Computer needs startup repair, but can't use mouse or keyboard

gregrocker · 08 May 2014

First case I've seen with no USB2 ports. Are you sure? These should be backwards compatible. This is a problem since Win7 installer has no USB3 drivers in SP1 due to MS pretending Win7 is going away even though the business world is migrating off of final XP almost entirely to Win7.

You could try slipstreaming them into the Win7 installer using 7Lite, or manually using this method to Windows 7 USB 3.0 Slipstream Drivers.

You can also try moving HD to another PC with USB2 support for install, install the USB 3 drivers there, then Adjust Win7 to boot on new hardware with Paragon Adaptive Restore CD to start it on the problem PC, see it will load the USB3 devices.

kenax · 08 May 2014

looked into 7lite and the system requirements said:
WAIK - Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for windows 7
DOT NET Framework 3.5
VMware Workstation 7.0 or Virtual PC (For testing your customized OS virtually)

I imagine I don't have those, as it is a basic w7 install only and I didn't make any fancy changes.
Probably just one of Billy's ways to make himself richer by forcing everyone to upgrade to his latest bells and whistles just to get usb3 working. probably bribed the usb manufacturers too.
but putting the ssd hdd on another computer is certainly a new option to explore. :)

gregrocker · 08 May 2014

I think you only need a component of WAIK which it will prompt for when installing 7Lite, and you don't need to test in VM to just slip in a driver.

kenax · 08 May 2014

Looked into it further and found:
You cannot use a slipstream Windows 7 installation disc to do a repair install with on a currently installed Windows 7 SP1.
You cannot use a slipstream Windows 7 installation disc to do a repair install with on a currently installed slipstream Windows 7 SP1.
You can use a Windows 7 with SP1 installation disc (ex: Technet, MSDN, or retail) to do a repair install with on a current slipstream Windows 7 SP1 installation.

Will go to shop and see if something works. Thanks for the headsup on 7lite. will look into that further to secure the system better into the future.

derekimo · 08 May 2014

Is this info any help?

Winclone Support

gregrocker · 08 May 2014

I'm not sure why the driver isn't present in installation media for repair when it was there for the original install? It must be something else. What changed? Where did you uninstall the USB Extreme 3 software?

Derek's link suggests it is a Boot Camp driver that's missing, which may explain why you were able to install Win7 with no USB3 drivers in the Win7 installation media if it was provided in Boot Camp.

As to the slipstreaming warnings you quoted from tutorial, you're not doing a Repair Install or slipstreaming SP1, only a single driver which is the simplest operation 7Lite performs. But of course this is a gamble since we're dealing with Apple hardware which is rarely seen here. But you may need Startup Repair or System Restore from the disk System Recovery Options.

I would cross-post to an Apple forum.

kenax · 08 May 2014

already ran across Derek's suggestion a few times while going through mostly mac threads, freaked me out at the time, but decided to go for it, but still no go. I'm sure I gave it enough time to find the keyboard and trackpad because, during that time I managed to reinstall the soundpost on my viola. But made me think, could I possibly try entering Safe Mode with Command Prompt and get to the Bootcamp install that way? Seems the bootcamp has the right drivers for the machine but at some point windows upgraded perhaps, adding this extreme3 thing or whatever, causing a conflict with the keyboard and trackpad, as the mac forums are saying.
okay, will give this slipstream a go.

kenax · 08 May 2014

oh, and the reason I was trying Repair is because then I could just System Restore to the point before I uninstalled the Extreme3, because at least then the USBs were working and I could function in Win, albeit with external kb and mouse.

gregrocker · 08 May 2014

That would be my first thing to try, too.

Please reply to all my questions which remain unanswered. You may know the answers but we need to know them to help you better. There are others looking into the thread who might see a solution if it is complete.

kenax · 08 May 2014

not sure which questions I didn't answer, but hope this covers it:
- looked up macbook air specs and say usb3 only
- uninstalled extreme3 from Device Manager while in Windows, after reading tons of mac forums. Maybe I was supposed to roll back instead.
Not sure if it was there already, or maybe I should have uninstalled the software and not the driver. Will have to be more careful next time.
To recap, everything worked well for about half a year, all of a sudden kb and trackpad stopped working while in W. I'm assuming some automatic upgrade of drivers, which I usually don't have set to automatic. When back in W, after reading a bunch of mac forums, i got in using an external keyboard, but after uninstalling the extreme, i could no longer get in cause usbs were not working and couldn't use ext kb/mouse. Set up System Restore before uninstalling Xtr, so would like to Restore so can at least use the USBs. Will probably be a continuing struggle after that. need to get the keyboard and trackpad working again. The mac forums say the Xtr driver was conflicting with the kb and tp. Lots and lots of discussions there on that. Maybe once/if I get it operating I should consider upgrading to W8, and then 8.1? With 8.1 and Bootcamp 5 can apparently open W virtually in a box within mac OS. Or at least maybe won't have this driver issue again. Usually though i prefer to do my work directly booted into Win and not within a box, because I need speed for work, and only occasionally video edit or do more demanding graphics stuff (when monster Windows in a box consuming what's left of the 8gig ram certainly won't help things).