keyboard issues--Rocky can you help!!!

You might try an external keyboard. If it works fine,
then you probably have a bad "row driver" or "column
driver" in your laptop. This means that more than one
key appear to be pressed when in fact you are pressing
only one.

The reason is that your keyboard is a matrix of switches,
and each row (like z, a, q 1) are connected to a row
driver and the column driver is what differentiates which
key is actually pressed. If the row driver is bad, then
the computer thinks you pressed ALL of them.

-----Original Message-----
My Keyboard on my laptop has gone crazy! When I type
the letter "q", I get "aq1" (I also get this if I type
the number "1" and/or the letter "a". This pattern
continues as follows: if I type "2", "w", "s", "z",
or "x", I get "sw2zx"; "3", "e", "d","c" gives me "de3
c"; "4", "r", "f", "v"---"fr4bv"; "7", "u", "j", "m"--
--"ju7nm"; "8", "k", "i", "," ------
"ki8,"; "9", "o", "l", "." ----
"lo9."; "p", ";", "[", "/"----";[p/"..........hopefully
this gives you an idea of what I am going through. A few
are okay (5,6, t, y, g, h, b, n, and space bar). Also
this happens in lower case only. If I use the shift key
to use upper case, none of the affected keys type
anything (only the ones that are okay in lowercase are
okay in uppercase). Yet if i use the caps lock, then I
have the same problems, just in uppercase. I know this
is wierd and I am very baffled by it all. Any assistance
with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Les

.

On Fri, 21 May 2004 20:16:03 -0700, Les
wrote:

My Keyboard on my laptop has gone crazy! When I type the letter "q", I get "aq1" (I also get this if I type the number "1" and/or the letter "a". This pattern continues as follows: if I type "2", "w", "s", "z", or "x", I get "sw2zx"; "3", "e", "d","c"
gives me "de3 c"; "4", "r", "f", "v"---"fr4bv"; "7", "u", "j", "m"----"ju7nm"; "8", "k", "i", "," ------"ki8,"; "9", "o", "l", "." ---- "lo9."; "p", ";", "[", "/"----";[p/"..........hopefully this gives you an idea of what I am going through.
A few are okay (5,6, t, y, g, h, b, n, and space bar). Also this happens in lower case only. If I use the shift key to use upper case, none of the affected keys type anything (only the ones that are okay in lowercase are okay in uppercase). Yet if i us
e the caps lock, then I have the same problems, just in uppercase. I know this is wierd and I am very baffled by it all. Any assistance with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Les

Les,

If I were you, I would start by seeing if you can connect an external keyboard.
Most laptops have a port for external keyboard. If the symptoms go away with an
external keyboard, then you gotta take it in for repair. One of the problems
with laptops is that their components are proprietary, and customised for each
laptop model. You can't go to Circuit City and buy a replacement keyboard off
the shelf.

If the problem continues with an external keyboard, you would have to suspect
malware.

How current is your virus protection? Try these free online virus scans:
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/license.php
http://www.pandasoftware.com/actives..._principal.htm
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
http://security.symantec.com/ssc/home.asp
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/hous...start_corp.asp

Now check for, and learn to defend against, additional carriers of infection.
Have you downloaded these programs before? Download them again, as many are
revised frequently, to keep up with the current level of malware being attempted
constantly - get the absolutely most current version of each product listed.
They're all free - and most pretty small, so they download quickly enough.

First, download LSP-Fix and WinsockXPFIx from http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm,
and CWShredder from http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html. All are
free.

Next, close all Internet Explorer and Outlook windows, then run CWShredder.
Have it fix all variants.

Now check for, and remove, spyware. Get HijackThis
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3155 and Spybot S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download. Both free.
1) Install and run Spybot. First update it ("Search for updates"), then run a
scan ("Check for problems"). Trust Spybot, and make all recommended deletions.
2) Install and run HijackThis. Do NOT make any changes immediately. Save the
HJT Log.
3) Have your HJT log interpreted by experts at one or more of the following
forums (and post it here):
http://forums.net-integration.net/
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/

If removal of any spyware affects your ability to access the internet (some
spyware builds itself into the network software, and its removal may damage your
network), run LSP-Fix and / or WinsockXPFIx.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.