Before you follow any of this, you have to access the computers basic programming in the setup screen.  If you don't know what you're doing or aren't sure, get someone who is familiar with that to help you with this.  First, does your system have the PS-2 ports for the keyboard and mouse?  If so, you may have to borrow a keyboard/mouse to get your system working again, or you may have to use adapters to adapt your USB keyboard and/or mouse to use the PS-2 ports.  (Those are the small round six pin ports, usually colored pink and green.)

Continuing, it sounds like the embedded motherboard software start up programming may have been corrupted, specifically the USB legacy drivers.  Can you get into the setup screen?  Usually the 'delete' key or the 'F2' key is used to do this while the system is starting.  Look for the "legacy USB drivers" option to be enabled.  Most of the time that option is located in the 'onboard peripheral' screen.  If you can't find it or it isn't there, look for the 'restore default' option in the setup menu.  Usually that will restore the ability to use your keyboard and mouse.

If that fails, what you may have to do is to clear and reset the BIOS on the motherboard.  Usually, there is a jumper on three pins that has to be moved and put back while the computer is off.  Another way to do it is to remove the backup battery (usually a button type cell) from its holder for a few minutes and then put it back.  Be advised that you'll have to reset the clock and the basic parameters when you do this.

Finally, this may well be a hardware problem if all the above fails.  You may need to replace the motherboard.  Good luck and 73!

Have you tried...the internet?  (Gasp.  What a thought.)  Look in the manuals available on the Sears website.  They should have it--or have a price for it so you can order it.

A simple fix is to adjust the brightness of your device.  Most smartphones and tablets have the adjustment available under settings.

More 'stirring of the pot' by the originator.  Why?  Isn't there enough drivel and bullsh*t on the article on the front page?

What a waste.

FIP, when I said 'bring boots,' I didn't mean for rain--or mud.  I did say if last year (sewage ooze) was any indication of what may happen!

The ultimate amendment--

Step 1--If it has the name 'Radio-Mart anywhere associated with it, DON'T BOTHER READING FURTHER, RUN!

Unfortunate state of affairs, but that is what advancing technology gets us.  A lot of the comms that used to be on 2 mtrs have migrated to cell phones--even two people just shooting the bull.  

The active repeater list?  There is no such thing--unless you get it from someone else in your area.  Failing that, like you said, you just have to pick the repeaters that ARE active--and delete the rest.

Just a suggestion, but examine the RJ45 socket mounting closely if the mic connector is mounted on the circuit board in either the mic or the rig itself.  Sometimes the soldering to the circuit board isn't robust enough to stand the tension put on it by the compression of the socket wire.  Could be that the soldered connection is broken.  That was the case with a no transmit situation I had on a Radio Shack 2 mtr. rig.  The pin from the RJ45 had broken loose from the circuit board in the transceiver.

Good luck and 73!

The bank option is nice--if you do traveling between two points and tend to stay at those points between the traveling, such as between a winter home and a summer home.  You have the repeaters at the winter home area in one bank and at the summer home area in another.

You can also use it if you wanted to scan frequencies--but only certain ones at one time.  You set up ALL your frequencies in one bank and the few you want to pay closer attention to in another--keeping in mind that you can have the same frequency in both banks.  That's useful for those in emergency comms who want to have one radio for all purposes.

Thank God the whacker wars have ended!

Sorry, but you're making a generalized assumption here.  It isn't always that the person is 'afraid of change,' it is sometimes about how the newer OS behaves with the software available.  Microsoft is notorious for making changes under the guise of 'improvements' that renders older software unusable.  That effort is seen (by the smarter of us, at least) as a way to force the purchase of the newer OS.

I admit that I did not like having to use the 'metro' interface of Win 8 beta, but it was usable.  The Win 8 general release included the ability to switch to the 'classic' Win 7 desktop--a definite improvement for those who still used a keyboard and mouse.  The clincher, however, was that with the revised coding, some software that Win 7 supported easily was no longer useable--and that same thing has been happening between the software and the OS ever since the Windows 2000 release. 

I for one get sick and tired of having to pay out to these software giants every time someone has a newer idea--and puts that idea into production in the form of a revised OS.  If the older system and software (and hardware, for that matter--re: the elimination of serial ports in favor of USB ports) works for what someone is doing with it--and they're satisfied with the system they are using, you have no cause--or right--to label that person as you have.  You come off just like a kid with a new toy--calling down another kid because they don't have that toy.  So go and play with your new OS and hardware, and leave the rest of us in peace.  Oh, yes...  and have a nice day!

Sorry, I meant for the lower bands.   

A couple of hams I know tried cutting the tubes off close to the ground, grinding down the stubs flush with the concrete and grading over the concrete pad.  Worked OK, until the weather chose to clear the dirt from on top of the pad. 

I would suggest getting some grown sod and laying it over the concrete.  At least the root system that the grass has developed will stop the covering from washing away, and you can cut down into the ground a little at the edges to even out the cover with the surrounding ground.

Sam, You say you want to learn, so you should listen.  First, you need to use the antenna which would be the longer of the two.  You simply cannot use a VHF antenna for 11 meter work--even with a tuning circuit--and expect it to work effectively.  The CB won't transmit worth a darn--and may well be deaf as a stone to boot.

Second, I suggested a simple cheap alternative, but if you're willing to spend money like you would for the Shakesphere antenna, you would be much better off using two four foot CB whips in a vertical dipole configuration in addition to the VHF antenna--something like one of the previous posters already said.  That method would be by far the cheapest and the best of the two--including trying to build a matching circuit.  One manufacturer even has a special bracket to connect two CB antennas up as a dipole, and hams do something similar with hamstick antennas.  

Eleven meters just isn't close to any multiple of the VHF frequencies you're specifying, and that is one thing that a dual band antenna should be for transmitting, even with tuning circuits.  You end up straining one or both of the final sections of those transceivers--or blowing them out.  Either that or if you do manage to get a close match, you will not transfer enough RF energy to the antenna to get any appreciable range.

The solution you have your heart set on just is not practical, or when you get right down to it, workable.

That should indeed do it--in a rough and dirty manner.  Just make sure you also have the speaker in the circuit if you do do it that way.