USB ports inop after factory reset

Hi, my laptop (Dell Inspiron 8600 with WinXP Pro sp2 ,60gb drive and 1gb ram) started freezing and using 100 percent sys resources all the time even in safe mode. After trying many things to correct, I restored the computer to factory settings. Now most things work except for the USB ports. The external keyboard, mouse or any other device is not recognized by the usb. I doesn't matter which usb I try. The device manager says all usb hubs are working correctly. I tried reinstalling them with same results. I also used the Dell driver reset.
Any ideas will be appreciated.

Thanks

 

In Device Manager, Remove all USB controllers and hubs. Reboot and they should be rebuilt by Windows automatically. I have had success with this method in the past.

 

THANKS,
I tried that and they did rebuild but did not fix the problem. At first I rebooted with an external mouse connected to the usb and the optical light on the mouse came on but did not move the cursor. I unplugged the mouse and reconnected it and the optical light went out and the mouse still won't work. same with an external keyboard.

Thanks,

 

mouse keyboard

check microsoft download center- check mouse and kboard makers for updated drivers. check plug and platy enabled. try restart again.

 

You might try your BIOS. Could be your USB might be turned off there. It has happened in the past. Gremlins I guess.

 

pre-boot

did everything check out ok in pre-boot test?

 

Is there a driver disk for the motherboard ?

 

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I tried looking for drivers and the POST indicated no problems. Also checked the BIOS and it was ok .


Should I have performed a complete format and new user install instead of a restore to factory settings?

Thanks

 

when i did factory it was a new comp. again. i entered my name and address. then got online did updates set security, did McAfee scan. loaded my store bought cd's ran adaware and was good to go.