Keyboard/Mouse randomly stop responding (PS/2)

North Antri · 21 Apr 2012

Recently I have been having this problem where my PS/2 keyboard and mouse both stop responding. The lights are still on, but neither work. Sometimes it happens just to my mouse, and not the keyboard, but usually both. When it happens, they are not responding for anywhere from a few seconds, to a few minutes (but by that point I restart the computer). If it happens just to the mouse, putting the computer to sleep using the keyboard and wakening it again fixes the problem.

I have tried to update the drivers in device manager by letting windows search for them online, but it says they are up-to-date.

I also checked all the connections inside the computer, unplugging and re-plugging each one as well as air-dusting.

Is anyone able to help me find out whats wrong, or how I can fix it?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: If I can't find a fix, I think I will just purchase a USB mouse and keyboard, but I'd rather try fix the problem first.

EDIT 2: I am still very much in need of help.

A Guy · 22 Apr 2012

Well, this can be hard to fix as normally we will suggest opening task manager or resource manager when this occurs to see if you are experiencing high cpu usage, which can cause input devices to become unresponsive. But to open those, you need...a keyboard and/or a mouse! If it only effects the mouse, you can try opening task manager with the keyboard (Ctrl+shift+Esc), and see if you are experiencing high CPU usage.

You can also try unplugging the unresponsive device, and plugging it back in to see if that re-enables it. If it is not an actual PS2 issue, a USB device may not correct the problem. If the problem was happening regularly, you could either boot to safe mode to see if it occurs there, or (better for prolonged testing), perform a clean start to see if there is a conflict causing the problem.

Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup

Also, the event viewer may provide some help

Event Viewer - Open and Use in Windows 7

A Guy

North Antri · 22 Apr 2012

I will open the task manager next time it happens using the keyboard and see if anything is happening, unplugging the mouse and reconnecting it does nothing at all

I will boot in safe mode, or try a clean start. Thanks for those links too!

North Antri · 22 Apr 2012

Ok, so my mouse froze today as usual, and I recorded the time it did so in my head, then checked the event manager for anything at that time. I got this:

Log Name: System
Source: Service Control Manager
Date: 22/04/2012 18:23:43
Event ID: 7036
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Matthew-PC
Description:
The Software Protection service entered the stopped state.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Service Control Manager" Guid="{555908d1-a6d7-4695-8e1e-26931d2012f4}" EventSourceName="Service Control Manager" />
<EventID Qualifiers="16384">7036</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8080000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-04-22T17:23:43.391417900Z" />
<EventRecordID>165014</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="632" ThreadID="6972" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>Matthew-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="param1">Software Protection</Data>
<Data Name="param2">stopped</Data>
<Binary>7300700070007300760063002F0031000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

Anyone able to help me out now?

A Guy · 22 Apr 2012

I did some searching for random mouse freezing, and The Software Protection service entered the stopped state. Seems a commonality is logitech devices. It was also reported that switching to High Performance power plan has fixed this for some. I will ask the Gurus if anyone has any ideas. A Guy

F5ing · 22 Apr 2012

You might also try looking in Device Manager to see if there are any conflicts for the keyboard and mouse device entries.

kegobeer · 22 Apr 2012

What security software are you using? Also, have you updated to SP1?

carwiz · 22 Apr 2012

A 7036 is a common and normal occurrence. The Service Control Manager issues a log entry every time a service is started or stopped. It's not necessary to have all services running if the PC is idle.

North Antri · 23 Apr 2012

A Guy said:

I did some searching for random mouse freezing, and The Software Protection service entered the stopped state. Seems a commonality is logitech devices. It was also reported that switching to High Performance power plan has fixed this for some. I will ask the Gurus if anyone has any ideas. A Guy

The only Logitech devices I have are a wheel (which I've had for a while) and a microphone, which uses the microphone jack, and not USB. I only got it about two weeks ago, I doubt it is the microphone because it only uses the jack and has no software.

sibbil said:

You might also try looking in Device Manager to see if there are any conflicts for the keyboard and mouse device entries.

I only looked in device manager to see of there where any drivers to update.

kegobeer said:

What security software are you using? Also, have you updated to SP1?

I'm using McaFee (not at home, no idea how it's spelt).

I'm using Windows 7, and I was not aware there was a SP for it. I can check later tonight.