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    Strange problem...Hopefully human error

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by evster_mcman, Sep 9, 2007.

  1. evster_mcman

    evster_mcman Notebook Enthusiast

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    Alrighty, I just got my 1520 a couple days ago and I like it. But the weird thing is, on two occasions when i go to type something it wont type anything and just use the keys as shortcuts I guess (ie: if I type 'f' then the file menu will pop up). So now I'd like to know what to do to prevent this from happening again because I have to restart it everytime it does this.
     
    evster_mcman, Sep 9, 2007
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  2. kalm

    kalm Notebook Consultant

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    try toggling the alt key when this happens & see if it helps.
     
    kalm, Sep 9, 2007
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  3. markjsca1

    markjsca1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sounds like one of two things: either one of your ALT keys is stuck (which is doubtful as the problem goes away on reboot (unless you bash the keyboard everytime you reboot :smile: )or you need to go into control panel > accessibility and disable stickykeys.

    That should sort it for you. Let me know if it fixes the problem for you.
     
    markjsca1, Sep 9, 2007
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  4. evster_mcman

    evster_mcman Notebook Enthusiast

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    I don't have sticky keys on. And I can't really try anything else untill it actually does it again--although I'm now thinking I may have been leaning my hand on the alt key inadvertently
     
    evster_mcman, Sep 9, 2007
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  5. yuio

    yuio NBR Assistive Tec. Tec.

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    when it happens try using an external keyboard if you have one, that would make it easier to see if it is a harware issue or not.
     
    yuio, Sep 9, 2007
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  6. skree358

    skree358 Notebook Consultant

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    Try pressing the shift key five times, you should have options for sticky keys.
     
    skree358, Sep 9, 2007
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  7. manu251125

    manu251125 Notebook Consultant

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    i always wonder what sticky keys do...what do they do?
     
    manu251125, Sep 9, 2007
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  8. kalm

    kalm Notebook Consultant

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    they're useful for people who are unable to press two keys at a time in that they separate simultaneous key presses in time ie if you want to do ctrl+v (for paste) you can press ctrl, it sticks and then press v separately and the keycode ctrl+v is generated and ctrl unsticks.
     
    kalm, Sep 10, 2007
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  9. frazell

    frazell Notebook Deity

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    I'd say download a Live CD version of Linux, like Knoppix or Ubuntu, and see if you have the same problem in there...

    My guess is this is a virus or malware problem... All too often I see these symptoms when those types of things make it onto the machine...
     
    frazell, Sep 10, 2007
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  10. Devedander

    Devedander Notebook Evangelist

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    Sounds like what happens when I hit the menu button (on most keyboards it's on the right next to control, not sure where it might be on yours but it looks like a drop down menu with an arrow pointing on it) and I have to tap alt or that same button to get it unstuck.
     
    Devedander, Sep 10, 2007
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