pspearing

i'm having the same problem. The computer is a Dell, just out of warranty. Keyboard is the one shipped with it (regular wired USB keyboard, nothing fancy). No power surges or anything, but it won't boot because of an allegedly corrupt file. I can't reinstall due to this problem of the keyboard not responding when I get to the "Enter/R/F3" screen. No lights on the keyboard, no response to any key, even though seconds before it acted normally (numlock & caps lock responded) seconds before. I'm about ready to defenestrate the thing.