Mouse and keyboard randomly fail to recognize inputs - which component is responsible?
Mouse and keyboard randomly fail to recognize inputs - which component is responsible?
In Device Manager choose the relevant keyboard or mouse device and examine the available tabs: General, Driver, Details, Events, and Power Management. If the Events tab at the bottom displays "View All Event," clicking it will open the Event Viewer. Search for any entries that happen right before or when the inputs stop registering. Resource Monitor and Process Explorer are dynamic tools that adapt to system activity. Observe for changes or anomalies in any way they respond when inputs fail. This may be rapid or subtle. It might require some time to understand what information appears and how to use the interface. Pay attention to column headers: a rising or falling arrow indicates sorting direction. This helps identify active processes and resource usage, which could be influencing the issue.
@williamjeremiah
It could stem from proprietary drivers or software taking control—such as updating, backing up, or simply calling for help.
Actually, I just went to a different route for testing and decided to check if the PSU is the problem. I only have an electrical test pen (for now, just bought a multimeter online and waiting for it to arrive) and I noticed something weird. In Indonesia, we use a type F outlet & plug (Schuko) like Germany as shown in the picture below.
From what I read is that they are unpolarized or can be plugged in two ways. If the PSU is turned on, it can cause electric shocks no matter the orientation of the plug to the outlet. However, this is where I noticed something weird (to me at the very least); with the PSU switch turned off, one of the ways to plug the outlet seems to still be able to cause an electric shock. I was able to confirm this by using said electrical test pen on the shock points, including the ports of a monitor and the 3.5mm audio jack extension connected to the monitor if said monitor was plugged to the PC's GPU.
I still currently as me posting this have barely any idea if the PSU was the cause of the shock, or if my outlets were ungrounded. Other devices with grounding pins on their plugs seem to still light up the electrical test pen but definitely dimmer compared to when I touched my PC's multiple shock points using the electrical test pen.
EDIT: I did test using a multimeter. All voltage and resistance measurements seem to indicate that it probably is grounded at the outlet. What I'm still not sure to test is how to check IF the PSU was the one at fault, and if it actually caused the shock to the case and the random mouse freezing.
Currently I don't really have the time to test the Resource Monitor and Process Explorer, so I don't know if this is in any way a possible "symptom" to suggest that my PSU is the cause of my mouse and keyboard freezing problem.
Before proceeding with the test, I suspect it might be useful to verify. Because my wireless keyboard relies on a battery that the PC also needs to charge, could the issue of freezing when using a wired connection versus 2.4 GHz wireless be linked to the power supply unit?
The PC might struggle to fully charge the keyboard's battery. Using a USB port from the PC is being considered to fix this.
Can you try using a separate USB hub to power the keyboard instead?
The battery on the keyboard could be deteriorating and stop working. A fresh rechargeable battery might resolve this.
More frequent wired freezes compared to wireless ones suggest USB ports are likely involved.
How severe are these "freezing" issues? Try to measure how often they occur.
It seems possible that using a wired connection is the bigger issue, as the PC would attempt to handle keyboard actions while charging the battery simultaneously.
In wireless mode (no direct PC link), the focus would shift to keyboard operations through a dongle in another USB port.
All these scenarios depend on power sources from the PSU. The core problem might lie there.
Proceed carefully, testing one change at a time and monitoring logs.
Also, spend some time reviewing Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer—both are useful for troubleshooting.
Error codes, warnings, or even simple messages can offer hints. They may also expose a pattern that leads to these freezes.