Keyboard problem??

[dajoga]

Every now and then (maybe once/mo)my keyboard goes dead--none of the keys will work. Mouse works, everything else seems ok. If I restart, keyboard works again. Any ideas?

My system: Dell, PIII, 733mhz, 512 Ram, Win 98se,

[nosferatuscoffin]

Sounds like a corrupt keyboard driver. I would suggest reinstalling it.

Right-click on the My Computer icon, click the Hardware tab, then click the Device Manager button. Click the plus sign by the Keyboard entry and highlight the keyboard type itself. (e.g. Standard 101/102 keyboard-key). Right-click on it and choose uninstall. Reboot the machine and the driver will auto reinstall.

If that does not work, let me know, as there might be a registry issue with it.

[dajoga]

nos--I did what you said last week, but tonight right in the middle of typing a post it did it again. It goes dead. Not one key works. So I went to the Device Mgr. and there was an "update driver" button to click on. I didn't do it, but thought I'd ask you about it. What is that? As soon as I reboot, I'm back in business.

[dajoga]

grrrr...it just happened again--twice in one night. I'm typing a post and zip--nothing. The next time it happens, I'll try to check if my 'puter is communicating with something online--I see my little monitors down in my status bar lighting up incidating that my 'puter is communicating with something--don't know if that has anything to do with my problem.

[nosferatuscoffin]

Do have a spare keyboard in the house or one you can borrow to test it on the PC?

Also, have you been running your AV and spyware tools lately? I now recommend that you use Spy Sweeper (http://www.webroot.com/) over AdAware and SpyBot. The program and 1st update is free, but to continue to get updates, it is $29.95 after that. However, it is well worth it. It is not out of the question that a piece of spyware could be trying to intercept keystrokes and hanging the keyboard itself.

[tacitus]

I had a similar problem years ago and tracked it down to a small pico fuse on the motherboard.

[dajoga]

I ran Ad-aware--nothing turned up; ran Spy-bot which turned up 39 red entries--fixed them so now we'll see what happens. If I still have a problem, I'll try a spare keyboard.

[nosferatuscoffin]

Also, download and run Spy Sweeper as it is a more thorough and effective spyware removal tool.

Granted, it is not out of the quetion that it could be a hardware problem, either on the keyboard's or motherboard's side. For now, it is best to concentrate on the OS side and see what comes up. Also, if you have a spare keyboard lying around, try that for a few days.

Also, Win 98 has a tendenacy to freeze up if the PC has been on too long or if it has been a long time between installs. How long ago did you get this PC and when was the last time 98 was reinstalled, it ever?

[dajoga]

My keyboard quit again tonight so I yanked the plug and changed keyboards. Viola! Back in business. No reboot or anything. Hopefully that cured it, but will have to wait and see if this other kb crashes.