Mice and other pointing devices - Gone!

[Mercades]

So, been having a problem with my Windows 7. I came back from out of town and hopped on my computer and boom! Keyboards and mice didn't work. The desktop wasn't even plugged in. The devices work while in BIOS. After some trial and error I was able to get the keyboard to work after Windows 7 64 bit loaded. Mouse never did, however. I reinstalled the drivers, tried the mouse on different computers, tried different mice on this computer. I discovered the whole Device Manager drop down Menu for 'Mice and other pointing devices' is completely gone. Even reinstalling drivers does not fix the problem.


I installed Win7 on my partitioned drive, and everything works fine there, but not on my Master. Any ideas short of reinstalling/overwriting?


To note: I have installed drivers, run diskcheck, run win update (what I could, anyway), and the Win7 install CD repair functions, including but not limited to reloading to earlier recovery points.

 

[file3456]

You said the desktop was not plugged in? Do you suspect someone monkeying with your computer?

Have you scanned the computer for malware?

What about a repair install? Repair Install

The fact this happened while you were out of town is a little suspicious.

 

[Mercades]

I haven't tried repair install, but I will.
I doubt someone was on it, it was password protected and my passwords are fairly complicated. No one around me knows enough to bypass windows security, as far as I know. I had just moved in with my girlfriend,
had just enough time to get the monitor and mouse plugged in before I had to leave for work for two weeks. Didn't even have interney.

I did check for malware and did a full antivirus and system check. Three or four times, honestly.

 

[Snick]

Mercades

Here's some info on Repair Install. I have Win764 ISO if you need it. Sevenforums links are no long working.
Repair Install - Windows 7 Help Forums
Video Brian Britec Computer, UK
Repair Install Install to Fix Windows 7 Without Reformatting by Britec ...
Simplix Windows 7 updates MajorGeeks

Snick

 

[file3456]

I haven't tried repair install, but I will.
I doubt someone was on it, it was password protected and my passwords are fairly complicated. No one around me knows enough to bypass windows security, as far as I know. I had just moved in with my girlfriend,
had just enough time to get the monitor and mouse plugged in before I had to leave for work for two weeks. Didn't even have interney.

I did check for malware and did a full antivirus and system check. Three or four times, honestly.

I can bypass a Windows password in about two minutes. Those are completely useless. I did it to my brother and then created my own backdoor account. That's why I'm smart enough to use FDE (Full Disk Encryption).

The fact you said there was some physical disturbance bothers me. Are you sure that this computer was not plugged in as you state? Do you mean the power cord or what? If this strikes you as odd then you might want to figure out the source of that issue. Maybe your girlfriend or something? To have the "desktop unplugged" and then having computer issues right off the bat is very peculiar.

While the computer could be fixed, I'm more concerned about your safety. Was anyone else in the residence while you were absent? Did you notice anything else in the residence out of the ordinary? If so, you may want to file a police report and look into some cameras and alarm system. Some are better than others. I'd avoid Simplisafe. That can be defeated with a $4 remote control bought on eBay. The Ring home alarm system kit looks more promising, but all of these self-installation kits all have one thing in common: they are WIFI based which can be defeated. Either you jam the signal or send deauth packets. A hardwired system with cell backup would be a lot better. That goes for POE (Power Over Ethernet) cameras. Consider a big dog.

I used to be a professional at this stuff and know lots about home security. I even read books on the espionage craft, escape and evasion, OSINT (Open Source Intelligence), etc. And while I'm not a marshal arts guru, I do know a few things in that realm should I need to use it.

 

[Mercades]

I can bypass a Windows password in about two minutes. Those are completely useless. I did it to my brother and then created my own backdoor account. That's why I'm smart enough to use FDE (Full Disk Encryption).

The fact you said there was some physical disturbance bothers me. Are you sure that this computer was not plugged in as you state? Do you mean the power cord or what? If this strikes you as odd then you might want to figure out the source of that issue. Maybe your girlfriend or something? To have the "desktop unplugged" and then having computer issues right off the bat is very peculiar.

While the computer could be fixed, I'm more concerned about your safety. Was anyone else in the residence while you were absent? Did you notice anything else in the residence out of the ordinary? If so, you may want to file a police report and look into some cameras and alarm system. Some are better than others. I'd avoid Simplisafe. That can be defeated with a $4 remote control bought on eBay. The Ring home alarm system kit looks more promising, but all of these self-installation kits all have one thing in common: they are WIFI based which can be defeated. Either you jam the signal or send deauth packets. A hardwired system with cell backup would be a lot better. That goes for POE (Power Over Ethernet) cameras. Consider a big dog.

I used to be a professional at this stuff and know lots about home security. I even read books on the espionage craft, escape and evasion, OSINT (Open Source Intelligence), etc. And while I'm not a marshal arts guru, I do know a few things in that realm should I need to use it.

Power cord wasn't plugged in. Which, it shouldn't be. All I did was plug in the mouse, keyboard, and monitor before leaving again. Was it ever plugged in? No idea.

I can bypass windows security fairly easily, myself. No one else around me knows how, though, to my knowledge. As far as someone being there? No idea. It IS possible. I was working states away and there was about two weeks my girlfriend was with me, so no one was at the house. Doesn't matter to me, though. There isn't much of anything on the computer. My art and games. Nothing sensitive. I clear histories pretty regular, don't save passwords, and don't put in credit information, and still swap money cards faiy often. More concerned with how to fix this problem more than how it came about. Speculation can only get one so far, after all.

 

[SIW2]

Have you tried the repair install that was suggested?

 

[Mercades]

Have you tried the repair install that was suggested?

Not yet, I will be tomorrow (friday). I haven't been home long enough to. I will be able to try it and report on the results.

 

[Mercades]

After many many many attempts, repair install doesn't work. It goes through all the motions, then the computer restarts. After-which, it does not do anything. I get a black screen (still no mouse usage), and upon attempting to reboot it tells me that it was unsuccessful and rolls back to the previous installation.


Edit: Apparently, it removed my previous restore points, since they are no longer available on this drive. Also, my system files are now corrupt, the OS isn't able to roll back to a functioning point. I'm running chkdsk /r to hopefully repair enough to get to limping. I may have to load another drive, transfer my goods, then do a clean install. What I was hoping to -not- have to do.