my friend's laptop keyboard is broken!!!

[LongCoolMother]

my friend's keyboard keys dont always work. like when she presses it, it doesnt appear on the computer. like, it wont come out. it feels the same and everything, its all normal but it just doesnt show up. the keys that dont work are:

8, i, k, comma, m

the funny thing is, there is a key on the keyboard near the bottom that says "sn" and its purple. when she holds it down and pressed one of the "broken" keys, the key next to the one pressed comes out.

ie. if she pressed (sn+i) the letter "u" would come out. this shows that the key is responsive...its got me stumped. any ideas? thanks.

 

[AT]

Let me guess: it's a Dell. I had Dell Latitude that had the exact same problem that 8, i, k and comma stopped working. Of course this happened when I was long way from home on business so I walked around airports with a external keyboard sticking out of my laptop bag. And since warranty had expired it cost a bundle to have it fixed.

 

[Vinny N]

Depending on the model, the keyboard might VERY easily pop off in a variety of ways:

1. stubs of plastic on the top or bottom that can be pushed back with a paperclip tip, push all of them back.

2. a plastic bar either the length of the keyboard or 2/3 of the length is at the top or bottom, pop it off, starting from an edge, that might be all that's holding it.

3. the same size plastic bar might be covering up the screws, in which case, after removal of the bar, unscrew the screws.


Why am I telling you this? Because sometimes the keys which "die" on a laptop can be fixed just by reseating the cable coming from the keyboard connecting to the laptop system board.


Find out the tech support number of the company that sold the laptop, a technician knowing the ins/outs of the laptop is probably willing to walk you through the steps to get the keyboard out and reseat it.

 

[hoodwink]

I have a Dell Lattitude at work and the exact same problem happened with me... where the 8,i, k, ,keys don't work kinda going down a line. Whats worst with me though was the Delete key (of all the keys) also did not work and I was running Win NT. Ctrl+Alt+Del is required to login to system.

Well Dell tech support guys showed up to replace my keyboard not once but TWICE! After the first time things were working fine, and after a few weeks the keyboard is jacked up again. I have a completely new Dell laptop now and luckily have not encountered that problem again.