IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you
modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore
the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the
registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack
The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:
Date Time Version Size File name
-------------------------------------------------------------
02/04/2002 10:19 AM 5.0.2195.4900 48,720 i8042prt.sys
When you install this hotfix by using the hotfix package, the following registry items are created and set to add "hotplugging" capability:
Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters
Value: Headless
Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 0x1 (Allow hotplugging a PS/2-style keyboard. To disable this feature, set the data value to 0.)
This hotfix was updated on 2/4/2002. The updated hotfix also prevents the following error messages from appearing in the event log when you detach a USB keyboard:
Type: Warning
Source: i8042prt
Event: 32
Description: The keyboard device does not exist or was not
detected.
Type: Error
Source: i8042prt
Event: 26
Description: Exceeded the allowable number of retries (configurable
via the registry) on device.
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may
require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve
problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own
risk.
If you need to log the error messages, change the value of the
ReportResetErrors value in the following registry key to
1:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters
This feature is highly dependent on the computer's BIOS. Because PS/2 hotplug is not in the PS/2 specification, some PS/2 controllers may not correctly handle "hotplugging" of a
device, and some may short out devices. This new driver does nothing
special to accommodate hotplug other than ignore initialization errors.
NOTE: This hotfix also corrects a problem that causes the operating system to stop responding on a Dell PE2550, which uses a USB keyboard.