[newbe]

Hi, I have a very frustrating problem. I'm trying to do a clean install of XP on a machine as Windows has got corrupted and won't start up. I got the machine with XP pre-installed about four years ago so I've never come across the problem I'm about...

Hi,
I have a very frustrating problem. I'm trying to do a clean install of XP on a machine as Windows has got corrupted and won't start up. I got the machine with XP pre-installed about four years ago so I've never come across the problem I'm about to describe before.

Basically despite being able to use the keyboard to enter boot menus and make changes etc. during initial boot-up when I get to the point where it says windows hasn't started properly, do you want to start normally or start in safe mode etc. my keyboard suddenly does not work at all so I can't make any selections other than waiting for the full thirty seconds with the default start normally option selected. Of course Windows then won't boot up completely.

Similarly if I use a start up diskette or 'ultimate' boot CD or with a view to reformatting when I get the A: prompt or told to hit enter to run my boot CD I can't do anything with the keyboard, and therefore can't reformat.

I can't see any options in the boot menus to do anything about this keyboard problem. Anyone any ideas what on earth is going on and how I can solve it? Because otherwise I can't see how on earth I can reformat the machine.

thanks,
Jonathan