Having a very strange problem with my keyboard on my Windows 10 laptop (HP Spectre x360 ) and have tried everything I can think of, so hoping someone can help.
For no apparent reason (no recent changes to my configuration, no recent Windows updates), my Windows 10 laptop started tying an extra letter (or 2 random letters) for each keyboard press (types az when I press a, types dc when I types d, fv when I press r, sx when I press 2, etc.). At first I thought it might be a physical keyboard issue, but when I hooked up an external USB keyboard it still happened (and when I used the Windows 10 on screen keyboard, it does not happen). So it seemed like it was clearly a software (setting, driver) issue not a physical hw problem.
I then tried the following (and none of these worked):
- rebooting the computer (including doing a hard shutoff)
- running the Windows keyboard troubleshooter
- loading Windows in safe mode
- deleting the keyboard driver and reinstalling
- making sure sticky keys, toggle keys, and filter keys is off
- making sure my keyboard time delay setting is not overly short
- running a virus scan on my computer
- making sure Windows had all the latest updates
- even though my keyboard does not have a numlock key by going into the on screen keyboard and making sure that numlock (or any other lock key) was not enabled
After I did all of these and nothing worked, I then tried to totally “reset” the computer by turning hibernation and all sleep settings off, unplugging the computer, and letting the power totally drain. After I did that, it at first seemed like it fixed the problem as most of the keys seemed to work properly. However, on further testing, only the bottom 3 rows had all keys work, the top 2 rows had a few keys in the middle working but most of the keys on the left and right on those rows now do nothing when I press them. AND when I plug in an external keyboard, that external keyboard now works totally fine.
So, this seems to point to a hardware issue now with my keyboard, but cannot understand why before I drained the power, both the built-in keyboard and an external USB keyboard had the exact same issue, and typed the exact same wrong 2 letters each time a pressed a key. So not convinced it is a hardware issue, as before I did the power drain it seemed like it had to be a software issue.
So totally stumped at this point. Any thoughts, ideas, things to try? Thanks in advance!
(P.S. I know I could try and re-install Windows, but really do not want to do that given how many programs I have installed and the number of custom configurations I have made….e.g. customizing the MS Word toolbar).
For no apparent reason (no recent changes to my configuration, no recent Windows updates), my Windows 10 laptop started tying an extra letter (or 2 random letters) for each keyboard press (types az when I press a, types dc when I types d, fv when I press r, sx when I press 2, etc.). At first I thought it might be a physical keyboard issue, but when I hooked up an external USB keyboard it still happened (and when I used the Windows 10 on screen keyboard, it does not happen). So it seemed like it was clearly a software (setting, driver) issue not a physical hw problem.
I then tried the following (and none of these worked):
- rebooting the computer (including doing a hard shutoff)
- running the Windows keyboard troubleshooter
- loading Windows in safe mode
- deleting the keyboard driver and reinstalling
- making sure sticky keys, toggle keys, and filter keys is off
- making sure my keyboard time delay setting is not overly short
- running a virus scan on my computer
- making sure Windows had all the latest updates
- even though my keyboard does not have a numlock key by going into the on screen keyboard and making sure that numlock (or any other lock key) was not enabled
After I did all of these and nothing worked, I then tried to totally “reset” the computer by turning hibernation and all sleep settings off, unplugging the computer, and letting the power totally drain. After I did that, it at first seemed like it fixed the problem as most of the keys seemed to work properly. However, on further testing, only the bottom 3 rows had all keys work, the top 2 rows had a few keys in the middle working but most of the keys on the left and right on those rows now do nothing when I press them. AND when I plug in an external keyboard, that external keyboard now works totally fine.
So, this seems to point to a hardware issue now with my keyboard, but cannot understand why before I drained the power, both the built-in keyboard and an external USB keyboard had the exact same issue, and typed the exact same wrong 2 letters each time a pressed a key. So not convinced it is a hardware issue, as before I did the power drain it seemed like it had to be a software issue.
So totally stumped at this point. Any thoughts, ideas, things to try? Thanks in advance!
(P.S. I know I could try and re-install Windows, but really do not want to do that given how many programs I have installed and the number of custom configurations I have made….e.g. customizing the MS Word toolbar).