Tilde key unresponsive

ive been having problems with the tilde key on my Asus laptop. at first
it was that it didint work at all, in games, in microsoft works, or
notepad. i went searching online and disabled the driver for the eHome
ir receiver (even though i dont own an ir receivers). after that i was
able to use the tild key only outside of games.
but heres the strange part, if i press the tild key quickly as
if i were typing normaly, it dose not register. in order to use it i
have to hold down the tilde key for about 1-2 seconds before it would
spit out a stream of "````````````". then i could delete up to the first
one. this is true for the laptops keyboard, and a wired dell keyboard i
connected using usb.
since my problem was still unresolved i tried uninstalling all
the drivers that had to do with eHome or IR. with no success i rolled
back both of the keyboards drivers (they had no new updates). and finaly
i was able to get some functionality out of the tilde key. but again
there is a strange part.
when in any games that use the half-life, or half-life 2
engine,(counter strike 1.6, counter strike source, day of defeat, half
life, half life 2, and condition zero) i can use the tilde key, with one
exeption. i have to have 2 keyboards. i connect my dell keyboard to my
laptop using usb, then i press both tilde keys on both keyboards once,
quickly, ingame, and the developer console finaly opens (usualy takes
more than one atempt).
this is good that i can use the tild key in games that use
half life's engine, but bad for the games that do not. and bad that i
have to use two keyboards.
the main game i am trying to resolve this issue with is
fallout 3. i have tried using one keyboard, two keyboards, changing the
layout of keyboards (counter strike had an issue where if you pressed
jump and crouch at the same time it changed to chineese layout). i just
dont know what else to do. it just seem that there should be a easier
solution then going through all this trouble to only get functionality
in a few select games, and i have to use two keyboards.

heres any specs i think might help

manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
model: ASUS Notebook M70Vm/M70Vr Series
processor: intel(r) core(TM)2 Duo CPU T900 @ 2.53 GHz
4 GB RAM
windows vista Home premium 32-bit
service pack 1
ITECIR inferred receiver (EC) disabled
any thing with eHome in the device manager is uninstalled
HID keyboard device (usb) version 6.0.6001.18000, date 6/21/2006
Standard PS/2 Keyboard (laptop keyboard) version 6.0.6001.18000 date
6/21/2006

any help will be greatly apreciated

Making the assumption that only the ~ key is malfunctioning, the keyboard is
bad.
Some keyboards have key switches that can be replaced or cleaned.
Having said that, laptop keyboards are usually unique to some laptop series,
not just one model or even make.

Normally, I'd replace the keyboard. If this is not possible for whatever
reason, a technician can usually swap an unused key assembly into the ~
position. Also, as I mentioned, it may be possible to clean the contacts in
the ~ key switch.

Unfortunately, it requires a fair bit of care and patience to disassemble a
laptop to the point that the keyboard is accessable. The keyboards are often
connected with a flexable circuit board and edge connector. Care must be
taken to not crack the flexable copper runs leading to the connector and the
key switches.

somehow i do not think that that is the problem. a broken or dirty
connection shouldent change the response of the key in a predictible
way. what i mean is, if the connection is broken, it should either not
work compleatly, or assuming it is partialy connected work only every so
often. the tilde key by itself always works (outside of games) it just
works after holding it down for 1-2 seconds. never deviating from the
intermitent time where i hold down the key and wait for it to go into
its streaming pattern of "````````````````````". this makes me beleive
that the hardware works. the hardware eventualy is able to send a signal
after a delay, since hardware dosent have delays, i think that the
programing for the delay of the key is somehow messing up.

on a side note, after rolling back the keyboard driver to a earylier
date, when i search for new update (which there should be b/c i rolled
back) it says it had the most up to date driver. so now my computer cant
find updates, even though it should be somewhere in my computer.

A laptop key switch can cause a delay if it is sticking, or has poor
resistance.
That aside, if the key works normally in all applications other than the
games, perhaps there is something unique concerning the games. (Such things
as "Steam" come to mind)

Short of taking the laptop apart, I really don't have any good ideas for
you.

I have the same problem with the same model laptop and the same game,
I've also tried deleting disabling the IR devices.

so you too have the same problem even outside of the game? im starting
to get annyoyed that i cant type one simple "`" without holding down the
tilde key first, then going back to delete the excess charitures that it
leaves me with.

also i think that some of the people here are vista fanboys trying to
mask vista's unstability by blaming it on the applications we have
problems with. i think its obviously vistas fault that the key dosent
work. theres no way its a hardware problem. microsoft really dropped the
ball on vista, expecialy for gameing. ive had this laptop for about 4-5
months now and it has unexplictidly closed out of games, 3d modeling
programs, music applications and a number of different web browsers,
more times than my xp desktop has in its 8 years of useage.

as for fallout 3, i think the only chance we have is to download a mod
when one comes out. they had the same problem in oblivion, so someone
made a mod with only one difference. a item that when equiped opened up
the console. no buttons required. so i guess we just have to wait for a
modder to get to it.

Since the problem is occurring with a particuliar piece of hardware, don't
you think that it is associated with that hardware? It may be that the
hardware does not confrom to the requirements of Vista and the "standard"
drivers.
In any event, it sounds like the practical option is to complain to the
hardware vendor.
This kind of problem is nothing new when it comes to laptops. Most have "non
standard" hardware.

I had the same problem with my ASUS laptop.
For me this solved the problem:

1) Right click the language bar at the right of your taskbar and select
settings. (Or go to Control Panel > Regional and Language Options > Keyboards
and Languages tab > click Change Keyboards).

2) In this Text Services and Input Languages menu select the Advanced Key
Settings tab. There you select Change Key Sequence.

3) You will see a new menu where you can select which keys respond to
switching the input language or keyboard layout. Chances are one of them is
set to grave accent. Choose an other option there and your tidle key will
respond as it should.

I hope this was clear enough and solves the problem for you. Good luck!

alright i did what you said and i was able to type ` outside of the game
normally. so i went in the game to see if it would work. to my suprise
when i pressed ` the console and a chinese characture apeared (even
though i had just disabled ` as being a key to switch keyboard formats.
being able to only type in chinese i decided to go back into the
settings and disable the chinese layout. since then, when in game the
console no longer appears when i press `. i cant figure out how to make
the console reapear now. but atleast i got the key working normaly
outside of the game.

i wonder why disabling chinese formats would stop the console from
working.

i found it! at least for me, unplug the infared media thing, and/or go into the device manager, and disable the driver.