Cannot enter password to logon to Windows 7 Home Premium PC

[Brainiac]

Hi all,
I have a friend who has a Windows 7 Home Premium PC. At the moment, I am not in front of his pc, so anything I say regarding his pc is from memory.

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Memory: 8 GBs
3 internal SATA hard disk drives
NVidia Graphics Card

Last week, he turned his computer on and when prompted for the password (windows), he could not enter it. Each time he would type a character, it would immediately be erased as if the backspace key was pressed. So he cannot log into windows at all.

There is also a clicking sound when the computer is powered on. It does not start immediately. It's NOT the hard drive(s) clicking because I disconnected all of them and powered the unit on but the clicking continued.

Safe mode could not be entered into either. The system hung at an entry related to AVG antivirus. I was able to rename the AVG files that loaded on startup by using AVG's recovery disc, but then the system hung at a plugnplay driver.

He did tell me that when he was in Premiere Pro editing, the screen went black for a while a few times. Once he rebooted, that's when the problem began.

Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

Brainiac

[newpball]

Seems to me the best option here is to reinstall Windows.

[mikel]

First try another keyboard.

[Brainiac]

Mikel, I did try two keyboards, one of which was wired (usb) and the other which was wireless.
Also tried Windows Home Premium repair disk...no success.

Brainiac

[budwzr]

Boot into bios and reset to default? Press only enter at the login. will it boot?

[Brainiac]

Not at the computer right now. I will note all suggestions and try tomorrow.
Clicking sound has me more puzzled than the non boot. It's a series of clicks, probably about half a second apart. Does not start immediately upon boot and is not consistent.

Brainiac

[aedipuss]

open the box and see if it's one of the hard drives clicking, indicating a dead drive. if so shut down, unplug the dead drive and restart.

[Brainiac]

I have already disconnected all drives from the pc to determine if clicking was from one of the drives. Clicking sound was still there with all drives disconnected. Mentioned in original post.

Brainiac

[newpball]

This is a no-brainer! Why take any risk? If the system is possibly compromised reinstal!

I assume you have regular system image backups right?

[Brainiac]

@newpball: This is not my computer; it belongs to a friend who is not that tech savvy.
While I agree that reinstalling is the BEST option, there are other considerations. Locating the necessary installation discs, serials, drivers, etc. The average person (in my experience at least) has NO idea where all the necessary items are even located.

There are no backups. I know, not the best scenario, but it is what it is. Once we get up and running, I will nag him into doing regular backups.

Even if there was a backup to restore or even if we installed everything cleanly, the clicking problem may still be present and be an issue.

Brainiac

[TreeTops]

Are you sure it's clicking and not arcing?

[budwzr]

This is a no-brainer! Why take any risk? If the system is possibly compromised reinstal!

I assume you have regular system image backups right?

No, that's not a no brainer. Those of us that have a lot of software do not want to go through the big hassle of finding all the serial numbers, and going through all that.

[Bjs]

Everything disconnected (all peripherals. including video cable) and still clicking ... a smart teck would exchange the psu ... if no more clicking problem solved ... if no go to step 2

2: Intermittent or random clicking

Remove all add on cards (only leave vga if no onboard) if still present check remaining fans and while here check those case buttons for issues ... some system cases have garbage reset / power on buttons ... if still present go to 3

3: With everything removed down to main board, memory, vga card and psu listen carefully for evidence of clicking noise.

The following is not a joke.

Some earlier p4's when overheated, the cpu wafer would separate and as it warmed up a clicking noise is heard ... this was treated as an internet running joke ... I have personally experienced this with a customers pc ... it ran fine but clicked ... exchanging the cpu solved the noise problem.

Ram clicking, its possible thou it's rare ... try exchanging it for another set ... if noise still apparent got to 4

4: The only thing left is the mainboard (vga card removed) ... check for worn cables rubbing against the board and case ... also check the pcb mounts are tight ... if main board has issue it can only be replaced .... if no noise then addon vga card at fault ... the end.

-------------------------------------------

The mouse issue

How many times have I seen this ... yes its either malware or highly likely corrupted user profile as your friend kept restarting the system.

Enter safe mode and create a new user profile, restart and see if you can log in via the new account.

If the mouse issue remains then go back to safe mode and run av scanner and or malwarebytes ... Im pretty sure it can also run in safe mode ... once cleaned reboot and try re-entering the new account.

If not use a recovery tool or re-enter safe mode and backup users files before proceeding with clean reinstall of operating system.

[newpball]

This is a no-brainer! Why take any risk? If the system is possibly compromised reinstal!

I assume you have regular system image backups right?

No, that's not a no brainer. Those of us that have a lot of software do not want to go through the big hassle of finding all the serial numbers, and going through all that.

Huh?

I you have an image backup you simply restore it on your system disk.
Takes 10 minutes at the most.

[Brainiac]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I will try them tomorrow morning and report back.
The mouse works fine as does the keyboard; the issue is that characters are immediately deleted when entered as though the backspace key is pressed.

Newpball, reinstall and restore, to me at least, are 2 separate things. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Brainiac

[Nelson37]

Verify this backspace behavior is present on BOTH keyboards? Where keyboards from, user? Suspect both. Behavior and clicking sound common symptom of stuck key. Bring your own KB.

Unplug ALL peripherals. Verify no ps2 KB has been plugged in for some time, carefully check socket for possible broke pin. Remove mouse,everything. Make certain dongle for wireless KB is removed. Wait at login prompt for several minutes. Plug in USB kb, test for backspace behavior, login.

Was his copy of Premiere Pro completely legit? Ask, ask to see original disks, if none assume virus infection from pirated file.

UBCD, Hiren, Linux boot CD good for test here with all HD unplugged. Windows install CD can boot for test. Mainly KB and mouse function. If no disk available boot to BIOS and verify KB function as much as possible. If it is virus you will need a boot CD most likely.

Also try Safe Mode. Try with mouse unplugged, different KB, do not plug in until required, make certain ALL repeat ALL peripherals are unplugged. Unplug all drives other than boot drive, leave them unplugged until problem is resolved. If you don't need it to boot, eliminate it.

Stick your finger in the various fans, or something of soft plastic to stop fan and check for clicks to stop.
Suspect KB, virus, failing hard drive.

[Brainiac]

Ok, the *problem* has been solved! Before I disclose the solution, I'd like to thank all of you for the suggestions.

Yesterday I asked my friend to remove everything connected externally and relocate the cpu, monitor, mouse and keyboard to another room with a LOT more space to work in. The original location left VERY little room to work in! You had to go to another room to change your mind!!!

Anyhow, I plugged everything in and the computer booted fine! No clicking, no flickering, no issues whatsoever. I rebooted it numerous times and everything seemed fine.

We then moved everything back and it booted up fine. I had to leave so I told him to plug in all other peripherals one at a time, rebooting each time. Well, after I got home, he called me and said the computer was having the same problem. After a while, as I prepared to return to his home, he told me he solved the problem. He has ANOTHER wireless keyboard with a wireless USB thingy (a small one) plugged into the computer that he had forgotten about (and was not using; it was out of sight). The keyboard was under a pile of papers and the backspace key was being pressed by the papers! That was where the clicking was coming from and was why we could not enter the password.


Brainiac

[capvid0429]

HA! The old hidden keyboard trick.