dv9000 keyboard problems anyone else?

I'm not kidding. After my dv9000 with XP has been on for about 45 minutes the keyboard malfunctions. It takes a really long time for the keystroke to register after hitting the key. I'll already be on the 4th word of the sentence and it hasn't typed the first. This laptop is rarely used, it is like new, I'm not a gamer, only type letters and surf. When I have used it in the past it was for short periods of time. Only for about the last 3 weeks have I really started to use it more and leave it on for longer periods of time. For the last 2 weeks the keyboard has been consistently malfunctioning after it's on for 45 min. to an hour. It was also getting very hot so I checked the temp. with SpeedFan and it was 125F. Anyone else had this happen?

 

The next time the unit does this, bring up the task manager and see if something is using up all the cpu cycles. It sounds like you may have a program or even malware that has your system slowing down. That would also account for the extra heat. Try running an online virus scan. Let us know what the task manager shows please. Good luck

Jim

 

I've already run scanners for every bug while in safe mode and nothing has been detected. My biggest memory hog is Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2007. I've been trying to uninstall it since I realized what a hog it was but have not been successful.

 

It doesn't have to be a virus for it to be taking up resources. As RdKryton says, open the task manager and watch the CPU usage when this starts happening.

 

The cpu usage is normal. It appears I do have something going on. I just turned the computer on and my Sygate firewall has disappeared, Windows can't update and neither can Avast. I ran 3 online scans and nothing has come up besides minor tracking cookies.

 

There is nothing to do with the keyboard itself. Keyboard can't make delays like you say even if it would have wanted. Your machine is working too hard and does not have time to operate with your keyboard. So, check your started programs in Task Manager. It will show you what program makes the CPU to work hard.

 

Thanks Suland for explaining the problem, I get it now.

 

Did you manage to find th problem?

 

It really sounds like his system has been compromised. The fact that the firewall, Windows update, and the anti-virus program have all stopped working is a big red flag. I wish he would post back and let us know what is happening in task manager. Something is using 100% of the cpu when his system slows way down.

Jim

 

I'm still working on it, will report back soon.

 

save all your documents, take note of your installed programs and settings, and reformat/reinstall everything. thats what i would do.

this is because i believe the computer has been compromised by malware or maybe even a real person through the internet.

download "hijackthis" and run a scan too. but dont delete everything it tells you is suspicious

 

Affirmative mujjuman, already did a hijackthis scan in safe mode and all looks clean. I clocked the temp. with speed fan at 80F as soon as the computer boots up. My other notebook boots and stays at around 45F all the time. I'm not very tech savvy but I do know not to let unnecessary programs boot on start-up and I try to keep junk from installing itself. I may have scrubbed the reg so hard that I did something to cause the problem with Avast and Windows updating and Sygate disappearing from my toolbar and control panel. There was no program jacking up the CPUs in task manager. I've been uninstalling all of the protection programs I had running: Avast, Sygate, AVG-anti-spyware, Ad-Aware2007, Spybot-Search Destroy, etc., not so easy. Sygate was nearly impossible, Ad-Aware2007 took almost a week. I installed Bitdefender 10 and the scan came up clean. The computer has been running a little cooler, stays around 115F, better than before but not great.

 

There is nothing showing up in task manager, cpu usage is normal, the computer is at 120F right now with only Firefox and the bare bones running, cpu usage is between 2% to 4% as I am typing and with the keyboard wigging out along with the cursor jumping around. The area around the touchpad is so hot I can't rest my hands on it. I can't figure this thing out and don't know what else to do.

 

Frankly, I got really TIRED of the kind of resource hog Symantec was with its Norton Antivirus and Firewall -- LONG boot times, constant interruptions I didn't need, and so forth BUT it does have one feature I like I believe is available to ANYONE, whether you have one of their products installed, or not -- and that's their online system scan (I know you said you've been doing some online scans already, ubatz, just not sure if that's one of them).

My thinking on it is that if you ARE infected, any antivirus/spyware software you have installed could well be compromised, but if you do a scan from an online resource, since it's scanning from a protected (presumably uninfected) server, it should catch ANYTHING on your system (other than, maybe, a rootkit, which I've read can be very hard to detect).

Hopefully you made the System Restore disks as soon as you got your system, so if nothing else works, you can run that, and it SHOULD solve the problem. If it doesn't, you might have a hardware issue.
Jeff

 

Thanks for the advice, I will try some more online scans but I'm not hopeful. I already scanned for rootkits.
I didn't make any system restore disks because I was not planning on keeping this computer. It was a downgraded cheesy replacement for my dv8000. Let's not get into that, I refuse to deal with HP anymore.
The dv9000 can't be on for any extended period of time. Last night it started freezing up on me. While on the internet doing research and having 3 windows open in Firefox simultaneously, cursor would move but nothing responded. Opened task manager, CPU is at 50%, System Idle and Firefox are only processes using any CPU, had to end task to close all the windows, CPU went down to normal. Computer did the same thing 3 more times so I quit.

 

The trouble with any scans is that they only find stuff they know about. It's entirely possible you have something that they don't know about. STOP RELYING ON THEM. You've done what you can, done your scans, and you still have the problem.

The remaining steps you have in front of you are, in order:

1. Run memtest86+. Follow the guide in my sig. It's entirely possible that bad memory could cause this.
2. Back up your data. Copy all of your data to an external disk or DVDs.
3. Reinstall the system. You can order recovery discs for less than $20 from HP, or you can do a clean install using the Anytime Upgrade disc. You can get one of those for about $5 if you don't have one. Don't worry about drivers or anything like that. Those are probably infected (if this is a virus). You can download the updated ones from HP after you reinstall. Make sure you format the disk when you do the install. You will lose some of the software that came with the system, like roxio, muvee, symantec, etc... They are available in the c:\swsetup folder, but due to the problems you are having, i would not trust that they are safe.

 

Thanks Orev, good advice.

 

Just let us know if it worked and what you did.

 

Things have gone from bad to worse. Right now I'm on dial-up with an old PC.
With both of my laptops I could not connect to the internet. Took the ethernet cord out of the router and plugged it directly into my laptop, still could not connect. When I looked at the available wireless networks mine showed up on the list as being an unsecured network. Bitdefender says the firewall is on. I turned on Windows firewall rebooted, same thing, laptop won't connect and my network is showing up as being an available unsecured network. I'm afraid to connect to it to download memtest.

 

You really do not have a good track record with notebooks do you .

Just for everyone else's benefit, ubatz was one of the main participants in the dv8000 keyboard problems threads in which users found a HUGE manufacturing defect with HP dv8000 and dv5000 keyboards. The probably was well known in many forums and online chats, but HP never really did fix the problem.

Unsecured networks only mean there are no password requirements to get onto the network. Secured networks do not imply any kind of firewall protection or anything. But you had some protection utilities so...

You might want to get Spyware Search & Destroy. It does rather well IMHO and it is free.

I hate to raise the possibility of this, but you could also have a rootkit. Those nasty little things are basically impossible to find and fix and can usually evade detection by modifying the OS to hide. You could have a memory problem, or even a hard drive problem. A couple of corrupted Windows files is all it takes to fry a system, trust me I know.

 

I already have Spyware S&D and I already checked for a rootkit with Sophos. Why would my network all of a sudden become unsecured?

 

The "unsecured network" means the network does not have WEP or WPA enabled. If you enabled this on your router, then it's possible that someone around you is running a rouge access point and is trying to run a man-in-the-middle attack on you. To fix this, use a WIRE and plug in to your router directly, and make sure you have the options enabled. Also make sure you have a password on the router that is not the default one it came with. You could also change the SSID of the router, and make sure that you only connect to the new ID when you use the wireless again.

 

Thanks for the tip Orev, you were right, I was being jacked. All computers are now scrubbed down to the bone and work fine. This is the first time I've used my wireless and I'm trying to figure out how to change the ssid on my Netgear WPN824V2 router. Never did that one before which is why I probably got jacked.

 

Glad to hear you figured it out (though too bad on the reason ). You should definitely change your SSID, just to make sure you are connecting to your own router, but that doesn't actually add any security. The main thing that you REALLY should do is make sure you have encryption enabled, and pick a good password. Try to use WPA first, but if that's not supported use WEP. It's better than nothing.

Also, change the default password that you use to login to the router (when making changes), and also set it up so it only allows access to that page when you are connected via a wire to the network.

A little setup work here will go a long way .

 

I'm on it. Thanks for all of your very useful advice.