Friday, July 3, 2015

An Uncharacteristic "Bleg"

Sometime this week my laptop, a HP 350 G1 running Windows 7, has developed an annoying problem... there is a software glitch that results in the keyboard acting as if the "shift" key has been depressed. I know that it is not a hardware problem because it occurs when I plug another keyboard into the USB port and even when I use the "onscreen keyboard" option. I have looked for answers to the problem and have tried updating the BIOS and drivers and uninstalling and re-installing the keyboard driver. Still, the problem recurs... and, no, I have not activated the "sticky keys". The problem is especially annoying because it borks the touchpad, which registers a left-click as a drag-and-click.

It's getting to the point where I'm considering throwing my laptop across the room. To compound matters, my friend who would check out the problem for a bottle of booze (he'd do it for free, but I never show up at his house without booze- I don't show up at
anyone's house without booze) is out of town for a two-week vacation.

Have any of you ever encountered this problem? It's enough of a "thing" that there are considerable threads about it on the computing forums, but none of the suggested answers has worked to clear the problem up for more than a few minutes.

5 comments:

mikey said...

If the 'boot from windows disk and run repair' and 'install some different keyboard drivers' solutions don't work, you might be confronted with a 're-install windows' answer. Most people I know who run windows to a fresh factory re-install every six months or so. Takes a few hours but windows seems to be affected by entropy to a greater extent than other OSs are.

If you just need to buy a couple weeks, you can install a Linux desktop distro (Ubuntu or Mint, say) in a VM. No need to worry about re-partitioning the disk, and trust me, a browser in Linux is EXACTLY like a browser in windows...

**Note - Oracle VirtualBox is free and works great with a windows host...

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I'm still trundling along on Windows XP, meself. Although I'm sure my days are numbered.
~

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Windows. Heh.

Whoah, SEVERAL HOURS for a clean install? I'm not used to that kind of time....

Jim H. said...

The problem is that you're always SHOUTING!!!!!! and your keyboard/PC merely reflect that.

No, seriously, the problem is your operating system. Windoze? Pulleease.

I got a million of 'em. I'll be performing here all week. Please tip your servers.

Happy Fourth, anyway, B^4

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

If the 'boot from windows disk and run repair' and 'install some different keyboard drivers' solutions don't work, you might be confronted with a 're-install windows' answer. Most people I know who run windows to a fresh factory re-install every six months or so. Takes a few hours but windows seems to be affected by entropy to a greater extent than other OSs are.

Yeah, I fear this may be necessary.

I'm still trundling along on Windows XP, meself. Although I'm sure my days are numbered.

I have a Compaq running Windows XP that is still soldiering on. Funny how the technological "advances" are often not improvements.

Windows. Heh.

Indeed...

I got a million of 'em. I'll be performing here all week. Please tip your servers.

I think the guys in IT would get upset if I did that.