Win10 1607 System Repair Disk Boots Without Keyboard/Mouse

I created a working repair disk in Windows 10 Pro 1511 back in December, that worked then. Just tested it again and it still works. I take regular images, so I like to boot into recovery once in a while to ensure my images are accessible.

So to ensure that I am current, I just created a new Windows repair disk using Win 10 1607, fully patched up to June 2017 (I had upgraded to 1607 this past February), and tried booting with it.

It booted, but no mouse or keyboard was available while booted into recovery mode. So I fiddled around and moved the USB connections for the mouse and keyboard into the two USB 3.0 ports that are supported by an Asmedia controller on my Asus motherboard. They work there, so it seems that something happened with my integrated USB 2.0 in this latest repair disk. So I rebooted, burned another disk, with same result.

Went back and booted with the repair disk I made in 1511, and all was good again!

Any ideas why this repair disk could be different? My mouse and keyboard work fine in Windows, and in my BIOS, and the 1511 repair disk.

I checked my BIOS settings for USB legacy support, and everything is enabled.

OK, I found Brink's instructions on booting to the Advanced Startup Options from the Power Menu (shift/Restart) today, and tried that.

I got into the recovery menu and selected advanced, then system image recovery. My mouse and keyboard were still working up to this point. It asked for me to insert the Bitlocker key, (my system drive is Bitlockered) or hit escape for Bitlocker recovery (the option to manually enter the key digits).

After selecting escape to recover Bitlocker, the system did a reset, then entered the menu with option to enter the key. It is at this point that I no longer have USB 2.0 working. Moving the keyboard to a USB 3.0 port allows me to proceed. Just like when I had booted from a repair disk. Very strange.

Update: Just download the latest Windows 10 Media Creation tool and burned the Windows.iso to a DVD.

I assume that the current MS default download is for Windows 10 Creators Update (1703).

I booted this fine, selected "Repair my computer", and everything worked as expected. I was able to get to the prompts to unlock my Bitlockered drive, with the keyboard and mouse working normally in their usual USB 2.0 ports.

I will probably try later to build a USB recovery drive from my currently installed Windows 10 build (1607), to see if that works any different from the buggy repair disk that I created from this build.

I can work around the problem, but this is really annoying. The repair disk should just work.

Plus I do use Macrium Reflect scheduled to take daily images. That recovery disk works fine too. The Windows image is just a monthly routine that I use for backup in case Macrium ever lets me down. Belt and suspenders!

Update: I have created a USB recovery drive from Win 10 1607, that works as expected, same as the DVD recovery drive.

But the CD repair disc is still a mystery on this version of Windows 10 (1607). The version I created on Windows 10 (1511) still works fine.

Maybe this is a bug in 1607? I don't know, and the searches I have done have come up empty. Maybe nobody uses the CD anymore? Regardless of the usage, I would expect MS to do more testing, and if the product is no longer viable, to discontinue it.

I just had the same exact problem you described on your 15 July 2017, with the latest update of windows 10 V1709 on Oct 16 2017.
The repair disk created with V1709 comes up without keyboard or mouse when they are plugged on my USB 2.0 ports of the DELL XPS 8300 desktop. If I plug the mouse and keyboard on the USB 3.0 ports that were added with a Renesas controller then they work fine.
With the previous repair disk created with V1703 everything works fine on USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 ports.
Same issue if I use the recovery option from Update and recovery and try to restore a system image.
It looks like Microsoft is getting this bug on every other release of windows 10. It appears that the recovery function of V1709 is not loading the proper drivers for USB 2.0.
As a workaround I either use the ISO Installation disk just downloaded for windows 10 or the repair disk created with V1703.
My other possible and annoying option is to plug the keyboard and mouse in my USB 3.0 ports.
I think Microsoft needs to fix the recovery function and the repair disk to load the correct drivers, stop inserting the bug every other release of windows 10. In other words keep the working version and get rid of the version with the bug.
Three other computers updated to V1709: Dell XPS 8700, MSI GT70-0NC and Dell OptiPlex do not have this issue.