Help wth malfunctonng laptop.

• 

  Velocita on 30/07/2013 - 17:29

  +6

  I'm guessing the letters are I K and one other.

  We'll start with the easy one, you've done a reboot of your machine? What happens if you plug in an external USB keyboard to your laptop?

  • 

    nettiee11 on 01/08/2013 - 00:32

    yes i did a reboot and it didn't change anything. I don't have an external keyboard but that is a good idea to use one instead.Thanks

• 

  Joysky on 30/07/2013 - 18:45

  +3

  I lol'd

  • 

    nettiee11 on 01/08/2013 - 00:32

    you meanie this is serious!! :-0

• 

  scrimshaw on 30/07/2013 - 18:58

  +1

  If the laptop keys aren't working it's usually due to water spillage or condensation (may happen if you left your laptop out in the cold and morning dew covered it) then you just have to dry the laptop using a blow dryer.

  Make sure your power down the laptop, remove the battery and unplug the AC cable. Dry it out completely with a hairdrier on low heat.

  If problem persists, you need to check if the keyboard has a folded or twisted ribbon cable. The keyboard is a removable part of the notebook — find a way to remove it and check if the cable has a kink in it. You can also get keyboard replacements from eBay usually under $30 bucks.

  • 

    nettiee11 on 01/08/2013 - 00:34

    Thanks scrimshaw but the laptop was just sitting in my room whilst i was away but i did power it down and remove the battery anyway but nothing changed (obviously I am doing this from another computer)
    But thanks for your suggestion

• 

  Geekomatic on 31/07/2013 - 19:45

  Hi Nettie,

  Assuming that nothing unusual happened to your laptop, let's try a system restore to a time when it was running fine?

  Start>All Programs>accessories>system tools>system restore. Choose a date that you're sure is before the key problem (maybe even a day before you last used it). Let the restore run & it will complete after a restart. See if that fixes the issue.

  If not, it could be that you (or someone else) spilled something inside the keyboard & as scrimshaw wrote, you may be able to dry it out & have the functioning return. However, it's not an easy thing for most people to get the keyboard out…try these possible fixes first & please let the forum know what happens?

  Cheers!

• 

  nettiee11 on 01/08/2013 - 00:37

  Thanks Geekomatic I did the restore but the keys are still not working. It is the 8 i k , keys, not sure about the alt key but that probably isn't working either. It is strange because they are in a line.

  • 

    retiredfeline on 01/08/2013 - 01:30

    Try that external keyboard. Your builtin keyboard probably has a mechanical fault so the affected keys are in line.

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  dreadpiratedan on 01/08/2013 - 07:38

  http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l131…

  Normally once laptop keys go, they're gone. Some exceptions obviously, but I digress. How old is the laptop? I'm guessing since you're here asking what to do the warranty is done and dusted?

  • 

    nettiee11 on 01/08/2013 - 20:29

    I brought it in 2011 so it is out of warranty. Thank you for the link. Of course my Pavilion dv6 is the expensive keyboard!

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  nettiee11 on 01/08/2013 - 20:43

  I have another question. The original keyboard is not back lit. Will a replacement keyboard that is back lit work in my laptop or can i only buy a non back lit one?

  • 

    Forfiet on 01/08/2013 - 21:08

    It has worked with different brands, plus if the model of laptop has two keyboards available it makes sense that they would be interchangeable :)

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  nettiee11 on 06/09/2013 - 01:16

  OK guys. I have an update to my problem. See if anyone can explain this one!!
  I have been using an external keyboard and if I type on it for a long time the 8,i,k and , keys on my keyboard start to work after a while. Then when I stop typing for a while and then start again they don't work again until I have been typing for a while. Explain that???