Can't get an XP machine to recognize USB mouse or keyboard.

Wasn't sure where to put this topic but here goes.

I was given some neighbor's machine to try and fix. At first it would attempt to boot into XP and get a bluescreen, always, even with safe mode. So I boot up the OS disk and try a few things then come across the command 'fixboot' which did indeed fix the boot sector on the C drive and told me that it had been corrupted beforehand. Now that that's solved everything boots up fine, except for one little thing. XP won't recognize my wired mouse, my wireless mouse or my wired keyboard. At first I thought it was one of those nit-picky things Windows does where it has to be a certain USB port in order to work but I've tried my wired mouse in EVERY USB port on this thing and none of them give me a response of any kind. The mouse doesn't even look like it's getting power. Granted I haven't tried every port with the other two peripherals, but I think this speaks for itself. What makes absolutely no sense about any of this is that the keyboard works just fine when I'm working around in the BIOS and every peripheral works 100% on my normal machine without anything fancy.

I don't know all the specs but I do know this machine is running Windows XP SP2 (at least), it's a Dell XPS 210 model, runs a Core 2 Duo at 1.86 GHz and that's about it. Oh and there's no PS/2 ports so I can't try that.

Any ideas?

I can access the BIOS just fine, yes, but I don't remember seeing any options to disable/enable USB keyboards and/or mouse. I will look again though.

Edit - Yeah there are no such options. I would assume that since USB is the only way of using keyboard or mouse (there's no PS/2 ports) that the USB support is always on. This has to be a Windows thing. Just can't figure out what it is or how to fix it.

Guys, I do have the exact same problem (although my PC model is a bit older than XPS 210 model - Core 2 Duo) and I really don't want to format my PC even if I have a full back up of my content.

Please please please... is there a kind soul who knows how to fix this.

I'm having the same problem. It's with a Dell Optiplex. Can't hit cntrl-alt-delete to login to Windows XP, but keyboard and Mouse work find in bios. Have tried Dell configuration CD that tests the hardware, and no problems found. I tried installing a PCI card with USB 2 that someone suggested on another board as maybe tricking Windows into loading drivers, but it didn't work. Now I am trying to find an old PS/2/ PCI card to plugin, and see if I can get into windows that way and fix the drivers. Also tried unplugging power and hitting power button to discharge whatever residue. Someone suggested to me to unplug power for 10 minutes and then plug back in. Haven't tried that yet.

Any one solve this issue? I've been searching the net for an answer.