an odd virus of the OS. I Cannot type anycharacters to any program

[TungFree]

I must have contacted a virus, because I cannot type any characters. the curso does not move so it is not like my text is typing white text on white background. I am on a friend's computer.

Anyone hear of this?

 

[Fardringle]

Are you sure it's a virus and not just the keyboard itself? (or maybe the keyboard controller on the motherboard...)

If the computer does not respond to the keyboard in ANY programs, I would suspect hardware before software in this case.

Some things you can do to narrow down the exact cause:

* What happens when you press the Caps Lock and Num Lock keys on the keyboard? If the lights on the keyboard flash when you push the buttons then the keyboard is getting power and communicating with the PC.
* Plug the keyboard into a different computer. If it works there, the keyboard is OK. If not, the keyboard is bad.
* Plug a different keyboard into this computer. If the new one works, the PC is fine. If not, it's either the keyboard controller, wrong port, or something software-related.
* Plug the keyboard into a different port (if it is USB) or make sure it is actually plugged in to the keyboard port on the motherboard.
* Boot from a Windows 98 floppy or a Knoppix (or other CD-based Linux OS) CD on the friend's computer. If the keyboard works fine there but not in Windows, then you probably either have a corrupt system file or possibly a virus or other unfriendly software that is preventing the keyboard from working properly in Windows. If this is the case, make sure the Anti-virus and anti-spyware utilities are fully updated and run FULL system scans of both in Safe Mode. After that is done, do a system scan with Hijack This and report the results.

 

[mechBgon]

Also, you might try TrendMicro Housecall, a free online virus scanner. Use Internet Explorer with an Admin-class account for this. If you need to type something but cannot, then try Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map, and compose what you need using your mouse, then copy & paste.

 

[TungFree]

I had another hard drive on which I had near the identical setup (minus lots of data files and programs I had installed in 3 months,) as soon as I booted up in it everything workes fine. So now I wonder what is safe to salvage data wise from my other Hard drive.

 

[TungFree]

I jiggled pulled out the keyboard plug and replugged it and have had no problem...