DESPERATE notebook keyboard skipping

Hello,
Help! My IBM notebook seems to skip every 3rd or 5th character. I'm going INSANE!

Example (Now is the winter of our discontent):

ow is e winterof our scontt.

PLEASE!!
Ruth

are you just typing too fast?

Can you clean out the keyboard?
Sometimes dust or debris gets stuck under the keys.

Nope! It happens every morning, like something happens overnight. Incompatible software or something?

I'm typing really slow right now, hitting some keys more than once to get them to "take".

Any ideas? Not comp savvy

Keyboard's not dirty

Damn trolls. Try using a usb keyboard and see if that still happens

I'll try..

Couple of things to try....

1. Plug external usb keyboard into laptop, is problem still there?
2. Do keys on the laptop stick or hard to press, if so have you tried to clean them at all.
3. Some laptops have alternate uses for the same key, are the key that are not working are the labeled as 2 keys?
4. If you type slowly and press each key firmly does it work? Is it always the same letters?

Okay: Using external keyboard - working much better! However, seems to defeat the whole purpose of having a notebook.

Could it be the "damn trolls" in a previous suggestion?

Little history: My ex-husband sent me this all set up and ready to go. I misunderstood him the first time I had this problem and thought some anti-virus protection had installed itself.

I thought I didn't NEED anti-virus protection because I was only going to use it for Word (I'm trying to write a book here).

He informed me of my mistake, so I installed Malwarebytes and that seemed to fix the problem, but then I went to go to work this morning and GRRR!! Here the problem is again!!

How will I ever share my gift with the world? (I keed, but I really am frustrated)

Is it all keys that are equally difficult?
If so, then you probably need to get a replacement keyboard.

See if you can't remove the keys, so that you can get underneath them to clean them.
Since this is an IBM notebook, which has not been made in a long time, there has been plenty of opportunity for material to accumulate under the keytops.

Whoops! Forgot to add: I thought it was incompatible software, and removing the "green castle" that HE had installed seemed to solve the problem.

Then in research a scan for malware seemed to fix the problem, and then I downloaded the free malware and still have the problem AGAIN.

Geofelt: As I mentioned (sorry, just saw your response. New to this board), this notebook is new to me from an extremely anal-retentive ex who put a new keypad in it. Works GREAT when I fix it!

But the problem sprouts up overnight anew.

Malwarebyte's is a good start, have you ran any anti-virus against it? like avast "free" from avast.com

What make / model of IBM?

Some Exes are vindictive, I hope your's is not.

Malware is not likely to be your problem.

A virus could be, but a virus would not act on a keyboard like you describe.

But, you do need a antivirus program. Anti malware alone won't do it.

I can recommend Microsoft security essentials.
It is simple, low overhead, and free.
It also includes anti-malware protection.
You can download it here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/sec...

If I download the Microsoft Essentials, do I need to remove the malwarebytes first? Thanks!

It's an IBM ThinkPad. I think it MUST not have anything to do with the keyboard itself, it has to be maybe a virus?

I tried slowing down cursor, disabling touchpad...

I would. MSE recommends that.

No need to remove it - they scan for different types of software.

Thanks everyone for suggestions. I'm going to try those things with the ME, but I'll be back! I need to get this solved once and for all, I can't have this happen every morning.

MUCH APPRECIATED, ALL!! I'll let you know if it works (and then hopefully it'll STILL be working in the morning!)

geofelt: I think that software might be the problem - note please, that I'm super unsavvy, and am not even certain what HW vs. SW is.

I went through the various programs on the computer with my ex that I thought might be the problem (not all but the ones I didn't recognize) and he said they were all okay.

It's as if some kind of scan is causing a problem overnight.

I'm still downloading Mic Ess. I removed the previous malwarebytes - but didn't restart the computer (didn't want to lose my place).

This computer's not very fast, it was just supposed to be for convenience - and it would sure be nice if it worked!

Still downloading...Your help is much appreciated!

It'll be nice to have that red shield with the alarming white "x" through it gone...heh.

I know this is not relevant to your keyboard issue but...

HW= hardware.
SW= software.

MSE will install and ask you to do a scan to check for viruses or malware.
There will be two options, Quick and Full.
Start with quick, and assuming that all is ok, do a full scan when you are not using the pc. It can take a long time on a laptop hard drive.
Past that, it is unobtrusive. It will download updates on occasion, or whenever you do a windows update.

As to the speed of your laptop, replacing the hard drive with a SSD(solid state disk) will absolutely transform it.
I have replaced the drive of my tninkpad T61 with a ssd. it was easy to do.
If a ssd can hold all your storage plus a bit of spare, it will be well worth your while to do so.
A SSD now costa <$1 per gb.
Intel used to sell a SSD that includes a laptop conversion kit.
The kit used a usb to sata adapter into which you put the new ssd.
If you can't find that, you can buy a usb based external sata enclosure that will do the job.
A external usb enclosure is a great place to back up your files anyway. Put any old sata drive in it.
Their ssd migration tool clones your hard drive to the ssd.
You then remove the old hard drive and replace it with the ssd.
The nice thing is that you still have the old hard drive if anything should go wrong.

geofelt: Did the quick scan and restarted the computer. There's still the same problem, so I guess I'll do the full scan - which will take awhile, I'm sure.

I have a desktop computer that's super fast, sometimes it's more fun to sit up in bed and type and while it worked (I've had this laptop less than a week), it was GREAT and fine speed-wise as is.

I just need to fix this problem! I don't know why I was able to "fix" it in the past (only to have the problem reappear in the morning), but it seems there must be some sort of incompatability somewhere. Maybe I should go through the entire list of installed items with my ex to see if there's a rogue in there somewhere.

I doubt that a full scan will uncover anything. But... who knows.
Regardless, having some sort of antivirus is essential these days.

Since a separate usb attached keyboard does not seem to have the problem, I think it must be hardware related.
See if you can't pry off a key so you can see what is underneath.
If you can check out all the keys, or at least the ones that are skipping you may find something.

Earlier you said that the keyboard had been replaced. If so, perhaps the replacement was not very good and you need a better replacement.

It sounds like you have a program running the background that is running that is causing issues with the keyboard.

Some service or application that runs in the background. Ever thought about taking it to a local computer shop? Having a local computer geek look at it?

Agood cleaning may help. get a can of compressed air and clean out under the keys. When cleaning tip the laptop upside down and shake to get some of the particles out and spray the comprssed air wile in that position as well Also with constant use it may require a full pressing of the key if it is starting to show signs of wear. You can take it to a repair shop and have the key pad underneath replaced , what the keys are actually attached to.

are you sure you don't have the filter keys setting on? This option is set in the accessibility options of the control panel.

http://windows-7tips.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/how-to-disa...

duplicate post

This next topics has been merged by Proximon

DESPERATE notebook keyboard skipping

Best answer selected by Ruth In Iowa.

Mystery SOLVED! And thanks to all who helped.

Turns out, Internet Explorer 8 was causing the problem. I went to the following link to download IE7, then uninstalled IE8, then downloaded IE7.

This morning, everything's working perfectly.

I've read that others have had this problem, so hope that this will help.

Here's the link to download IE7: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id...

Thanks to everyone so much, you were great!!