Fixed Windows 10 problem of not detecting any keyboard and mouse at login screen

Yesterday morning, when I booted up my desktop computer running Windows 10, I was stuck at the login screen because the keyboard and mouse are totally not functioning. It had taken me more than 2 hours to fix the problem.

The symptom:

• The keyboard is not detected by Windows and not functioning. Pressing the Num Lock and Caps Lock will not toggle the LED light on the keyboard.
• There is also no mouse cursor on the login screen.
• The keyboard and mouse are functioning well if reboot into BIOS screen. This indicated that the problem is not with the keyboard or mouse or USB port, but something is wrong with the Windows system.

I have tried the following methods, but all of them failed to resolve the problem:

• Change to connect to different USB port of the computer produced the same result.
• Change to use another keyboard/mouse is also the same.
• When using a wired mouse, the LED light on the mouse is illuminated, indicating the mouse is getting current from the USB port of the computer without problem.
• Press the power button to shutdown Windows, and then start it up again, did not help at all.
• Boot up with Windows 10 USB Recovery Drive, the keyboard and mouse were working fine. Perform a Start-up Repair did not find any problem.

How I finally fixed the problem?

I unplugged the computer power cord from my UPS and plug it directly to the wall socket. Then, switched on the computer.

When the computer reached the Windows login screen, cut off the electricity supply by switching off the wall socket.

On the next reboot after Windows encountered such an "unexpected power off", my keyboard and mouse are finally functioning again.

I know that this action of forcing unexpected power off was quite harmful to the computer hardware as well as to the Windows system, but it somehow managed to trigger an automatic repair during Windows startup which fixed the keyboard and mouse issue.

When everything was back to normal, I connected back the power supply of the computer to my UPS and tried to find out the cause of the issue. It was caused by an unsuccessful automatic update of "Cumulative Update Preview for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 for Windows 10 Version 2004 for x64 (KB4570721)". 

The update was then done manually after some precautions taken. It was successful and required a reboot. Luckily, after the reboot, my keyboard and mouse are still functioning well.

Hotlink Postpaid has increased data quota without additional charge since 5 September 2020

Hotlink Postpaid by Maxis has been around for quite some times, offering 3 different packages with different data quota limit, namely Hotlink Postpaid 30, Hotlink Postpaid 40 and Hotlink Postpaid 60.

All the 3 of them come with unlimited calls and unlimited SMS. The Hotlink Postpaid 60 plan also comes with an optional mid-range Android handphone bundle.

In August 2019, Hotlink had upgraded their Postpaid 40 and Postpaid 60 plans with additional high speed YouTube data, without additional charge, as shown in the middle table below.

Now, Hotlink has just upgraded all the 3 postpaid plans again with additional data quota, from 5 September 2020 onwards, without additional charge, as shown in the bottom table above.

If you have observed your monthly data utilization carefully, you will note that the YouTube quota in these Hotlink postpaid plans actually encompasses all the Google services, including YouTube, Play Store, Gmail, etc.

This upgrade is somehow seen as a response to the upgrade of Celcom XP Lite Postpaid Plans to include unlimited YouTube since early July 2020.

My Prolink PDC66001 60 watts 6-port USB charger with QC3.0 fast charging support

I was looking for a replacement to my Belkin B2E027 4-port USB charger and finally bought the Prolink PDC66001 60 watts 6-port USB charger.

There are many brands and models of multiple port USB chargers available in the market, varying in quality, price, charging speed, and safety features. My considerations in choosing a multiple port USB charger includes:

• Reliability - Prolink is a trustworthy Singapore brand with many decent ICT products.
• Safety - Prolink PDC66001 is IEC and Singapore Safty Mark certified. It comes with S$1 million product liability insurance. Its IntelliSense feature provides protections against over-voltage, over-current, over-temperature, overload and short-circuit.
• Total number of charging port - its 6 charging port is more than the 4-port Belkin B2E027.
• Charging speed - Prolink PDC66001 has 2 Qualcomm certified QC3.0 fast charging ports and 4 more 5V/2.4A charging ports.
• Total output power - Prolink PDC66001 has a maximum output power of 60 watts, while most other multiple port USB chargers are having maximum output power of 30 watts or even lower.
• Availability of 3-pin UK plug - Prolink PDC66001 comes with a 1 meter long AC power cord with 3-pin UK plug.
• Price - I find Prolink PDC66001's price of around RM100 quite reasonable.

Its size is pretty small, about the size of a mouse, making it very easy to be carried along while traveling.

Its QC3.0 charging ports are differentiated from the other ports with green colour.

Each of the Prolink PDC66001 product has its own serial number. Registration for its 12-month warranty can be done online on their website.