Fixing Missing Mouse or Keyboard
In the wake of the recently-released KB4074588, lots of PCs with this update installed have resbooted to “lost” USB peripherals. In particular, many users have reported neither mouse nor keyboard present. Because a mouse and a keyboard are usually necessary to do anything on a Windows PC, this poses something of a conundrum. Consequently, I herewith provide what I hope are helpful tips for fixing missing mouse or keyboard. Better to skip such problems entirely, but if you get stuck, try these!
As the top (and current) results from this TenForums search show, this situation is far from uncommon.
Tip 1: Fixing Missing Mouse or Keyboard via Device Substitution
Try a different mouse and keyboard. Seriously. MS explains this gotcha as a driver omission. Here’s chapter and verse
After installing this update, some USB devices and onboard devices, such as a built-in laptop camera, keyboard or mouse, may stop working. This may occur when the windows update servicing stack incorrectly skips installing the newer version of some critical drivers in the cumulative update and uninstalls the currently active drivers during maintenance.
Presumably, the hopes driving this maneuver are two-fold. First, MS hopes that Windows will recognize the keyboard. Second, MS hope that it will successfully download the correct driver. If you find yourself with a working keyboard and mouse, you can skip a heading and jump to “DISM to uninstall KB4074588 at the command line.”
Tip 2: Fixing Missing Mouse or Keyboard via OS Substitution
The problem is that the update removed the old (working) drivers and didn’t supply any new ones. If the OS lacks drivers, another way to fix the issue is to try a different OS to make repairs. That’s why MS recommends booting into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), where mouse and keyboard drivers should be both available and working. There are lots of different ways to access WinRE, so I’ll share two of them (for a more exhaustive treatment try this excellent TenForums Tutorial)
- If your system fails to boot 2 times in a row, AND your system has a built-in recovery partition (installed by default for most Windows 10 systems), it will automatically boot into that partition on the 3rd try.
- If that doesn’t work out, you can boot to the Windows 10 installer and access the “Repair your computer” functions to make your way into WinRE.
Either way, you want to make your way to the command line so you can work on the affected OS. That’s covered in the next section.
DISM to Uninstall KB4074588 at the Command Line
If you’re using a substitute mouse or keyboard, you’ll need to get into an administrative command prompt. If you’re running WinRE, its command prompt is already privileged. Once there, you’ll want to enter one of the following commands, depending on whether your Win10 installation is 32- or 64-bit:
32-bit: dism /online /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_RollupFix~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~~16299.248.1.17
64-bit: dism /online /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_RollupFix~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~16299.248.1.17
Once that command completes, you’ll have removed the trouble-causing update. You must then reboot Windows 10 to restore your computer to normal operation (with access to the missing mouse and/or keyboard restored).
In general, this approach works any time mouse or keyboard goes missing. The details of which package you need to remove may change. Or, you could try to find and install the missing drivers on your own. It’s up to you!