Is there a way to access locked computer remotely? I lost USB ports

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Astralv

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I lost USB ports after Windows 8.1 update (see my post here: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1846503/computer-boot-windows-update.html

I am in safe mode in front of password screen to log in but I can not type. Is there any way to access this computer remotely to install USB driver?

(Any other ways to sneak USB driver in would be great!)

I am out of option. I did system restore- failed. I don't want to reinstall Windows- it has too much data between C and D drive... and I am afraid- it will install new Windows and USB will still not work. (USB works in BIOS). Please, help!
 
Is your mouse/keyboard connected to USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 ports? If USB 3.0 (usually blue), move to USB 2.0 ports. Those you should still be able to access.

Also, if your system is able to connect to the network and you enabled Remote Desktop you could possibly access your system from another on your network.
 
No USB ports are available. Everything dark (tested with USB stick- no light). No response from keyboards or mouse. No PS2 on Asus Deluxe models mobos.

Do I need to enable "Remore Desktop" on this computer? I am at log in screen- I can not do anything without keyboard. Thank you.
 
Power your system down completely. Then, disconnect all USB devices.

Power the system back on with no USB devices attached.

Once back to the Windows login screen, reconnect the keyboard and mouse only. Windows may re-detect the devices.
 
I will try this in a second. Also there is no light at all- the USB is dead. It has full support in BIOS, but dies soon as Windows appears.

I found Remote Desktop. But I don't remember how I called that computer. It asks for the name and username.
 
It's been over 24 hours of working on this thing. I can not believe Microsoft did not come up with any backup plan in case of USB failure.

I see my other computer in File Explorer, never saw this computer. Where do I browse Network? I found usrname- it is on my login screen (duh!)

I need to find a way to go to Command Prompt and undo "Safe Mode" command as it does not get on line because I selected "minimal" safe mode option...
 
use your BIOS, find a setting that will not allow the USB hubs to be turned off by the OS. (low power setting)
do not let your usb hub go to sleep, or low power mode, or EU power mode if you have that setting.
Also make sure you enable wake via keyboard if you have a USB keyboard.

often driver defaults are changed to increase battery life on laptops, sometimes these changes effect desktop builds as well.
 
I just checked all settings in BIOS again- I do not see any low power for USB. There were settings for PCI to power manage by OS- it was disabled- I enabled it but it did not change anything. At the end- I did "load default settings", and that did not help. All I need is reinstall driver- very bad planning of Microsoft. How ca they rely on USB so much with no backup plan?
 
if your usb works while in BIOS then the port is not dead. look for a BIOS setting that tells the usb port that is a 1.1 port, or a legacy usb port. make sure you don't have a the hub disabled in bios. if your board has more than one hub, try to change the connection of your keyboard to the primary hub.

I looked up your board
you have 10 usb 2 ports, 4 intel usb 3 ports
and 4 asmedia usb 3.0 ports

plug your keyboard into the usb 2 port
or the intel usb 3 port if that fails

if you have any bios setting for USB 3.0 Boost turn it off until after you install custom drivers

 
Legacy USB support is enabled. I have only 2 external USB 2.0, and they are not working when Windows loads. Tested with USB stick- no light. I have tried- nothing. The moment Windows appears- USBs go down. Can not find the setting in BIOS for it to stop.
 
asus put out a BIOS update:
P8Z77-V PRO BIOS 2104
Improve system stability

on 9/16/2013

the bios passes a device table to windows, this table has a specific format and is most likely incorrect. if you have a older BIOS version you can hope that it has been fixed and a BIOS update will correct your problem. if that fails, it requires a debugger to determine why your driver is being turned off. sorry, it is not much help. try a bios update as your best hope

 
Thank you for your replies. This is Haswell computer, my July build, not the Ivy Bridge you see in my specs, therefore it has Asus Z87 Deluxe motherboard. There is, I believe, 1 update after original release. I spoke to Asus- the support person told me- he has no experience with Win. 8- he is Win 7 user. That blow my mind. I say, "Don't they train you? Windows 8 is out over a year now!" So I demanded his supervisor, and spoke with him. He was nice, but said- if motherboard has power to USB- the hardware is intact and wished me good luck talking to Microsoft. Microsoft don't support EOM versions.

I have to look for asmedia usb device. I do not see any disabled Intel USBs. It has individual option for every port and all set to "Enabled". I also reset bios to defaults- did not help. The USB driver is on DVD- I have no way to install it without log in. This is why I was looking in to Remote Desktop. But it would not connect from another computer- keeps saying "Your computer could not connect to another console session on remote computer because you already have console session in progress"
What is it talking about?
 
Look at page 3-33 of your manual: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1150/Z87-DELUXE/E7829_Z87_Deluxe.pdf

Set your Intel xHCI Mode to Enabled (not Auto or Smart Auto).

Save.

Also, while in that part of your BIOS, do you see your keyboard and mouse listed as connected devices?

You want to verify that they are indeed connected to your USB 2.0 ports, BTW. Do not connect any other USB devices until this is sorted out.
 
Z87-DELUXE BIOS 1405
Improve system stability.
released on 8-30-2013

what is your BIOS version number, if it is not this one then update.
I would suggest that your BIOS is providing incorrect SMBIOS data to windows.

fix it via a BIOS fix, to work around you can add another USB port and hope it gets autodetected by windows. or you can pull the drive put it on another machine and manually transfer over the missing device driver.
 
BIOS Fix? You mean- install BIOS Update? (Not sure where top see BIOS version)

What you mean by adding another USB port? You mean like USB card? I am afraid- the internal USBs connectors not working- I have card reader with USB port that connected to motherboard via internal USB port- that goes dead when Windows loads.

I was thinking about other machine, but how do I manually transfer driver? Lets say- USB (3.0) driver is on DVD or I download it from Asus site. How do I get it on the drive in to the right location? Would it be .exe file that needs to be in what folder? If I could just copy .exe or.dll, it would solve it, but I wont know where. Where are the USB drivers normally stored?
 
I am also thinking- may be I should wait with BIOS update- if it fails- then I would not have anything working. I am thinking- may be I should un Windows refresh first? It supposed to reinstall windows without affecting programs. I did try system restore- it went almost all the way to "Finalizing" stage and then failed. So refresh may not work either. What would you do first the BIOS update or refresh?
 
check internal usb cable that cable pin 1 is connected to header pin 1 of the USB header.

the only thing that I can think of that would cause all of the usb ports to fail when the BIOS passes control to the OS is incorrectly formatted SMBIOS data. These are common errors in various BIOS versions and often fixed very fast by the vendor.
your board has not been out very long and has 3 BIOS patches. Also the standard format for the SMBIOS spec keeps changing and Microsoft and asus must conform to the changes.
Microsoft makes the changes in the OS, ASUS makes the changes in the BIOS patch.
if you don't pick up the BIOS patch Issues pop up when you pick up the new updates from Microsoft (new OS)
 
Johnbl, the computer worked for 24 hours after update, so I can not say- update caused it. Also when I lost wireless mouse- I lost it on both computers via KVM switch. I started to troubleshot- IvyBridge restarted with USB intact but Haswell lost USBs. (Ivy was not updated yet to 8.1). Now I connect wired key and mouse to Haswell directly.
 
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