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Problems with keys on laptop while using Word.
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Chimel
Posted 3/16/2015 11:25 (#4457057 - in reply to #4456306)
Subject: RE: Problems with keys on laptop while using Word.


Seems from Gin's link that Fn + Windows key fixes the problem.
My guess is that it's a problem between certain computers or keyboards, and how certain applications scan for keyboard codes. The bug seem to repro whether you use the laptop keyboard, an external USB keyboard, or even the on-screen virtual keyboard. Possibly a keyboard driver issue, or another software running that is affecting keyboard codes. Try pressing Shift or Caps Lock and one of these letters to see if it works in uppercase.

Check your Regional Settings (depending on the version of Windows) Control Panel to check that you are using English (US) as the input language for your keyboard, delete any other keyboard languages (it's easy to add them back now that you know how to delete them), shut down the computer, get a latte, mumble a prayer to the Deva of keyboards, reboot and try again.

If that does not work, check what other software might be running and confusing Word. Check your Programs and Features or Add/remove Programs Control Panel, for instance, your Start menu ot its Startup submenu, your msconfig Startup tab, and the list of running processes in Windows Task Manager.

You may have for instance a Microsoft Intellisense software that got installed at one time when you used an external mouse, or you may have set the mouse or keyboard to non-standard settings. This utility will try to redirect some keyboard scan codes into supposedly useful (but really useless) keyboard combinations, you can safely uninstall it. If it's a laptop with the default install, it probably has network and display drivers that are necessary to run properly, but it may also have a few useless software that you may not use, like cloud services and the like. You can delete those as well, especially past the guarantee period, but it may be tricky to know which ones to keep, which one to uninstall. Make a system backup, like a system image of your drive, before attempting all those changes.

To access msconfig, click on the Start or Windows button, select "Run" if the option exists, or just type "msconfig" and press Enter. Check the apps in the Startup tab, and unselect most non-Microsoft checkboxes, you can even delete some of the Microsoft ones such as the Office preloader.

To access Windows Task Manager, close all apps but the browser to reduce noise, press Ctrl+LeftAlt+Del or right-click on the Windows bottom Taskbar. The Processes tab lists all running processes. Click on the "Name" column header to sort the processes alphabetically, they'll be easier to sort out.

Don't hesitate to post screenshots of your Windows Task Manager processes or the list of software in the Startup tab of msconfig if you want more information or if you have any doubt. Googling the name of suspicious processes usually answers most questions. Tell us which version of Windows you are using too, or if it's a tablet or laptop with touch screen. Check also if the bug reproes if you don't have any software running, not even the web browser.

Someone could repro the bug systematically and found it can from interference from the Japanese IME (Input Method Editor), which uses these letters that are otherwise useless for Japanese characters. Maybe the IME for an Asian language was accidentally enabled when trying out the feature. You can easily uninstall it in that case, from the Programs or Regional Options Control Panel, not sure where exactly, and it also depends on your version of Windows. It's very confusing, because someone else uses the Chinese IME in which these letters are valid keys, and the bug still repros. It may be linked to the IME software then, regardless of the language used, and other apps may show the same behavior.

Another person could repro in a different way: "As an experiment I just hit the "Windows" key, while in Chrome, and then passed the mouse over the "show desktop" button. Et voila, I can no longer type "chv" in Chrome (I'm using a text editor to compose this!)"

Try also downloading Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator from the Microsoft web site, it's a great tool to replace some keyboard sequences with others. For instance, Word will get you the proper opening and closing single and double quotes, but not Notepad or your web browser. You can have them by assigning for instance LeftCtrl + the quote key to the opening quote, and RightCtrl for the closing quote.

If it's in Microsoft Word or Office, there are AutoCorrect and especially AutoReplace features that may be affecting some keyboard entries. You could for instance tell Word to automatically replace "g" followed by any word separator such as a space or punctuation with "grasseed". It's smart too, if you type "G", it will return the capitalized "Grasseed" or if you type "gs", it will return the plural "grasseeds". But I really doubt it's this issue, I only wanted to show off. ;) But it's pretty handy to type "pga" and have it automatically replaced by "propylene glycol alginate" instead of leaving unreadable acronyms that I hate with a passion.

Lastly, it is also possible that you installed a 63 bit version of Windows, in which case you may be lacking the last bit for H, C, V or /. Just kidding! ;)

Edited by Chimel 3/16/2015 11:39
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