Category: Geeks r Us
Okay, I'm having a very weird problem. Yesterday, the letter x on my IBM thinkpad X32 decided to stop working whenever I hit it normally. I'd have to pound on it to get it to work. When I rebooted, everything was fine. Today, the x works as it should but the c is acting up. I ran a manual scan with AVG and it didn't find any threats or viruses. Is it missing something? I'm sure that when I reboot now, the c will be fine and something else will give me trouble. I'm already updating my cf ard, incase I lose my files or something. Does anyone have a lue what's going on? I spilled something near the computer the other day, but nothing got into the machine and I've never dropped it. Thanks.
A virus would not do this. Basically the key switches die in laptops more quickly than they do desktops. You may have the problem of being a pounder, I know I am from years of typing with a typewriter including a manual one at schools. Seems to be pretty hard to break even years later.
The membranes and springs on a laptop are considerably thinner than a 101-key keyboard.
As to the reboot business, the key sensors probably got off and the key buffer was screwed up, hence when you rebooted it was fine again for awhile. It wasn't the act of restarting Windows, but the initial power sent to all peripherals (including a keyboard attached internally to your laptop).
This pulse is designed to clear all volatile RAM. RAM uses the charge from electrons, so a power pulse like that will neutralize this and it's clean and ready for use.
Your sensors are still becoming weak which probably means the contacts don't disengage (you get two of a letter when you just typed one), or not engaging at all (you get nothing until you press down really hard).
Firmware in any mechanical device tries to figure out what's going on, meaning a printer does math to determine when to stop the carriage, a keyboard may try to determine what was and wasn't a contact.
If you took an old keyboard apart, you'd find a few chips inside it.
Anyway it's curtains for that keyboard I think.
And though I know this stuff and it's kinda weird and arcane, I really do have a life ... lol
I personally am not a heavy typer and never really have been. I do, however, type very quickly at times. So if anyone poundedd on the keyboard it wasn't me. I was honestly afraid you'd say it was something like that. I bought this laptop for $284, including shipping, and then got the docking station for it for $25. The latter is an on-again off-again affair. They included a free cd rom drive that goes into it, but when I put it in, I couldn't get it to work and now I can't get it out. There was no prodding or pushing involved. It went in like a glove. In any case, I couldn't afford the $60 warantee, though it covered everything. So now I either have to see how much it'll cost to have someone put a new keyboard in or resell it on Ebay. It's really ashame too, since I've really grown to love this machine. Thanks for bringing up the keyboards on laptops. I've noticed this too and it always annoyed me. I hate the key caps that so many companies use today. apple is notorious for using these thin fake keys on their macbooks and even in their desktop keyboards. Thankfully, this IBM has thicker keys that I've seen in most laptops made after 2000. My Keynote has regular keys, though not the full 101, so I know it can definitely be done. The Language Master, and most calculators, on the other hand, have very flat keys. But these can't be taken off and I've never seen them get weird like that. The most they'll do is stick. In any case, I've done a system restore here and it seems to be working for the moment. But Firefox isn't, so now I have to uninstall it all over again and then reinstall it. In the meantime, I'm using Internet Explorer, which I dislike after version 6, and of course, this is 8.
Wow! That was seriously annoying. I couldn't get Firefox to start when I rebooted no matter what I did. I tried from the desktop, as usual, from programs and even firefox.exe from the run box and nothing. So then, I tried to remove it but neither Add/Remove nor Unclean would do anything. It just sat thaere. So i tried reinstalling it, just to see what it would do, and it did the same thing. Finally, I did another system restore, to a different day but still before the problems started, and now everything seems to be working, though I did have to start Firefox from run rather than from the desktop. I have no idea what's going on here but I hope it stops cause now I've got a headache and am in a bad temper.
Best of luck with it, but we did warn you not to spend $350 on what is essentially an old computer, we warned you repeatedly. So much for the "we told you so:" component, hope you get it sorted out and you can get the keyboard replaced.
lol It was $284 for the pc. I'm sure that I could get another keyboard, it'll just be annoying. If they made decent laptops, ones that didn't break so easily and that actually had the ports and slots that I like, I would've gotten a modern one. And of course, the keyboard problem is back, this time with the letter b.
you could buy a cheap u s b keyboard, plug it in, and away you go. I use a wireless keyboard and never use my laptop keyboard. Smiles.
Maybe there is a bit of dust or something . It sounds to me like its all on the same row and one key after the next side by side.
OH and its your left hand, if your left handed I could see you having ishues on the left side, but if your right handed, then i could see the ishues on the right side if it is because your banging the keys.
I'm right-handed. *smile* Yes, I could use a usb keyboard, but only wish to do that as a last resort. the whole idea of a laptop for me is portability and carrying around an extra keyboard will only defeat the purpose. I even bought a small laptop so that I'd have something nice and light. it doesn't even have a built-in floppy or cd rom drive, though it does have the pcmcia slot and the cf slot, which I'm constantly using.
Well used stuff is "used" Try some compressed air and be careful with this next suggestion a damp, I repeat damp cloth, but I fear the poster that laid it out for you is correct.
Another thing that I was thinking of... Could there be a bug under that row? like someone said, it went from x to c probably to v but you didn't notice. then your b. I know this sounds weird. close the case and bounce either the left or the right side onto your bed while still holding it. If it's something underneath, it may move all the way to one side or another.
Good luck
Thom
Thanks guys. I didn't even think of compressed air! I'm such an idiot! I'll have to get some and then have someone help me with that. I am thinking of having it sent to a computer place just to have it cleaned. I know some places will do that for free or for a discount.
You can do it. Hold the machine sideways and blow across. At an angle is good. Use the cloth let dry complete then blow it again. If you believe you need help by all means get some though.
Yeah, I really love this machine. I certainly would never want to ruin it, though I'm alot less skittish with this one than with my KeyNote Gold. That one might as well be gold the way I fear for anything happening to it. But I will say that it has been dropped several times and has never had any keyboard issues, even though it's probably about 16-years-old. Then again, it has really thick keys and a solid construction.
Well, now it's the g key and the b is fine. The more I think of it the more I'm beginning to believe that it really is dust or something. this is a truly beautiful thing, since all that needs to be done here is to clean it really well!
It's so interesting that the next key that acts up is next to the one that acted up before.
Sounds like dust as some others on here pointed out then, so your sensors may not be getting weak. Can of air is pretty simple to use, but you need a pretty steady hand and not be skittish. This isn't a sight thing: I tried to show my daughter what it was once and she was a bit flighty with it.
The wand is easy to aim and control but best not to be flighty and of course the air is pressurized. Plus the can gets cold quickly because of the chemical components.
Opa!!! My machine's not ruined then? I must! get that compressed air or something to gently clean it. man oh man am I glad I don't need to get a new keyboard. Thank you Hermes!
Well we didn't say it would work, but it is the starting point to learning and is a cheap method. If it doesn't fix it after you are sure it is clean nothing is lost much.