USB keyboard and mouse stop working after boot into Windows 7 (dual-boot with Win 8)

Omar

Omar

Omar

Associate
Joined
31 May 2005
Posts
805
Location
London
I recently installed Windows 8.1 on a new SSD to use as my main OS. I previously had another SSD with Windows 7 installed on it.

However, after installing Windows 8 on the new SSD, when I try to boot into Windows 7 on the second SSD, my USB keyboard and mouse stop working immediately during the Windows boot process.

Just to be clear, the keyboard and mouse are working fine in Windows 8 and also during the BIOS boot-up (i.e I can get into the UEFI bios, select an alternative boot device, etc.) The BIOS does have legacy USB support enabled and I have the keyboard and mouse plugged into USB 2.0 ports rather than USB 3.0 ones in case driver initialisation is required.

I have tried unplugging/replugging the devices after booting to the Windows 7 login screen, but this doesn't work either. I have tried booting into safe mode and also to the Windows Repair tool, but neither works either as the same thing happens during the Windows boot process.

The Windows 7 side was working fine while I had the new SSD installed but before I installed Windows 8.1 onto it.

I have done a bit of Googling and none of the suggestions so far (safe mode, checking the BIOS legacy USB setting) seem to work for me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm planning to move fully to using the Windows 8.1 partition, but I wanted to check some settings on the old Windows 7 install as part of the migration.
 
ah. didnt know if it was the one in you sig or not.

are they wireless? I've had some odd USB issues with my Z97 Deluxe but nothing this weird.
 
The mouse is wireless but the keyboard is wired.

It's very strange because as I said, Windows 7 was working fine (with the system as-is) before I installed Windows 8.1 on the new drive. The keyboard and mouse work fine under Windows 8.1.

It would appear as if somehow the Windows 8.1 installation has somehow done something to the USB drives under the Windows 7 side (which is on a separate drive and I didn't select the upgrade option when installing 8.1, just a fresh install). The especially odd thing about it seems to be that even in Safe Mode, the Windows 7 side does the same thing (disables the mouse and keyboard while booting).
 
I've managed to get this working.

I think what fixed it was changing the "EHCI Hand-off" setting from Disabled to Enabled in the BIOS under USB Configuration. I'm pretty sure I didn't change this setting when I installed Windows 8.1, so not quite sure why it is now required.

Anyway, I'm happy that I've managed to get it sorted for now and hopefully this might help others who come across the same issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom