Pre-owned iMac keyboard issues

Hi,

I wonder if someone could advise, we bought our daughter a pre owned iMac, which the previous owner re-set presumably to factory settings, when we switch it on we get a welcome screen and it takes us though which country we are in etc, the problem is that the keyboard will not work so can't get past the 'create your account' screen, but the mouse (which is connected via USB to the keyboard) works fine -I really don't have a clue about iMacs so would appreciate some advise.

The keyboard is wired and there is a light on and we have tried restarting etc.

Many thanks

Deborah

Welcome to the Mac Forums!

Can you describe what kind of keyboard it is? For example, is it an Apple keyboard or is it a third party keyboard? If the keyboard is defective, most any type of wired USB keyboard will work with the iMac. Try moving the keyboard USB connector to another USB port on your iMac to see if it works from there.

Also, it would be helpful if you told us which iMac you have and what version of OS X it's running. We need that info to assist you because certain newer Apple keyboards can only be used with OS X 10.6.8 and later.

It's likely that they have a Bluetooth keyboard (standard equipment with the Mac). While there is a routine to get the BT keyboard connected on first use, a faster solution might be to take any old USB keyboard (even a PC one will do fine for this purpose) and plug it in to use to create the account, register, etc.

Once you're set up you can turn the Bluetooth on and pair your "real" keyboard with it.

@chas:

The OP states she has a wired keyboard. If she has a late Apple aluminum keyboard, it will only work with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and later. However, she didn't say....