PS/2 mouse is not connected to a Windows Server 2008-based computer or a Windows Server 2003-based computer when the computer starts

If a PS/2 keyboard or a PS/2 mouse is not connected to a Windows Server 2008-based computer or to a Windows Server 2003-based computer when the computer starts, the following event is logged in the System log:

Event ID: 7026
The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load: i8042prt

Additionally, the remote console keyboard and mouse are recognized by the server as USB devices. In Device Manager, a black exclamation point (!) on a yellow field appears next to these devices.

This behavior occurs because Windows does not initialize the remote administration key at a setting of 1 if the emergency management console is enabled.

You can safely ignore this event. However, you can work around this behavior. To do this, disable the PS2 service. To have us disable the PS2 service for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you would rather do this yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To disable the PS2 service automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Then click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in this wizard.



Note this wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run the fix on the computer that has the problem.

Now go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Let me fix it myself

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
To disable the PS2 service yourself, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt
4. In the details pane, double-click Start.
5. In the Value data box, type 4, and then click OK.

Check whether the problem is fixed. If it is fixed, you are finished with this article. If it is not fixed, you can contact support.