethernet card was at 11 and my sound card at 2. Since a game I have would not recognize the sound card, I changed ethernet card to IRQ of 9 (it was free) and the sound card to 11. The reason I did not change the sound card, it was not possible in Device Manager. IRQ 9 was not a choice when attempting to change. The game needed 5, 7, 9 or 11 to recognize the sound card.
I will monitor the resource meter.
I should explain that the mouse pointer does not freeze up, but I am unable to click on anything and the keyboard is locked up when this happens. When it frees up, normally any keys pressed are responded to and so are any clicks of the mouse.
Hope this info helps and I will pass along results of Resource meter.

The resource meter shows that user and system resources are at
                                    62% free and GDI at 92% free at startup. After running a few
                                    applications, my email browser (outlook express) and netscape
                                    the readings were 49% for user and system and 83% for GDI. During
                                    a lockup the same readings were shown.

Is there a Registry Utility that cleans old settings from the registry?

Ow. That user number is L-O-W low! How much ram and HD space do you have? We may have found your problem, or part of it, but we still need to find out how to fix it...

Try ScanReg to fix the Registry. Maake sure you have an hour set aside where you will not need to use your computer, but are by it to answer prompts at it.

I will try Scan Reg Asap. I have 9.6g harddrive partition as follows C:5.84 G total space, 1.4 G available
          D3.21 total space, 3.01 available
I also have a utility by Mcafee that installed a G Drive. I am assuming it is a Ram drive. It has almost 100% available.
My system has 64M of Ram.
I will respond with reults of ScanReg.
thanks for continuing help

The RAMDRIVE takes out a lot of RAM, and it's only until you shut off the machiene... you might want to see if you can shrink it... but then again, how large is it?

--SmartGamer

P.S. How did the ScanReg turn out?

I am not sure it is a RamDrive, it is called a WinDrive and is 55 MB in size.
The ScanReg found no problems.

I have just reduced the items running in my tray (task bar).
My resources jumped to the following:
System resources  77% free
User resources      76% free
GDI resources        94% free

also I changed the Ram Drive from 55mb to 100kb. I will watch the next few days to see the results.

That may reduce ocurrences of this, if not stop them entirely.

I have disabled the Ram drive completely. I think it may have resolved the problem but need to test for a few days. Will post something here when I know.

I have continued doing many things, uninstalling unused software, cleaning the registry, etc. Still have same problem. Seems to come and go. The only other thing I can think of is to boot up and disable one thing at a time that is loaded upon booting. Any other ideas??

Have you gone to the Control Panel/System/Device manager and checked EVERY Expander + - box for

RED(X)
THE DEVICE HAS BEEN HALTED AND MAY BE HARMFUL TO YOUR SYSTEM. YOU OR WINDOWS HAS HALTED IT, AND IT COULD BE AN IRQ/DMA CONFLICT. RED(X) NEVER SHOW UP ERRONIOUSLY.

Yellow(!)

The device may work, it may not, There is something wrong with it, like a missing mouse, or an out-of-paper-or-toner Laser Printer. WIndows is trying it's hardest to fix the problem on it's own or tell you how to. A Yellow(!) sometimes appears erroniously.

Yes I have, there are NO red (X)'s or yellow (!)'s at all. Is there some utility or application that will monitor the IRQ's and there use?

I wish. However, a red X ALWAYS pops up when there has been ANY IRQ conflict within the last 3 sessions. Don't worry about it. But it's obviously not the IRQs.

I just found out that ScanReg must be run from Dos to actually repair the registry. Also a parameter (-fix) has to be used. It is a good idea to also back up registry first with ScanReg -backup. After doing all of this I still have the hangups with the keyboard and the mouse.
Also have uninstalled many programs such as virus application. Still no improvement. I am coming to the conclusion that a reinstall may be the only answer, however would still like to find a way around this.

How about
http:\\www.windowsupdate.com
They have patches for all editions of Windows there. DOWNLOAD ALL CRITICAL UPDATES, AND THE RECCOMENDED ONES TOO. IT MAY TAKE A WHILE, BUT IT MAY ALSO FIX YOUR SYSTEM. I had mouse trouble once, too... and I fixed it there, but I also had to clean the contacts.

TO CLEAN CONTACTS(dry)

I. Remove the mouse. If it's a serial mouse (square end with a lot of prongs:
 1. Wipe the prongs with a dry handkerchief. (Make sure the computer is off.)
 2. Use a very small nozzle on a dust-buster to try to get dirt of of the mouse's contacts, too. DOn't directly touch the contacts with the Dust-Buster as that will get more dirt on there than it will take off.

II. If it's a PS/2 mouse (circular plug)
 1. Use only the handkerchief on the computer and mouse. Don't use a dust-buster on either device. The way a PS/2 port is built, any dirt in holes will fall out or a Dust-Buster can't take it out.

Maybe this will help...

--SmartGamer

I regularly update my Windows so I know it is not that. However, I just discovered that Windows Critical Update is in my task scheduler. It is set to run every 5 minutes and if you attempt to change the settings it reverts back to the original settings. Thought it would fix my hang up but it did not. I am convinced I must reload Windows. That means a lot of reloading and downloading from internet. Oh well thanks for your help and if you come up with a solution before I rebuild, I will make it worth your time (points). Thanks again

Wait! One more thing: get a new mouse driver first. What brand is your mouse, or is it a no-name brand like mine? If it's something like Logitech or IBM, go to their website, try to get the latest driver version. Otherwise, get your Win98 CD and try ANYTHING ELSE for the mouse/keyboard drivers.

--SmartGamer

P.S. I always have my E-mail up, and it scans every 10 mins. for new e-mail, so if you give me more info, I'll know and probably come right away.

NEVER GIVE UP! THERE'S ALWAYS A WAY!

I just download the newest Microsoft mouse driver for my particular mouse. It did not help, I still get lock ups on the keyboard and mouse.
Any more ideas?

How large is your swapfile? If it's swapping too much, you'll get this- the swapfile is the only thing of higher priority than the mouse and keyboard.
How much

RAM do you have?

Hard Disk do you have?

HD free do you have?

I have 64M ram, 9.6G hard drive, and 3.2G free

How do I check swapfile, where is it?

It's the swapfile, I'm sure of it. But here's how to check:

Start/Find/Files Or Folders...
Drive C
Include Subfolders
*.swp

Tell me the resulting file(s) and it's (their) size(s), there SHOULD only be one.

If the swap file is too large or small:

Swapping is about the only thing higher priority over the mouse and keyboard. YOUR COMPUTER IS OVER-SWAPPING. If you notice heavy HD activity during lockups, there's no point in checking Find: It's the S-File.

Tell me what you find, and I'll look up what to do about an overswap.

SmartGamer

If you are running Windows 95/98 then windows itself is managing your memory.  It is highly unlikley that you are in an "overswap" situation becuase of it.

In all of my past computer experience, SmartGamers "Overswap" issue has only happened once... and it should only happen on a drive that has a manual swap file, not an automatic.

My suggestion to you is that you go out and spend 19.99 or 29 bucks on a single PS2 port card and install it.  Then disable your other PS2 port and install the mouse there.  See if that fixes your problem (if not, you can always take the card back and say it's defective).

That is assuming that your PC is _not_ under any warranty.   If it is, call the manufacture and tell them that you seem to have a faulty PS2 port on your system (unfortunatly its connected to the Motherboard).  After some inital troubleshooting they will send you a new motherboard.

All of the symptoms that you are describing reflect back to one problem, an interrupt conflict.  Windows may not be reporting one, but if you have a faulty PS2 port... the problem would be intermittent.

I really feel for you, having this problem for so long.  I understand how frustrating it is for your computer to just keep locking on you.

Good Luck!
-Jay

p.s. SmartGamer, no diss on you or anything, you seem to have stuck with this question when everyone else gave up.

Blood-
Ummm... I guess you didn't read the whole history- that's geen adressed before.

Bromaine-
Do you minimise programs or close them?
How many icons are in the tray?

Be sure to completely close programs, don't just minimize them.

There is nothing in the history of this thread that says that he replaced the PS2 port.  Perhaps you are talking about another question on EE ?

-Jay

My swap file is on the root of C:. It is 48.0 MB in size. There is also another *.swp called Cwspdpmi.swp. It is 0 bytes in size.

Come on guys lets not fight, LOL. This is definitely a difficult problem and Blood you are right Smartgamer is the only one who has stuck with me trying to resolve this problem.
I disagree that it might be a bad PS2 port as my keyboard would not be affected by that. I am rather concerned that although device manager reports no conflicts, that there seems to be many devices sharing IRQ's. But nothing on IRQ 1 (keyboard) or IRQ 12 (mouse). The IRQ with multiple devices are like 11 and one or two others. The addresses for the  multilple devices are different though.
Note: Remember that to the best of my knowledge, this appears to only happen when I am actively on the internet. Although it sometimes hangs up when I am actively running a non internet application.
Thanks for you continued help and hopefully we will find the problem and all learn something new!!
BTW I do sometimes minimize some applications, but usually only for a few minutes while I do something else. I normally only have 1 application open. I have eliminated many of the tasks that were running in my task bar and now only have four
or five running. But when I booted up tonight, I got an explorer error, then reactivated my desktop. I only have 1 task in task bar right now and my system has not hung up yet!! Maybe one of the apps in task bar is the culprit?

!!! It's an overloaded system! Close the apps one by one (it's not Volume Control, leave that on) and see when the problems start.

1. Move everything in your Startup Folder to your Desktop.

2. Make sure your Startup folder is empty.

3. If your system works how you want, and the freezes stop: I HAVE SOLVED YOUR PROBLEM.

4. If the system works how you want, but the freezes don't stop: Try to turn off everything that has an icon on the Tray. (I don't think it's the swap file, anymore.)(Everything you don't absolutely need, that is.) IF THE FREEZES STOP, YOUR PROBLEM IS SOLVED.

5. If something really useful is turned off:
Put it back in startup, and see if the freezes stop.

ALSO: Task Manager is a HUGE memory hog. Turn it off, if you can.

Uhhh... yeah... thats how a computer is _supposed_ to work.  If you have too much stuff open it locks the mouse to let you know "hey, you are overloading me".   PSshhhhhhhh

bromaine... I assume that you have already tried SFC (Microsofts system file checker) to see if any OS files are corrupt?   I also assume that you have run MSCONFIG and tried disabling things in your "Startup" tab that should not be loading.

If you have eliminated the operating system (which controls the mouse), then the _other_ controller of the mouse must be having issues.

99% of the time when I have had these problems and I have eliminated the OS as the causing factor, it has been a hardware conflict of some type.

Either try and change the IRQ that something is on, or get a new PS2 port.

But its your decision =)  I am just trying to give you some helpful advice, things that have helped me with this problem in the past.

Take care...
-Jay

thanks for both of your inputs. I will try everything and anything to solve the problem. I will get back to you when I have had the opportunity to try and isolate the culprit. Thanks again and again.

Blood I am not sure if I understand all that you suggest. I do not know what SFC is or where to find it. I have not used MSCONFIG as you suggest. Think I will have to do that. You talk about eliminating the operating system. Not sure what you meant by that.
Anyhow I am going to try everything that both of you have suggested and hopefully fall onto the problem.

If you go to START | RUN | and type in "MSCONFIG" and hit enter, it will run the MS configuration program.  That will let you look at (on the "Startup" tab) what is loading with your system.  IF you disable something in that menu, it will put itself inside a folder on your start menu called "Disabled Startup Items" or something to that effect.  This is a good way of trouble shooting computer TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) programs.

If you go to START |RUN | and type "SFC" and it enter, it will run the Microsoft System File Checker.  Run the program and see if it comes back with any "corrupt" files that might be causing a system hang.  It is possible that some file that the Kernel calls during your dialup-sessions is corrupt and causing your system hangs.

If you do both of these and do not notice anything weird or strange (i.e. Something loading at startup that has nothing to do with your video card, antivirus software, sound card or operating system) then it is more than likley your PS2 port that is causing the issue.

I am not there, so I can't say for certain... but it is a really high possibility.

Good Luck,
-Jay

The fix after explorer crashed is realy suspicious... check mine first!

Hey Brom- haben't heard from you in a while, where have you been, how has this turned out? I can't help until you do something!

I have been trying to eliminate one application after another. THings loaded at startup and on the task bar. I think the problem is resolved, but want to make sure by using internet for a few more days. If I am convinced all is well I will let you know so I can award points to you. Thanks again!!

Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas. What a great gift for you- fixing your computer!

--S.G.

SG, please resubmit as answer so I can award points. The problem is resolved. I have several items from startup folder on the desktop. One of which is the cause of my problem. I will isolate the culprit and let you know which one it is.
Thanks for sticking with me.

SmartGamer you showed extreme perserverance and I apprecate it greatly. It made it possible to correct my problem without having to completely rebuild my system. Thanks again!!