I would probably do this:

1. Take a snapshot of the existing installation, in case things
go horribly wrong. Acronis TrueImage could be used.

2. Re-install WinNT over the top of the existing installation.

If there is a Safe Mode in WinNT (I don't remember) then
I would try it too.

You could also boot into Command Console mode with a
Win2000 CD, then replace c:\winnt\system32\system with
system.alt (making sure to preserve the original file).

For further comments see my marked lines below.


"Jim" wrote in message
news:cde31a5f.0407171324.5a68de2b@posting.google.c om...
> I successfully applied service pack 6a to my NT 4.0 box (Dell XPS R450
> (Pentium II)), then applied the post-SP6a hotfix from Q299444. NT now
> comes up with a "one or more services failed, check the event log" on
> startup, with no keyboard or mouse.
>
> After a bit of googling, it seems that this could be a known issue
> which might be alleviated by editing one or more registry keys
>
(HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\(mouclass| kbdclass|msi8042|i8042prt)
\Start)
> and setting the value to "1" (if set to "0" or "4" which apparently
> disable the keyboard/mouse).
>
> My problem is that the computer in question is not on a LAN (only
> dial-up Internet access), does not have a working floppy drive (broken
> for a while, haven't needed it recently), and the partitions are
> NTFS-formatted except for a single FAT partition shared in dual-boot
> setup with a RedHat Linux 5.1 install (from which I'm posting this
> message).
>
> Basically, what are my options re editing the registry on this
> computer? So far I can think of:
> 1. install a new floppy drive, boot off it (if possible) using the
> rescue disk, and edit the registry ;
*** What rescue disk, what registry editor?
*** You could use the Nordahl boot disk to edit parts of the
*** registry - I've tried it before.
*** http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html

> 2. install a new floppy drive, boot off it (if possible) to install
> a "temp" version of Windows NT, edit the original registry file, then
> revert to the original Window NT installation ;
*** How would you edit the original registry file?

> 3. physically remove the hard-drive containing the Windows NT
> install, place it in another Windows box (a Windows2000 box?), edit
> the registry file, then return the drive to the original box ;
> 4. or ...?

*** How would you edit the original registry file?

> If (3) is plausible, do the Windows' registry tools allow an arbitrary
> registry file to be edited (i.e. I'd want to edit the registry on
> H:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\???? instead of the "real" one for that box)? Are
> there other tools that allow that? Actually, what's the "filename" of
> the Windows registry in NT 4.0?
>
> Thanks in advance for any help/information/pointers.
>
> --
> Jim

Thanks for the information. I found a KnowledgeBase article (Q305462)
that ties the behavior to an old IntelliMouse driver, and suggests
trying to disable msi8042.sys and replacing it with i8042prt.sys.

To do that they suggest either:
1. a parallel install of NT (Q259083) ;
2. or booting of a Windows 2000 CD and using the "Recovery Console" (Q229716).

I'm going to try (2) on Monday.

On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 10:44:21 +1000, Pegasus wrote:
>I would probably do this:
>
>1. Take a snapshot of the existing installation, in case things
>go horribly wrong. Acronis TrueImage could be used.
>
>2. Re-install WinNT over the top of the existing installation.
>
>If there is a Safe Mode in WinNT (I don't remember) then
>I would try it too.
>
>You could also boot into Command Console mode with a
>Win2000 CD, then replace c:\winnt\system32\system with
>system.alt (making sure to preserve the original file).
>
>For further comments see my marked lines below.
>
>
>"Jim" wrote in message
>news:cde31a5f.0407171324.5a68de2b@posting.google.c om...
>> I successfully applied service pack 6a to my NT 4.0 box (Dell XPS R450
>> (Pentium II)), then applied the post-SP6a hotfix from Q299444. NT now
>> comes up with a "one or more services failed, check the event log" on
>> startup, with no keyboard or mouse.
>>
>> After a bit of googling, it seems that this could be a known issue
>> which might be alleviated by editing one or more registry keys
>>
>(HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\(mouclass| kbdclass|msi8042|i8042prt)
>\Start)
>> and setting the value to "1" (if set to "0" or "4" which apparently
>> disable the keyboard/mouse).
>>
>> My problem is that the computer in question is not on a LAN (only
>> dial-up Internet access), does not have a working floppy drive (broken
>> for a while, haven't needed it recently), and the partitions are
>> NTFS-formatted except for a single FAT partition shared in dual-boot
>> setup with a RedHat Linux 5.1 install (from which I'm posting this
>> message).
>>
>> Basically, what are my options re editing the registry on this
>> computer? So far I can think of:
>> 1. install a new floppy drive, boot off it (if possible) using the
>> rescue disk, and edit the registry ;
>*** What rescue disk, what registry editor?
>*** You could use the Nordahl boot disk to edit parts of the
>*** registry - I've tried it before.
>*** http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html
>
>> 2. install a new floppy drive, boot off it (if possible) to install
>> a "temp" version of Windows NT, edit the original registry file, then
>> revert to the original Window NT installation ;
>*** How would you edit the original registry file?
>
>> 3. physically remove the hard-drive containing the Windows NT
>> install, place it in another Windows box (a Windows2000 box?), edit
>> the registry file, then return the drive to the original box ;
>> 4. or ...?
>
>*** How would you edit the original registry file?
>
>> If (3) is plausible, do the Windows' registry tools allow an arbitrary
>> registry file to be edited (i.e. I'd want to edit the registry on
>> H:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\???? instead of the "real" one for that box)? Are
>> there other tools that allow that? Actually, what's the "filename" of
>> the Windows registry in NT 4.0?
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any help/information/pointers.
>>
>> --
>> Jim
>
>