my aunt's comp just shut off when the electricty went off and now when she starts it , she gets the dell screen then the xp loading screen and then it comes up saying keyboard error or it just cycles around and starts over , any suggestions ?

not sure what you've tried... try unplugging the keyboard from the PC and unplugging the PC from the wall. Alow both to sit unplugged for 60 secs... then replug the keyboard and then the PC to wall... try again. TK.

ive tried booting into safe mode , vga mode just for the hell of it , last known good setting , thats about it . now the keyboard error shes gotten even when the comp was working so i dont know whats going on there

What type of Keyboard does this unnamed Dell Computer has? Is the Keyboard attached properly to the Computer? If the keyboard is properly attached and still this error comes up, try to attach another Keyboard known to work in another PC and see if it will boot up to Windows. Since keyboard does not work, you cannot enter the BIOS to check for BIOS boot problem:-( Another option is to open the Computer, remove the Power Connector from the Motherboard,and Reset the BIOS using CMOS jumper or CMOS Coin battery removal and reinsertion , and recabling and rebooting. M How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

i dont know what kind of keyboard it is , im guessing just the basic dell comp and its a dell dimension 8200 series and she just said shes tried a diff keyboard and it did the same thing

If you have tried a PS2 Keyboard and failed try a USB keyboard and vice-versa. If both kinds of Keyboard fail but work in another PC, we have ruled out problem limited to keyboard and isolated the problem to Motherboard or HDD. To rule out a BIOS problem,try Resetting the BIOS as outlined in my earlier post. If BIOS corruption is ruled out, we have to consider either a corrupted System in your HDD , damaged HDD, or damaged Motherboard. See if the keyboard will work when the System is rebooted with WinXP CD [make sure the BIOS Setup has CD -ROM as the first boot device] and if so go on to Windows Repair using first the Windows setup option by pressing ENTER key and later Repair when prompted to press R. Do not choose the Recovery Console option from the First 3 options when rebooted from CD. In that window choose the ENTER key as if going to do Windows Reinstall. M How to ask a question