Techie help! (Windows keyboard issue)

[Roguish Grin]

Hey, a friend of mine just called me (and woke me up.....grrrr) about an issue she's having with her computer:

She says she left her hand on the keyboard for a while (she thinks) and now the keys are acting funky. Like, she hits "a" and gets "az1" or she his "k" and gets "k,8" A restart didn't fix it, and neither did holding down shift.....if anyone has any ideas, please help!

Thanks!

[Kuky]

Hmm, those two examples you gaz1ve (hehe sorry I can't resist these things) are interesting, in that all the keys are grouped in the same column on the keyboard. Could it be that she spilled something in there? Define "left her hand on the keyboard for a while".

She could always try a can of compressed air to clean it out, or just wait a while for any spills to dry up... If it's a USB kb, try it in a different port, etc.

[Roguish Grin]

Hmm, those two examples you gaz1ve (hehe sorry I can't resist these things) are interesting, in that all the keys are grouped in the same column on the keyboard. Could it be that she spilled something in there? Define "left her hand on the keyboard for a while".

She could always try a can of compressed air to clean it out, or just wait a while for any spills to dry up... If it's a USB kb, try it in a different port, etc.

Hmm, that's an interesting pattern....yeah, I dunno what she did, she's sorta in hysterics right now, but managed to get to a computer lab to do her work until she can have tech guys at her school take a look......thanks for the suggestions, though, I'll pass them along

[Kuky]

If pressing a gives az1, try having her press z or 1 as well. Sounds like some kind of short. She may have to replace the kb... She should get Das Keyboard (http://daskeyboard.com/) :).

[Roguish Grin]

yeah, I'm afraid you may be right, cause hitting z gives az1 too.... but the q and the u keys work, and the i key acts like the enter key....I'm thinking short too....lol, she's not gonna be happy....

[Nonny]

Like Kuky mentioned, check for a spill first. Otherwise, yeah, prolly a short. Unless she's using an ergonomic keyboard, though, they're really not that expensive... she can probably find one for around $15, maybe cheaper.