Wireless mouse and keyboard stopped working in Windows 10 - can't access it at all

[fairysimile]

I have a Lenovo keyboard + mouse combo, both attached with 1 USB dongle to a 3XS mini-ITX build.

They both work fine in BIOS, in the SteamOS boot menu (i.e. GRUB2 bootloader) and in Linux, my Ubuntu 16.04 work setup.

I had booted into Windows and was streaming a Steam game from Windows to a laptop. I stopped that and left the machine idling in Windows for a couple of hours, came back, and it wouldn't wake the monitor up. Upon restarting it by the power button, I quickly figured out the keyboard and mouse no longer worked, though only in Windows.

I think this was caused by a Windows update, since when I booted it into Windows again it applied some updates.

Unfortunately I only have another wireless keyboard and mouse set, and they don't work either. I'm getting a regular ol' USB keyboard and mouse back in a week , I've loaned them to a raspberry pi workshop for women in tech.

Is there any way I could boot into safe mode, or do anything from Linux that would force Windows to reconsider those devices? My plan was to uninstall them via Device Manager and let it reinstall the drivers, but I can't get to that point!

[SUMMONER]

Have you have tried unplugging the wireless dongle for the keyboard/mouse and plugging it into another USB port on the computer while in Windows? That might encourage Windows to re-detect it.

Is there any way I could boot into safe mode

You could try turning off the computer while Windows starts. Done 3 times in a row it will trigger automatic repair mode. Once it is done with its auto-repair you get an advanced options button. Click that, followed by startup settings and then enable safe mode.

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[Lucio]

Wireless dongles do this loads, generally you have to find the right USB port on the laptop which doesn't have a voltage drop.

[fairysimile]

Have you have tried unplugging the wireless dongle for the keyboard/mouse and plugging it into another USB port on the computer while in Windows? That might encourage Windows to re-detect it.

Yep, I tried that. Tried inserting the dongle for the other keyboard + mouse combo I have available at home as well, no dice.

You could try turning off the computer while Windows starts. Done 3 times in a row it will trigger automatic repair mode. Once it is done with its auto-repair you get an advanced options button. Click that, followed by startup settings and then enable safe mode.

Thank you, I haven't used any diagnostic modes on Win 8 or 10! The mouse and keyboard work just fine in Auto Repair. I tried various things:

- did a system restore (there was only one point from 6 days ago when it still worked). No dice, keyboard and mouse still broken.
- safe mode - still nothing

So I booted a linux liveUSB and backed up the Windows partition (it should be just games, but just in case I've previously put something important on it and can't remember). I'm about to use the Automatic Repair "Reset this PC" option. If that also fails I'll reinstall Windows from the 3XS rescue usb drive.

Wireless dongles do this loads, generally you have to find the right USB port on the laptop which doesn't have a voltage drop.

Oops, I should've said this is a *desktop* 3XS system. I tried all of the USB ports, nothing.

[fairysimile]

Resolved now, I used the interrupt-windows-boot-3-times technique suggested by SUMMONER and used the Reset this PC option (keeping personal files). Worked after that, though I'll have to reinstall a bunch of stuff, and the Scan 3XS support software is gone. Might have to reinstall it via the 3XS USB stick, because I might actually need their help with a new problem - bluetooth stopped working 2 days ago, both in Linux and Windows :/.

[fairysimile]

Sorry for the late reply, posts disappeared into the moderation queue.

I used the 3-interrupted-restarts method described by SUMMONER to get into automatic repair. I used that successfully, everything is working now. Unfortunately this method wiped out the 3XS support software and preinstalled teamviewer, but I'm sure I'll figure it out if I ever need to contact Scan.

(Everything is tip top except the motherboard Bluetooth which is now mysteriously broken in both Windows and Linux, but I'll call Scan about that.)

Thanks for the help!