Right hand shift not working on Dell XPS running Vista

[T]

My Dell XPS laptop has a keyboard problem. The right hand shift key no
longer works when typing uppercase letters but still works with the arrow
keys when highlighting text. I don't think that the key has actually failed
completely.
I am not familiar with laptops as this is the first one I have owned. Does
anyone know what might have caused this and how to fix it?
The laptop was sold in the UK and has a UK keyboard. It is correctly set as
a UK keyboard.
Thanks

 

[Andrew Murray]

My Dell XPS laptop has a keyboard problem. The right hand shift key no
longer works when typing uppercase letters but still works with the arrow
keys when highlighting text. I don't think that the key has actually
failed completely.
I am not familiar with laptops as this is the first one I have owned.
Does anyone know what might have caused this and how to fix it?
The laptop was sold in the UK and has a UK keyboard. It is correctly set
as a UK keyboard.
Thanks

Possibly it could be just wear & tear. If it's under warranty, take it to
an approve DELL repairer - could just mean the keyboard needs replacing. If
not a complete failure, then maybe it's just dust or dirt affecting the
correct operation of the key. Get a can of compressed air (available at
computer retailers) and spray it in between the keys to get rid of any dirt
and muck.

If that doesn't fix it, it may be a more serious problem so then take it to
the DELL repairer. How old is the computer?

 

[T]

My Dell XPS laptop has a keyboard problem. The right hand shift key no
longer works when typing uppercase letters but still works with the arrow
keys when highlighting text. I don't think that the key has actually
failed completely.
I am not familiar with laptops as this is the first one I have owned.
Does anyone know what might have caused this and how to fix it?
The laptop was sold in the UK and has a UK keyboard. It is correctly set
as a UK keyboard.
Thanks

Thanks to all who replied. The computer was bought in September last year.
I have tried cleaning the keyboard with compressed air and changing from UK
to US keyboard and back and this has not worked. I have booted the PC using
an Ubuntu CD and tested it using Abiword, the same problem occurred which
seems to indicate a hardware fault.

 

[+Bob+]

Thanks to all who replied. The computer was bought in September last year.
I have tried cleaning the keyboard with compressed air and changing from UK
to US keyboard and back and this has not worked. I have booted the PC using
an Ubuntu CD and tested it using Abiword, the same problem occurred which
seems to indicate a hardware fault.

Dell is known for bad keyboards.

 

[measekite Da Monkey]

Dell is known for bad keyboards.

Why is that? You drool on them?