Hi Guys.......I'm back with a brand new problem and what will probably amaze you is that it does not deal with Windows 7. I bought a new Windows 11 desktop computer quite a while ago and spent some time with it and found it very difficult to use so I set it aside. It was working ok at the time but yesterday, I decided to have another look and very much to my surprise I can't get it to boot up. What happens is that it opens with a full screen background and a box to enter my pin number. The problem is that I am unable to type in the pin as the keyboard does not seem to be working. I checked the keyboard on another computer and it works ok, I even replaced it with a new Microsoft keyboard that also checked out ok but I am still unable to type in the pin number. Without the pin working, there is no where else to go. I did find 3 icons at the bottom right and tried every option that came up when clicked on and still no working keyboard.

Any help in solving this will be very much appreciated.

Does the mouse work? If it does click in the text box for the pin and then see if the keyboard works. The text box has to be 'in focus' for keyboard entries to show.

If the above does not help, and the USB dongle is plugged into a USB3 port (blue), try connecting via a USB2 port (black).

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Allyson, is the keyboard wired or wireless? If wireless, check/replace the batteries...they can go bad when the keyboard has been sitting up for a long time.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

Good call for a check.

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The mouse does work and I clicked in the text box for the pin and still no good on making keyboard work. It is a wired keyboard and a wired mouse and neither are now plugged into a blue USB3 port.

I don't know how you are using your keyboard for numeric input so this might sound like a daft question, but is Number Lock toggled to enable the keypad on your keyboard when you use it in Win11?

e.g. If when you boot into Win11 the keypad is disabled on your keyboard then this could be your issue... without knowing your make and model of keyboard and how you are using it it's dificult to know what the issue is but most keyboards (that i'm aware of) have a light that states whether the numeric keypad is enabled or not and there is a button to turn it on or off.

I am using a Microsoft wired keyboard 400. When the light on the right of the keyboard is lit, the keyboard will print numbers in the password box but my password is made up of numbers and letters and it will not print letters.

You mentioned you were trying to enter a PIN, my understanding is that is a numeric number, i'm somewhat confused that you now say its alpha numeric, which to me suggests a password... are you sure you are at the correct sign in screen?

I'm not familiar with Win11 so maybe someone with more understanding can help you?

PIN and Password are not interchangeable. PIN is numeric only and 6 digits by default if it is a new install. Windows 8/10 defaulted to 4 digits. It sounds like you might be trying to enter your password instead of a numeric PIN.
On the sign-in screen, select Sign-in options. Change your choice to be Password.
Or enter your password with the onscreen keyboard. Find it by selecting Accessibility on the lock screen.

After logging in, go to Start > Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options. You can select what sign-in options are available to you.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Hi Steve, as I was messing with this, I added only numbers to the log in screen and I got a message to change the PIN number so I did that and they mailed me a code that enabled me to choose a new PIN number so when I used that, I was able to sign in and everything opened normally so thanks for letting me know about PIN vs Password.