Help Wth Laptop Keyboard Problems?

[BBMINI]

Hi All,

A few days ago my laptop keyboard went crazy and seemed to also impact some other computer and mouse functions, so I figured I'd post a description in hopes of getting any feedback about what might be the problem and what, if anything, I can do to fix it.

- Toshiba Satellite C55-A laptop on Windows 8.1, 13 months old
- No problems with the machine until last week
- Upon waking it up, I had trouble logging in, realized only a few keys were working correctly
- For the keys that don't work, if I hold down that key long enough the letter will work and rapidly repeat on the page (so for example, if I hit the "r" key once it won't work at all, but if I hold it down then it will eventually work and will type "rrrrrrrrr"
- Caps Lock seems to be on for many keys even though the actual Caps Lock button isn't activated. Actually using the Caps Lock button reverses it.
- Certain keys consistently bring up the screen brightness function
- The Arrow keys consistently activate screen display settings (resolution, etc.) dialog box
- The "period" key consistently inserts ">" regardless of using Shift, Caps Lock, or anything else
- Firefox now opens in Safe Mode
- IE opens all links in new windows rather than just new tabs although my actual settings about tabs/windows weren't changed
- Clicking on an email in Outlook.com opens that email in an entirely new window rather than just enlarging the email for reading
- Clicking anywhere on an open web page highlights most of the page as if I wanted to copy it
- Clicking an icon on the desktop highlights all the icons on the desktop
- The typing, web and other problems happen whether I'm using the desktop or the start screen (that is, it seems to make no difference if I open IE from the desktop or the Start screen, or if I'm using Skype desktop version versus Skype app, etc.)
- In Excel, clicking on a single cell highlights a huge block of cells. This happens whether using the mouse or the trackpad.
- All my settings in Adobe Illustrator were changed to random settings

For now, I've plugged in a separate USB keyboard and that gets around all the problems listed above. It's actually how I'm typing this post. Still, I'd prefer to fix the laptop's actual keyboard if possible.

Note that using the USB keyboard also eliminated the weird problems with IE, Firefox, highlighting cells, icons and web pages, etc. The separate keyboard seems to have fixed every problem listed above.

I also used the recovery function to set the machine back to a date before the problem started happening but it didn't make any difference.

So from the description above can anyone tell me what might be happening and whether the laptop can be saved? Is the keyboard fried? I guess next step will be to reinstall Windows altogether and hope that makes a difference, but I assume if it's a hardware/keyboard/motherboard problem then a Windows wipe/reinstall won't fix my problem.

Any thoughts/insights/ideas/tips much appreciated.

-BBMINI

 

[Laura Knotek]

I'd suggest reinstalling Windows just to see. However, it sounds like a hardware problem since you said external keyboards work. Did you spill anything on the keyboard?
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 via Tapatalk

 

[BBMINI]

^^Thanks for the thoughts. Nothing was spilled on the keyboard, nor was there any other kind of damage. The problems seem to have started for no reason, which is another thing that makes me think it might be a hardware breakdown problem.

 

[berty6294]

Not sure how techy you are but what I would do is reseat the keyboard ribbon and see if maybe it was a bad connection. If they keyboard itself is bad, I think the part itself usually goes for between $60-$110

 

[BBMINI]

Not sure how techy you are but what I would do is reseat the keyboard ribbon and see if maybe it was a bad connection. If they keyboard itself is bad, I think the part itself usually goes for between $60-$110

Thanks, Berty. Good idea. I've never done that before but after looking into it it seems like something I could try before resetting the machine or replacing it altogether.

 

[berty6294]

Its not too bad a thing to do. I would suggest finding a teardown video or instructions first. Generally it involves removing the battery, removing all the screws in the back, flipping over, and prying off the keyboard. Good luck!

 

[BBMINI]

what I would do is reseat the keyboard ribbon and see if maybe it was a bad connection.

Doing this seems to have fixed the problems. Not sure why it worked, since I didn't see any obvious problems or issues with the current connection, but after taking out the ribbon cable, wiping it off and reconnecting it, the keyboard troubles and associated problems are gone. Big relief. Thanks again for the suggestion.

 

[berty6294]

Awesome! I'm glad I could help! I was really expecting you to come back saying it didn't work and would need a new keyboard lol but glad it worked!