Dell laptop keyboard problem

[Kevin L. Rogers]

My wife's laptop has a problem with the keyboard, which just started
recently. It's a Dell Inspiron 1200 running Win XP Service Pack 2. She
tells me she doesn't know what she did, but she thinks she 'hit several
buttons at once in and around the backspace button'. What happens, if you
open Word, for example, is that pressing the 'b' button displays a 'b ' (b
and a space). Pressing the 'f' displays an 'f\'. Pressing the 'g' opens the
Go To dialog box. Pressing the 't' backspaces one character and displays a
't'. Pressing the 'v' displays a 'v' and does a new line. Pressing the
backspace backspaces one character and displays a 't'. Pressing the enter
displays a 'v' and does a new line.
I've turned off hotkeys. An external keyboard functions perfectly. The
character map looks fine. I've set and reset the Regional and Language
Options to English (United States). I've tried doing a System Restore, it
doesn't seem to want to work.
Frankly, I'm stumped. Anyone have any ideas?

[Richard in AZ]

"Kevin L. Rogers" <Kevin L. Rogers@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BE8A1128-F2EF-4CB1-AA14-C99F1302C828@microsoft.com...
> My wife's laptop has a problem with the keyboard, which just started
> recently. It's a Dell Inspiron 1200 running Win XP Service Pack 2. She
> tells me she doesn't know what she did, but she thinks she 'hit several
> buttons at once in and around the backspace button'. What happens, if you
> open Word, for example, is that pressing the 'b' button displays a 'b ' (b
> and a space). Pressing the 'f' displays an 'f\'. Pressing the 'g' opens the
> Go To dialog box. Pressing the 't' backspaces one character and displays a
> 't'. Pressing the 'v' displays a 'v' and does a new line. Pressing the
> backspace backspaces one character and displays a 't'. Pressing the enter
> displays a 'v' and does a new line.
> I've turned off hotkeys. An external keyboard functions perfectly. The
> character map looks fine. I've set and reset the Regional and Language
> Options to English (United States). I've tried doing a System Restore, it
> doesn't seem to want to work.
> Frankly, I'm stumped. Anyone have any ideas?

The laptop keyboard is a printed wiring board with a wire grid pattern. It basically responds as it
should when a horizontal and vertical grid are connected under each key. However, if the grid were
damaged and had shorts, any weird combination could occur. Unfortunately, I doubt you could fix the
grid and may be looking at a new keyboard or continue using the external keyboard. It is not a
Windows problem as demonstrated by the external keyboard.

[Richard in AZ]

"Kevin L. Rogers" <Kevin L. Rogers@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BE8A1128-F2EF-4CB1-AA14-C99F1302C828@microsoft.com...
> My wife's laptop has a problem with the keyboard, which just started
> recently. It's a Dell Inspiron 1200 running Win XP Service Pack 2. She
> tells me she doesn't know what she did, but she thinks she 'hit several
> buttons at once in and around the backspace button'. What happens, if you
> open Word, for example, is that pressing the 'b' button displays a 'b ' (b
> and a space). Pressing the 'f' displays an 'f\'. Pressing the 'g' opens the
> Go To dialog box. Pressing the 't' backspaces one character and displays a
> 't'. Pressing the 'v' displays a 'v' and does a new line. Pressing the
> backspace backspaces one character and displays a 't'. Pressing the enter
> displays a 'v' and does a new line.
> I've turned off hotkeys. An external keyboard functions perfectly. The
> character map looks fine. I've set and reset the Regional and Language
> Options to English (United States). I've tried doing a System Restore, it
> doesn't seem to want to work.
> Frankly, I'm stumped. Anyone have any ideas?

Here is a quick link to a new keyboard http://tinyurl.com/2a7uop
They are not that hard to replace.

[Elmo]

Kevin L. Rogers wrote:
> My wife's laptop has a problem with the keyboard, which just started
> recently. It's a Dell Inspiron 1200 running Win XP Service Pack 2. She
> tells me she doesn't know what she did, but she thinks she 'hit several
> buttons at once in and around the backspace button'. What happens, if you
> open Word, for example, is that pressing the 'b' button displays a 'b ' (b
> and a space). Pressing the 'f' displays an 'f\'. Pressing the 'g' opens the
> Go To dialog box. Pressing the 't' backspaces one character and displays a
> 't'. Pressing the 'v' displays a 'v' and does a new line. Pressing the
> backspace backspaces one character and displays a 't'. Pressing the enter
> displays a 'v' and does a new line.
> I've turned off hotkeys. An external keyboard functions perfectly. The
> character map looks fine. I've set and reset the Regional and Language
> Options to English (United States). I've tried doing a System Restore, it
> doesn't seem to want to work.
> Frankly, I'm stumped. Anyone have any ideas?

Being a laptop, it's possible the key combination turned on a keyboard
function. Usually you'll see an led turned on that will show what Fn
(function) was set.

It's also possible an accessibility option was invoked. In Control
Panel, Accessibility Options, disable Sticky keys.

--
Joe =o)

[aaannn]

I have exactly the same problem with exactly the same key functions. I doubt its a hardware issue. I have a dell Inspiron 2200 running XP sp2 and I observed this issue 4 months ago but then after many changes installing and uninstalling drivers it went back to normal. now its broken again.

Anybody has any ideas I would be very grateful.

[Mick Murphy]

You have nor included any other posts with the problem outlined!
So, no-one knows what the symtoms are!
--
Mick Murphy - Qld - Australia


"aaannn" wrote:

>
> I have exactly the same problem with exactly the same key functions. I
> doubt its a hardware issue. I have a dell Inspiron 2200 running XP sp2
> and I observed this issue 4 months ago but then after many changes
> installing and uninstalling drivers it went back to normal. now its
> broken again.
>
> Anybody has any ideas I would be very grateful.
>
>
> --
> aaannn
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> aaannn's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/members/aaannn.htm
> View this thread: Dell laptop keyboard problem
>
> http://forums.techarena.in
>
>

[aaannn]

Original thread:-
Dell laptop keyboard problem

Reply:-
>You have nor included any other posts with the problem outlined!
>So, no-one knows what the symtoms are!

Original post:-
> My wife's laptop has a problem with the keyboard, which just started
> recently. It's a Dell Inspiron 1200 running Win XP Service Pack 2. She
> tells me she doesn't know what she did, but she thinks she 'hit several
> buttons at once in and around the backspace button'. What happens, if you
> open Word, for example, is that pressing the 'b' button displays a 'b ' (b
> and a space). Pressing the 'f' displays an 'f\'. Pressing the 'g' opens the
> Go To dialog box. Pressing the 't' backspaces one character and displays a
> 't'. Pressing the 'v' displays a 'v' and does a new line. Pressing the
> backspace backspaces one character and displays a 't'. Pressing the enter
> displays a 'v' and does a new line.
> I've turned off hotkeys. An external keyboard functions perfectly. The
> character map looks fine. I've set and reset the Regional and Language
> Options to English (United States). I've tried doing a System Restore, it
> doesn't seem to want to work.
> Frankly, I'm stumped. Anyone have any ideas?



Hi, I thought the other information would be above the post. If you have any it would be good as this problem is driving me mad.

Thanks
An

[david2008]

Dell makes a large number of laptop computers, and one of the main problems with these computers is that the keys can become stuck or damaged. There are several different ways you can repair a damaged laptop keyboard as long as you know what the problem is. After trying a few different things, you’ll find that your Dell keyboard will be working as well as it did when you first bought your laptop.
Step1

Buy a can of compressed air and spray it on the keyboard if your keys are sticking together. This is the easiest thing you can do to fix the keys on your keyboard. It doesn’t work for all problems, but it’s a good place to start. Make sure you get the air down inside the keys to clean out any debris, hair or food that may have gotten caught in there.
Step2
Replace the inside of the keyboard with a new piece. One of the major problems with Dell keyboards is that the plastic pieces holding the keys in place become loose or broken. You can find a cheap keyboard from Wal-Mart or an electronics store. Simply take apart the new keyboard, pull the keys off your keyboard, lay the plastic piece on top and replace your keys.

Step3
Use a small dab of super glue to replace keys that have fallen off. Dell laptops often have keys that fall off, especially as the computer ages or is used quite frequently. Place a small dab of glue directly on the round part that holds the key in place and lightly press the key down. When the glue dries, you’ll be able to use your laptop again.

Step4
Remove any problem keys from your keyboard and look at the plastic retainers. At times these retainers can become broken, damaged or simply fall off. Carefully pull off the retainer, clean it off with some compressed air and snap it back into place. Then put the key back into the slot and everything should work fine.
more info at
http://www.laptopbattery-usa.com/del...ard-p-109.html