All Caps

[Vegas411]

I seem to be having a problem on my laptop that's running XP Pro. Every so often it will start typing as if I am holding down the shift key. All letter come out in CAPS and all numbers come out like !(@#*#. No the caps lock is not on. I wait a few minutes and it goes back to normal. Anyone with any suggestions. I have scanned for viruses with norton and no ad-ware is present. Thanks in advance.

 

[bcastner]

This is not a virus.

The best resource, if available, are the User forums for you notebook manufacturer.

I routinely sent Dell laptops back for keyboard issues, and they nicely replaced the motherboards and keyboards to "fix" random keyboard issues.

Once they went off-warranty, I took the keyboards out and just cleaned them. My inspiration for being this brave was this site:

http://qasimtoep.tripod.com/dell/dell3.html

The essential point was that nothing in the hardware had died, it had just developed a lousy connection that could be easily cleaned.

This is not a virus.

 

[drluggo]

i came to this site looking for information on this subject because i held the shift key down on my computer for more than * seconds> as you can tell by the grammar in this message< this has thrown me into a mode where it thinks i want the shift key held down forever> icurrently am stuck in this mode

when i held the shift key down for this time period a message came up about filter keys> i wasn&quot;t sure what it was so i just cancelled it> ever since i have been locked in shift mode>

i assume this is one of those things in xp that is set as a default (such as auto_dial for phone based network connections) to make it easuer ti use and axctually makes it more difficult for anybody who knows what they are doing>

it&quot;s stuff like this that is driving people to linux>

if you find anything out please let me know>

 

[carrr]

Go into Settings > Control panel > Accesibility Options > on the Keyboard tab, uncheck any of the sticky keys, fileter keys, etc. options that have likely been enabled.
Apply > Ok.

&quot;'Tis an ill wind that blows no minds.&quot; - Malaclypse the Younger

 

[bcastner]

drluggo

I vote with carr on this, you need to disable the 'Sticky Key facility.

No only disable the first check box under Control Panel, Accessiblity Options, but explore deeping in the menu to remove the popup menu and warning sounds.

 

[carrr]

Agreed. You should familiarize yourself with what the &quot;Settings&quot; buttons hide on all these features.

&quot;'Tis an ill wind that blows no minds.&quot; - Malaclypse the Younger

 

[bcastner]

I apologize for the illiteracy of my last post, I have been trying for several days to respond with a PDA/Phone and I want to throw the thing in the garbage. This thumb-typing is for much younger sorts than I.

I hope, and with carr's clarification, the note above helps. You can disable, adjust, or remove &quot;Sticky Keys.&quot; It is a feature that many like (I do not) and related to the MS effort to help people with disabilities. But it can be disabled.