[croak_elixir]

Hello, I'm new to the forum but I noticed a few similar problems from this site on google and thought I'd give it a try.

I am running Windows XP, or was, until I decided to do a system restore to a previous date. Apparently the driver I was hoping to fix was already malfunctioning then, and now my predicament is that the keyboard will not function at the XP welcome screen, although it works at the OS selection screen, delete successfully pulls up the BIOS options after the obligatory startup beep, and F8 successfully gives me the safe mode options.

However, safe mode won't work either, and the only things that I seem to be able to do are to use a startup disk to get into DOS, use the Windows XP CD to access the recovery console, or to install xp again, and sift through my files, provided I do not need to format the drive to install it.

I am specifically wondering if there might be a way I can get the keyboard to respond again by hacking the registry from DOS or the recovery console. Is it possible to do this? If so, what do I have to look for, and how do I go about repairing it?

I hope I am barking up the right tree. Thanks in advance.