User Error or Software issue?

As I type this I know there's a pretty good chance (maybe better than 50%) that before I'm done (unless I keep it SUPER BRIEF)..that the Chrome browser I'm using will shut down and I'll have to start over again from scratch.

I've had this Asus N53 for exactly one month and it's been (mostly) trouble free - except for losing work on both this and when typing on MS Word which also seems to shut down (ALWAYS when I'm typing)....

In both cases ....Word and Chrome, I suspect "user error" since it happens when I type faster...(but at least Word automatically saves what I've typed).

I think maybe I'm hitting some key inadvertently that might close the browser or whatever program I'm working in (like Word) - but if that's the case it would be a big help if I knew which key so I could get in the habit of being more careful...I know that I often accidentally hit the "caps lock" key to the left of the letter "A" key - but it doesn't affect anything and the caps-lock light lets me know.

But having to start from scratch typing something like this is VERY annoying! (takes forever to type something and the frustration of losing it is getting me nuts) - I know I can type using Word or Wordpad and then copy and paste it to a forum like this one, but it seems like I shouldn't have to be that careful...I've never had this problem before - and I've been using Chrome for quite a while. hen
I really don't know if I'd have the same problem with IE9 - I haven't used it, and while I used to use Firefox exclusively I haven't even installed it on this machine.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I have a "mirror image" problem where I'll be typing (here for example) and a program will open without me being aware I hit any key to open it. Generally it's the same program (an obscure photo processing program that opens instantly, but sometime PhotoShop CS5 opens and while it opens amazingly fast with this machine I still have to wait the 15 seconds or so for it to open before I can close it (and I also wonder why after opening it after a re-boot, and then closing it - it will open after that in about 2 or 3 seconds - on my old machine it took forever to open whether it had been previously opened or not). ???

Any help greatly appreciated!

TIA,

R.

 

Hmm, i'd run a full virus and malware scan to eliminate that problem. The only pre-configured shortcut to close programs in windows that i know of is Alt-F4. You could always look into your keyboard settings, you may have some customized shortcuts there, but it seems doubtful to me. Are you per chance hitting the windows key when you type and/or hitting the touchpad inadvertently?

 

Virus and/or malware seems highly unlikely since this has been going on since the computer came out of the box....
Alt-f4 would seem to need an intentional combo of keystrokes just due to the placement of the keys. I haven't set up any keyboard shortcuts and don't know how if I wanted to.
It's possible I am hitting the windows key as well as the touchpad - I just hit the Windows key and instead of the menu opening, Photoshop started.

I guess I should call Asus tech support and see if they have any ideas (although I don't have a great deal of faith in all their techs - my fn+f2 wasn't turning on the wireless and blue-tooth toggle like it was supposed to and the tech I spoke to told me the ONLY solution would be to do a system restore...instead of wasting time I tried downloading the "wireless console" driver and it has been working perfectly since.

Thanks for the response - if I get anywhere with Asus, I'll post results.

Peace,
R.

 

Hmm, since you mentioned fn key issues, download the ATK package's latest version, uninstall the one you currently have, restart and reinstall the latest. It's worth a shot. Glad to hear that malware issues are ruled out.

 

Thanks for the tip...I tried that and still having the same issues. I have a feeling that at least part of the problem is I'm not used to the keyboard. I think I'll try plugging in a stand-alone full size keyboard and see if that helps.

I'll also call Asus when I have the patience to give them all the info they ask for repeatedly even though I have a "service number" (or whatever they call it).

Thanks again.

R.

 

Hi Tijo (and others),

I ended up calling Asus phone support and the guy had me first do a computer reset (remove battery and power cord, hold down power button for 45 seconds or so) -

then he had me download the "ATKACPI driver and hotkey-related utilities" then delete the keyboard driver from the device manager, restart to automatically install the keyboard (or so it seemed) and then install the ATKACPI driver using the setup file from the download - and another restart.

So far, it seems to be working - keeping my fingers crossed, since it was really an annoying problem when losing typed work - (mostly in emails).

Thanks again for the suggestions. Truly appreciate the input!!!

Peace,
R.

 

Problem not resolved - Asus wants me to re-install Windows, which I wouldn't mind except it took me almost two weeks to install all my software.

 

While i understand, that it isn't the best of solutions, that one might actually solve your problem so you could always give it a try. Besides, you can make preparations before to insure reinstalling takes as little time as possible.

 

Tijo - thanks again for your responses!

I think I found a solution - I just typed 28 pages for a class I teach in photography on this laptop and not a single issue! Typically I couldn't type more than two lines. Wouldn't always shut down the program....that was common, but not as common as the cursor jumping so I'd be typing and all of a sudden if I'm typing here, for no reason the next letter would appear a few lines up in the middle of a word or in a space or several lines below here - no consistency.

Before I started this thread I tried to "Google" the problem and didn't find anything helpful. This morning I guess I used different wording (I think before when I tried using Google search, I wrote something like "typing closes program") - which was my most serious problem. Today I used Google and wrote "cursor jumps when typing" got 379 results - but best of all, I
found a small and free program (apparently from a Russian programmer since the "home page" is in Russian). The Russians got a satellite in space before anyone else, and now this! As Dr. Stangelove said "their German scientists are better than our German scientists!" -

This free program (utility?) which will get a donation from me if it continues to work is called "TouchFreeze" and despite the comments on it I found on some forum (forgot where) - where a lot of people said it didn't work - or didn't work on 64 bit operating systems (XP, Vista and Win 7) - it seems to be working with my Win 7 perfectly!!!! This is nothing short of a minor miracle for me since I not only typed 28 pages in Word for a photography course I teach without a single hitch, but this rather long post without a single problem as well - something that was impossible before installing "TouchFreeze" ....normally if I was LUCKY and the program didn't shut down completely and lose all info, at the very least the cursor would jump erratically - type here and the next letter would come up in the middle of a word several lines up or down below in empty space. I really couldn't go two lines without a problem of some sort!

I was willing and able, but not eager to do a complete system restore, (too much software to re-install; now I guess I know why they partition the hard drive. But the fact is for me it would make virtually no difference since I have almost no personal files on my HDD - as a photographer I store every image on an external drive - my RAW files plus Jpegs for each image are typically 45MB each (size varies depending on detail), so using an external drive is the only logical solution - plus my editing software is so comprehensive that it takes up a good deal of even my 750 GB drive (which for some reason shows 673GB capacity on drive "C" and 25GB on drive"0" - which is empty, so I have no idea what purpose it serves (swap files?) - I can't see the hidden partition where the OS restore files are, but I can't imagine it taking up 50GB - my Win 7 Ultimate disk is on a single DVD.....???

Thanks again, and if anyone has a similar problem, this "TouchFreeze" seems to do the trick!

Link to the utility is: touchfreeze - Utility for Windows that disables touchpad automatically while you are typing text - Google Project Hosting

Peace,
R.