AOMEI Backupper No Mouse or Keyboard

[Casey H]

Greetings All –

I ended up in a OneDrive situation that moved my desktop items from the users folder to the one drive folder.  By the time I got done messing around, my computer was completely messed up, so I went to restore an image I made just a couple of days ago with AOMEI free version.  I ran the initial restore attempt from within Windows.  I have used this program for quite some time and have never had a problem with either a backup or a restore.  After selecting the restore image, the software did its thing and announced its normal need to go into reboot mode.  After it churned around for awhile, I got a message saying Windows failed to start, insert Windows Installation Disk, etc.  So I went back into my Admin account, and created a new bootable rescue disk.  Rebooting from the disk brought me to the AOMEI menu screen, where neither the mouse nor keyboard were functional. None of the lights on the devices were lit; none of the keys did anything.  I went back into my admin account and downloaded a fresh version of AOMEI and tried again–same results.  I also tried both a USB flash drive and a DVD for the boot media–same results.

Both the mouse and keyboard are USB wired.  I also have a usb/ps2 adapter for the mouse, and the mouse didn’t work using it either. Both the keyboard & the mouse work fine in BIOS, as well as within Windows, but both quit when the media finishes booting and the AOMEI program loads.

BIOS settings tell me the boot mode is Legacy+UEFI, the BIOS Mode is UEFI/Legacy, and Legacy USB support is enabled.

Specs: MSI 390-A motherboard,  Intel  i5-9600k processor, Logitech K120 keyboard, and Logitech G402 mouse. WIN 10 Pro 2004 with the November updates.

Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.

Casey H.

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[TechTango]

Suggest first verifying the image backup file you used for the attempt. AOMEI should have way to do this.  Maybe from the recovery boot USB.

Secondly, mount the image file and browse through it carefully.  I’ve never used AOMEI, but my recovery boot USB’s include utilities for this stuff.  You may fine anomalies that were burned to you disk that are causing problems.

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[Paul T]

Seems the boot USB doesn’t have drivers for your PS2 devices – may be motherboard specific. I’d try a USB mouse/keyboard to confirm.

Do you have another bootable USB you can test? Linux live, Windows etc.

cheers, Paul

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Paul T.

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[JohnW]

I had an issue several years with a recovery boot that couldn’t see certain USB ports on my machine.

Apparently an extra on board USB controller used 3rd party controllers with different drivers, which the BIOS and Windows could see just fine. But the rescue boot apparently did not.

I tried other USB ports until I found some that were live and used those. If you are curious about how the USB ports are setup in your system, the utility HNiNFO64 can detect and show them in detail.

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[Casey H]

Thanks everybody.  The way I described the situation perhaps wasn’t very clear.  I really have two separate issues.  The first is that the restore operation from within Windows didn’t work.  That ended with the “failed to load windows” message on reboot.  The 2nd is the separate attempt to restore from the created media reached the desired menu, but with no mouse or keyboard control.  My mouse and keyboard are attached to the pair of USB 2 connectors at the top of the rear of the case.  I also tried the USB 3 connector on the front panel. The image checks good.  I also tried restoring a different imagine, taken about a month earlier, and I got the same problem with it.  I also have a Windows rescue flash drive I prepared after installing 2004.  I’ll check to see if that gives me mouse/keyboard control.  I’ll also try more of the USB ports. This is the first time I have been unable to restore my system.  What I can’t remember is if I’ve attempted a restore from this build, accomplished last January.  Previous successes may have been with my previous build.  So I’m wondering if the UEFI piece might be blocking both types of restore efforts.  This situation has left me with needing to reinstall all of my software and settings.  If I can’t get an AOMEI solution to work, I’ll have at least a couple days of screwing around to get things back where I left them.  Ugh!

Casey H.

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[Casey H]

Tried the Windows rescue flashdrive and it worked fine–both keyboard and mouse.  It allowed me to select the CD tray which surprisingly opened the AOMEI program.  Alas, again there was no mouse or keyboard.  The AOMEI software is the latest version, but I don’t think the USB or DVD media were created from it.  I’ll create another USB device with the latest software and see how it goes.

Casey H.

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[daddybear]

Hello Casey H

Re your comment :-

“The AOMEI software is the latest version, but I don’t think the USB or DVD media were created from it.  I’ll create another USB device with the latest software and see how it goes.”

Does this mean that every time there is an Aomei update the USB Bootable media has to be replaced ?

Currently on Aomei v. 6.2.0  and  OS is Windows10 Home 1909.

Regards,

Roy.

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[Zig]

I’ll create another USB device with the latest software and see how it goes.

?Do you mean a CD, or a USB flash drive??

Zig

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Zig.

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[Casey H]

I had tied both, Zig–same results.  But–there’s good news.  I went back into AOMEI and created a new flash drive rescue disk.  Looking over the options I chose to use the Windows PE environment.  I also selected UEFI vs Legacy.  The previous  media (flash drive & DVD) were built using the Linux selection.  The system booted from the flash drive directly into the AOMEI program, this time with mouse and keyboard fully operative.  From there it was simple to restore the image I had made a few days ago.

This leaves the mystery of why the restore function balks from running within Windows.  I guess it’s time to select a new imaging tool.  Before I went to AOMEI, I had tried Macrium, which I did not like.  I’m thinking EaseUS Todo.

Casey H.

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[JohnW]

Casey H wrote:

This leaves the mystery of why the restore function balks from running within Windows. I guess it’s time to select a new imaging tool. Before I went to AOMEI, I had tried Macrium, which I did not like. I’m thinking EaseUS Todo.

20 years of using imaging tools for me, and I have never run a Windows system image restore from within Windows.

I’ve always booted from a recovery disk or USB drive so that Windows is completely offline during the restore.

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[Paul T]

I would never trust an OS restore from within the OS. Always boot to CD/USB and restore from there.

I also always use Windows PE for recovery.

cheers, Paul

2 users thanked author for this post.

Casey H, JohnW

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[Casey H]

Interesting.  I guess I thought that even though the restore started from within Windows, the actual restore process occurs from without.  The machine churns around a bit, then reboots, then the restore process commences.  Is it the recommendation that the imaging also takes place outside of Windows?

Casey H.

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[JohnW]

Casey H wrote:

Is it the recommendation that the imaging also takes place outside of Windows?

Windows has had Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) since Win XP/Server 2003. This allows imaging from within a running copy of Windows, among other things.

So you can reliably create an image from within Windows, using an application designed for that.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/file-server/volume-shadow-copy-service

You can also boot your system from a bootable disc/USB and create an offline image if you wish. Clonezilla (Linux based) still requires this method.

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[Casey H]

And on a separate but directly related point, I have always been able to select the boot order in BIOS–usually USB, then DVD, then Windows.  If there is bootable media inserted, it uses it, if not, Windows starts normally.  I have not been able to replicate that with this board (MSI 390-A).  I have to go into the BIOS each time and put the desired boot device at the front of the list.  Annoying.

Casey H.

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[JohnW]

Casey H wrote:

I have to go into the BIOS each time and put the desired boot device at the front of the list. Annoying.

I use the option in my UEFI/BIOS on my Asus Z-390 board for the boot override, no messing with lists required. Click that button and choose which detected device you wish to boot from. But this does require getting the the UEFI screen pre-boot.

I do recall that it seemed easier in older systems to permanently set an optional boot order list in the BIOS, but I haven’t dug very deeply into this lately due to the easy access to boot override. Maybe contact MSI?

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Casey H

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[Casey H]

Hi John –

I can’t see anything in my BIOS that looks like boot override.  Can you perhaps go a little deeper on this.

Casey

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[Casey H]

Boot override–I’ll look for that setting.  A final comment on the original problem.  The devices I created originally (USB Flash Drive and DVD Disk) both work fine on my older laptop (No UEFI).  Both the mouse and the keyboard do what they are supposed to.  That leaves me wondering if there’s a setting that I missed on the problem machine.  No big deal really, because the latest device created with PE environment works fine.  I’m just trying to understand things better.  It looks like UEFI is just trying to protect me from myself.

Casey H.

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[JohnW]

Casey H wrote:

Interesting. I guess I thought that even though the restore started from within Windows, the actual restore process occurs from without. The machine churns around a bit, then reboots, then the restore process commences.

I took a look at the AOMEI help docs for the restore procedure. It does show that if your Windows system is bootable that you can kick off a restore from within the application. But it is not clear exactly how this works, and not much detail is provided, but I’m guessing that it probably does reboot so that the actual restore is done with Windows offline.

They also recommend creating the WinPE bootable media for use when Windows is crashed and non-bootable.

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[Casey H]

And with regards to booting from within Windows or from external media when imaging or restoring, I don’t understand why it’s OK to image from within Windows, but not to restore.

Casey H.

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[JohnW]

Casey H wrote:

A final comment on the original problem. The devices I created originally (USB Flash Drive and DVD Disk) both work fine on my older laptop (No UEFI).

I would imagine there must be a setting in your software somewhere to create multiboot MBR/UEFI (FAT32), or MBR only (FAT32 or NTFS) when you create the WinPE flash drive.

I am not at all familiar with AOMEI, as I use another program that has that option.

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[Paul T]

Casey H wrote:

I don’t understand why it’s OK to image from within Windows, but not to restore

When you backup Windows creates a snapshot – a static copy of everything – and then lets Windows get on with its bits using the non-snapshot files. The backup is then created by copying the snapshot files.

To restore you need to overwrite every file and that can’t be done if Windows is using – writing to – files that you are trying to overwrite. Booting from USB uses files from the USB and in memory, not on disk, so the restore can do what it needs without hindrance. Also, the USB copy is a “light” version that only loads a minimal set of services / drivers to make the recovery possible.

cheers, Paul

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Casey H

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[Casey H]

Thanks Paul.  So successful restores in the past from within Windows were only a matter of luck?

Casey

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[Paul T]

Possibly. The point is, it’s best to do it from outside the system you are restoring.

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

JohnW

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[JohnW]

Casey H wrote:

I can’t see anything in my BIOS that looks like boot override. Can you perhaps go a little deeper on this.

Take a look at your MSI 390-A motherboard manual. https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z390-A-PRO

On page 43, BIOS Setup – EZ Mode – Boot Device Priority Bar

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Casey H

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[Casey H]

Thanks John.  I think I finally got that to work.

Casey

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JohnW

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[Casey H]

Thanks everybody for chipping in.  This has been a very stressful process for me.  Since the days of DOS and Norton Ghost, I have always had multiple ways of restoring my systems back to an earlier time–just in case.  This time I thought I was out of luck.  I had already done a Windows reset–keep my files.  I was not looking forward to the extensive software installations and settings adjustments that were going to be necessary to complete the job. Then, creating media (both flash drive and DVD) using the Windows PE environment rather than the Linux created media that I had previously prepared,  allowed me to access and navigate my images and restore my computer.  The only thing I needed to do was get the November updates.  I’m really down to one final thing that’s bugging me.  Both the USB flash drive and the DVD I created only allows me to navigate the AOMEI restore menu with the mouse.  The keyboard is still dead.  Why that should be doesn’t make sense.  Thanks again everybody.

Casey H.

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[JohnW]

Casey H wrote:

Thanks John. I think I finally got that to work.

You are welcome. I am running the Asus Z390-A, which has a totally different UEFI screen layout. The various manufacturers tend to have different flavors for the same chipset. I am also running the i5-9600K processor, and love it! 6 cores with turbo up to 4.6 Ghz! 🙂

But it never hurts to crack open the user manual now and again!

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[JohnW]

Casey H wrote:

I’m really down to one final thing that’s bugging me. Both the USB flash drive and the DVD I created only allows me to navigate the AOMEI restore menu with the mouse. The keyboard is still dead. Why that should be doesn’t make sense. Thanks again everybody.

I’m not having any trouble with mouse or keyboard with the bootable WinPE that I created with Macrium Reflect. Maybe give the free version a test tun and see if that works better for your hardware config?

I’m not trying to imply that AOMEI is not up to the task, but I have had very reliable and stable performance with Macrium. Maybe it’s worth a shot just to rule some things out?

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Casey H

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[Paul T]

WinPE is responsible for mouse/keyboard, not Aomei.
I’d try a couple of different boot programs(OS) to see if the keyboard works, including a Windows upgrade USB.

cheers, Paul

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Casey H

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[JohnW]

Paul T wrote:

WinPE is responsible for mouse/keyboard, not Aomei.

True, but the program that builds the WinPE drive may have a few variables for each build, including which version of PE is used.

From the Macrium manual:

Windows PE hardware support

The Macrium Rescue Environment needs to include support for your hardware such as USB ports, network interfaces, and in particular for your storage device if for example you use RAID disks. The default Windows PE environment supports a good selection of hardware and you can add support for further devices. When Macrium Reflect creates a rescue CD or USB, it analyses your system hardware and tries to locate drivers for unsupported devices by looking on your system. If it can’t find appropriate drivers, Macrium Reflect prompts you to provide drivers. You can provide drivers by finding driver packages on the local hard drive, looking for driver CDs supplied with the system, or downloading drivers from the web. After you provide these additional drivers, Macrium Reflect adds them to the Windows PE environment. 

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[Casey H]

Device Manager shows a couple of different .sys files for the keyboard.  Is it a matter of copying those into the media somehow?

Casey H.

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[Paul T]

No, that won’t work.

cheers, Paul

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by Paul T.

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[Casey H]

I think an interesting follow-up.  Engaging the boot media, I started mousing around the various pieces.  One of them is opening a command line.  The keyboard became functional at that point, allowing me to type stuff at the prompt.  Returning to the main menu, the keyboard was once again dead.  Perhaps it’s supposed to work that way.

Casey H.

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