Question No Mouse Function: A Real Head Scratcher!
Question No Mouse Function: A Real Head Scratcher!
Okay so I’ve been trying to fix this for 2 days now, and I’m completely stumped!
3 nights ago I was streaming from Hulu while straightening up the house when my computer froze. It froze so bad that literally everything stopped: mouse, keyboard, even the power button on the tower. I had to literally unplug the computer from the power cord to get it to go off. When it started back up (amazingly), everything was working except my mouse.
My keyboard is wired but it worked. Everything else worked except the mouse. I inserted a flash drive to make a backup copy of all my data but that didn’t connect either! I know you’re thinking it was obviously a USB issue or a USB driver issue, but I think not. Read on, because this is where it gets weird.
I removed the mouse’s dongle and tested it in another computer and it works perfectly. Come back to my main computer and it still didn’t work. I tried other ports and none worked. So I inserted my restore drive not really thinking because the USB ports weren’t working… but it did work!!! Okay, so maybe the problem was the driver but again, troubleshooting solved nothing. I restored my system and kept all my files. When it came back, still no mouse. So I did a clean reset. Still nothing!!!
I don’t even have “mouse and other pointing devices” listed in the device manager. I’d assume it’s a driver but all the other devices work. So I went and bought a wired mouse because even if I can bypass the problem, at least I could still work from my desktop until I can solve the problem, but that didn’t work either!
I’m approaching dangerously close to the extent of my knowledge here and I can’t find anything online about this problem. Would I be safe to assume it is a bios or a motherboard issue? I have an Asus ROG Strix B-450F motherboard, AMD Ryzen cpu and nvidia graphics card. SSD main hard drive, two internal backups, a NAS and a “server” on a raspberry pi.
Any suggestions? I’m at my wit’s end over this… I need my computer to run my new small business. Thank you in advance for any help you might have!!!
Before considering any other possibilities, ensure you've eliminated the software problem (it's likely).
To confirm it fully:
* disconnect all other drives except the OS drive
* format the OS drive
* perform a clean OS installation
This will remove all software issues, including bloatware and most malware (except rootkits), and it’s the quickest method.
If you prefer a more detailed process, you might attempt a fix without a clean OS install, but locating the real problem can be challenging.
For instance, when you start in BIOS, does your mouse pointer show up? If yes, the issue is likely with the operating system rather than hardware.
Another method is to boot into Safe Mode and check if the mouse pointer appears there. If it does, the OS kernel is probably fine, but the problem lies with third-party software.
My assessment suggests possible OS corruption. Depending on your operating system—Windows, GNU/Linux, or MacOS—you can run specific CMD commands to try resolving the Windows corruption.
Yes, Windows 10 (apologies, intended to say it seems like it forgot). Safe mode worked just like that. No mouse either in the BIOS. I executed these commands via PowerShell:
dism /online /cleanup-image /CheckHealth
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
sfc /scannow
Even after a clean install, the issue persisted. I erased everything and began over from scratch.
Then, the issue is with hardware. Most likely MoBo is acting up.
Oh, PSU make and model (or part number) is? Also, how old the PSU is, and was the PSU bought new or used/refurbished?
I'm doubtful about it because the problem isn't related to USB ports, but rather MoBo's failure to recognize certain devices.
I actually have one card in a PCIe slot and another expansion added to the drive slot at the front of the tower. They also don't recognize wireless or wired mouse. Regarding flash drives: the computer recognizes the ones I bought at Micro Center, but not the Sandisk drives. I believe the motherboard is probably the issue. I even tried inserting the dongle into the native mobo USB ports, but they still don't recognize it. I wonder if my NVIDIA card caused the original problem... you're going to love this! I bought that in 2011. It's been too long since I can find the purchase receipt—MC only goes back to 2014. It might be time to retire it, as native GPUs in mobo are likely just as good or better now.