This is the final of the three part series on Common PC Problems and Their Solutions. As promised we are going to take a look at the wireless keyboard and wireless mouse.

This will be a bit easier than their wired counterparts as usually one of four things would generally have gone wrong for either wireless mouse or keyboard not to work. These are:

1. The infrared (IR) line-of-sight is being blocked
2. The IR port has not been activated in the BIOS
3. The wireless device itself is defective
4. Improper driver installation of the IR communications device on the computer

Let us now focus on dealing with the problems:

Problem 1 – Ensure that nothing is blocking the IR line-of-sight either in front of the mouse or keyboard and also on the computer. If something is blocking it, common sense prevailing, simply remove the object.
Problem 2 - Start up your computer and press ‘F1′ or ‘Delete’ or whatever other key allows you to enter your BIOS settings. Look for ‘Advanced Configuration’ (or something similar) and search for ‘Enable IR Port’ (or something similar). Then press ‘F10′ and choose ‘Save Configuration Changes and Exit’. Once your machine has retsarted and your operating system loads, the devices should work.
Problem 3 – If you suspect that the wireless keyboard or mouse is defective, have it checked out by a professional (if you know what to do, then by all means go ahead). The device may need to be repaired or replaced. Based on the choices presented to you, you have to decide. In any case, the end result should be that you have a fully functional keyboard and mouse.
Problem 4 – If the driver installation for the IR communications device was corrupted in some way, uninstall the present driver, restart your computer, and then re-install the driver.

I hope that the three part series I presented has been of some help to you. By no means is this the last article on dealing with computer related problems and how to fix them. From time to time I will bring you more of these articles.

If there is something that you want me to research and discuss on this blog, please send me a note. In order to prevent phishing, I will not post my email address here. To contact me, please [Click here to register a helpdesk account]. Then login and send me your request.