Keyboard doesn't work during OS Boot

I have Windows Vista working under Boot camp. However, on my Mac Pro something strange is happening......

The MAC keyboard will work just up until the (C) Microsoft logo comes up, then will stop working until Vista finishes booting.

Why is this a problem? Two reasons:

1. I got trapped in a CHKDSK. If you flag a disk for CHKDSK, then it will happen right after the (C) Microsoft logo. It will say "Press any key to abort" but I can't. The keyboard doesn't work. I even went so far as to take a PC keyboard that has back-lighting on it to test. Interesting, that the keyboard lights up from the moment Mac Pro turns on and right up until the (C) Microsoft logo comes on the screen... Then it goes dark. Then about 10 seconds later, it lights up again. Problem is, that is exactly when CHKDSK is trapped, so I can't get out.

2. I used Acronis Trueimage to backup my Boot camp partition. Worked great until I tried to restore. Same exact thing, there is no keyboard or mouse when Acronis' Bootable CD-ROM disk boots. The CD boots, but you can't select anything on it.

I must say Boot Camp is quite frustrating. Can anyone help here? I tried calling Apple, but they kind of washed their hands of it. They were really nice, but it was kind of "why do you want to run Windows on a perfectly good MAC?"

If I were dealing with regular BIOS, I would think the setting called "Legacy USB" or "Plug & Play" was turned off and the MAC was relying on the OS (MAC or PC) to take care of the Keyboard.

Thanks so much for any help!

stacy