Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Technical Help and How To's Laptop Keyboard Problem

My sister's keyboard just went wonky, and I can't figure out how to fix it.

The computer is a Dell Inspiron 220 laptop running XP.

Problem: The top row of keys won't type properly, and some of the numbers aren't working, either. Some of the keys just plain don't work, and other seem to be typing a combination of the letter and the number that's above it/close to it on the keyboard.

I can't remember all the errors, but this is what I do remember:

1=nothing
Q=nothing
W=w3
R=r4
T=T
I=i8
P=p0

We tried some compressed air first, but that didn't work. (Didn't seem it was very dirty at all anyway.) I pried off a few of the caps to find nothing unusual or any lingering debris. Then I tried the fix-all of the computer world: I restarted it. Then I hit myself repeatedly in the forehead because my sister's setup requires a password to log on, and she now can't type her password because of the problem.

Any ideas, anyone?

ETA: I don't have a USB keyboard at the moment that I can try and use.

Sara (who wonders if she'll be able to finish her paper with computers malfunctioning left and right *knocks on wood*)

Update: We got a USB keyboard and it works wonderfully. So I'm assuming the problem is the keyboard itself. Is that fixable? Or is it best to get a new laptop keyboard to replace it?

Sara

Sara

Don't know if this will help but I'll post this anyway. I looked at my laptop but it is real old and has Windows 98 and on my desktop computer I have XP. Anyway after you get on the laptop trying going to Control Panel. There should be an icon for keyboard. In 98 there isn't much there but in XP there is are settings and also under hardware a trouble shoot button. You can get there with a mouse or the touch pad and see if this will help diagnosis the problem. The USB keyboard I'm sure will need to be disconnected before you try this link out but give it a shot.