Crap! My Laptop Keyboard Suddenly Stopped Working

[Chris_]

Windows hardware diagnostics says that it is fine, no error messages on reboot, plugging an old keybord in the accessory port works OK, so the drivers must be intact......WTF?

Old Dell Insipron 2500...

Any suggestions?

doc

[thundley4]

Check for any stuck keys, remove the battery for several minutes.  Both those were things a quick search for Inspiron laptop keyboard problems showed.  A third one was removing all the keys and cleaning them and the area underneath.

[Thor]

Stuck keys are the most likely problem. I had this happen with my old laptop. The first time baffled me until I looked VERY closely. I finally saw that one of the keys was stuck down just enough to interrupt the keyboard function. (It was barely noticeable) That's what happens as hardware ages, eating or drinking around computers, etc.

[Chris_]

Stuck keys are the most likely problem. I had this happen with my old laptop. The first time baffled me until I looked VERY closely. I finally saw that one of the keys was stuck down just enough to interrupt the keyboard function. (It was barely noticeable) That's what happens as hardware ages, eating or drinking around computers, etc.

I thought of that, and none of them appear to be stuck, unless something is actually under one of them.  The "action" of each key seems to be normal.  Wonder what a little compressed air on the keyboard would do.......

doc

[Thor]

I thought of that, and none of them appear to be stuck, unless something is actually under one of them.  The "action" of each key seems to be normal.  Wonder what a little compressed air on the keyboard would do.......

doc

Depends on the PSI of the compressed air. Canned air would be my recommendation unless you can dial down the pressure to under 30 PSI. Otherwise, you might blow the keys off. They aren't attached very well. Did you spill anything on the keyboard?? I also did that to my old laptop and I turned it off for a day, let it dry out and was fortunate enough to have it work when I booted it up. I'd also suggest that you look in the BIOS, if you can and make sure the keyboard is seen in there. Laptop BIOS are very different from Desktop BIOS, though. Chris is the laptop tech, but he's unavailable this weekend.

[Chris_]

Depends on the PSI of the compressed air. Canned air would be my recommendation unless you can dial down the pressure to under 30 PSI. Otherwise, you might blow the keys off. They aren't attached very well. Did you spill anything on the keyboard?? I also did that to my old laptop and I turned it off for a day, let it dry out and was fortunate enough to have it work when I booted it up. I'd also suggest that you look in the BIOS, if you can and make sure the keyboard is seen in there. Laptop BIOS are very different from Desktop BIOS, though. Chris is the laptop tech, but he's unavailable this weekend.

I'll look at the BIOS.......

It was really weird, I was typing along in the middle of a post, looked up at the screen, and it had stopped half a sentence ago.

I loaded my email client, and tried wordpad to make sure it was not a software issue, but same result.I can certainly wait till Chris comes back, as it works when I plug my spare keyboard into the accessory KB/Mouse jack, but I can't figure what happened.

It's probably way past time for me to invest in a newer laptop, as this one is ten years old, and has basically been in use nearly every day for that period.  I've replaced the HD, the CD drive, and both of the fans, so it is likely just shot.


doc 

[Chris_]

Run it under warm, soapy water to clean it out.  Let it drip dry.

I would try a hard reboot.  Unplug the battery and power cable, and remove the battery.  Let it sit for 30 seconds.  Plug in the power cable and power it back up.  Or, you could just have a dead keyboard... you can get new ones for $35.  If you take the keyboard out, you can type the part number into Amazon or Google Shopping to find a replacement.