Keyboard Stopped Registering Keys

Luddite

Senior member
Nov 24, 2003
232
3
81
My keyboard stopped registering keys in the middle of typing. The function keys still seem to work, for instance when I press 's' it will open a search function in the app I'm in. But none of the text keys register for ordinary word typing. It's not just some keys, it's all the keys.

Things I've tried:

1. I have three keyboards, and tested and cleaned them all. The same phenomenon happens to each of them when I plug them in.

2. I've done a deep antivirus scan with Bitdefender, and a Malware Bytes scan. My system is clean.

3. My device driver says the keyboard is working properly

4. I've rebooted my computer several times. Then, sometimes on a random reboot, the keyboard will suddenly register the keys again. (I'm typing this on the 4th reboot this morning).

5. I've tried using different usb ports. Doesn't matter which usb port I plug the keyboards into, it's the same problem..

My system:
Windows 7 Home Premium

Motherboard: Asus P5Q-EM
Intel onboard video
4 GB RAM

When I've rebooted or switched keyboards, I'll test the keyboard by opening NotePad and start typing. Nothing happens, and no letters are being registered. But certain function keys seem to still work.

One thing I've noticed. When I open the start menu, I see an orange alert (!) on the shutdown button. When I hover my mouse over this, it says 'Installs updates and then shuts down your computer' So I'll shut down the computer thinking updates are being installed. But nothing gets installed. Then I start up the computer again and have the same keyboard problem. The alert on the shutdown button doesn't seem to correlate with the keyboard issue, since the alert is there whether the keyboard is registering the keys or not.

Is there some kind of Windows setting that may have been knocked off? Could there be a problem with a BIOS setting? Maybe a graphics issue?

I really can't figure this out.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,575
126
Uninstall the keyboard in device manager. Shut down with the mouse or by tapping the power button, then reboot and let it re-detect the keyboard?
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
27,370
239
106
Moved because keyboards are Peripherals.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,371
762
126
Is this PS/2 or USB? (And what keyboard is it anyway?)
If USB, when that happens, unplug it then plug it back in and see if it works then.
Keyboards do go bad...
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
27,370
239
106
AS I read your post, with three keyboards all behaving the same way, I suspect the problem is not the keyboard, but the keyboard installation in Windows. You state that all three are USB. You've tried different ports as well. Here's what I would try.

Ctrl Pnl, Dev Mgr, Keyboard, then Uninstall. Then pull the KB USB plug. Then reboot, and you have no KB. Hot plug the KB into a good USB port. It should see the KB and reinstall it.

If the problem persists, I would suspect power to the USB port. This can be worked around if you have a powered USB hub, and plug the KB into it.

This one of those niggling challenges.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,571
10,206
126
If the problem persists, I would suspect power to the USB port. This can be worked around if you have a powered USB hub, and plug the KB into it.

It could be your PSUs +5V, or +5Vsb lines going. That happened to me. I was refurbishing an older PC, and suddenly, when booting, I got a BIOS message that no keyboard was found. I was using a Logitech RF wireless dongle. I tried several of the PC's USB ports, same thing.

Replaced the PSU, and all was well again.
 

Luddite

Senior member
Nov 24, 2003
232
3
81
Ctrl Pnl, Dev Mgr, Keyboard, then Uninstall. Then pull the KB USB plug. Then reboot, and you have no KB. Hot plug the KB into a good USB port. It should see the KB and reinstall it. .

That seemed to work. I will keep rebooting and checking over the next 24 hours to make sure it still works.