XP SP3 and IBM Thinkpad keyboard seem to be having difficulties

[David Teich]

A few days ago, a random problem started. I'll be working and the keyboard
acts, from what I can tell, as if the alt key is locked on. I can't type into
any application, but if I type a menu key, such as 'f', the menu item
activates. In addition, alt-tab stops working. The only way to fix this is to
reboot windows, then it works ok for a while.

It's new and I've recently had a few windows updates download. That's all I
can think of that's different on my system.

What do you know about the issue and its resolution? Should I uninstall the
updates?

 

[DL]

Check your update history, if any driver updates were installed, roll back
those drivers. Then reset MS update to only install Critical Updates and NOT
driver updates

 

[David Teich]

It tried, but:
1) Add/Remove programs only shows the updates as a whole, not contents
2) Automatic Updates only has settings for when and how, not a history
3) I looked at the MS web site info for the latest update and it doesn't
have details either
4) When I searched help for "updates history", I only got tangential links.
None showed me how I see the history.

How do I view my updates history in enough detail to see if drivers were
installed?

thanx,
david

 

[Elmo]

It tried, but:
1) Add/Remove programs only shows the updates as a whole, not contents
2) Automatic Updates only has settings for when and how, not a history
3) I looked at the MS web site info for the latest update and it doesn't
have details either
4) When I searched help for "updates history", I only got tangential links.
None showed me how I see the history.

How do I view my updates history in enough detail to see if drivers were
installed?

thanx,
david

If it was a Windows update to generic keyboard driver, you might try
this: Open Device Manager, Keyboard, Properties, Drivers tab, and click
the "Roll Back Driver" button.

 

[Lem]

It tried, but:
1) Add/Remove programs only shows the updates as a whole, not contents
2) Automatic Updates only has settings for when and how, not a history
3) I looked at the MS web site info for the latest update and it doesn't
have details either
4) When I searched help for "updates history", I only got tangential links.
None showed me how I see the history.

How do I view my updates history in enough detail to see if drivers were
installed?

thanx,
david

On the main Windows Update page
(http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us)
click on the link at the left to "Review your update history."

In general, you should not have received any driver updates unless you
went to Windows Update, clicked the "Custom" button, and then selected
one or more of the "optional" updates. Getting hardware-related updates
from Windows Update is generally not a good idea.

From System Properties, you can set WU to (a) automatically download
and install high priority updates, (b) download but not install high
priority updates, or (c) notify you when updates are available. I
suggest either option (b) or option (c) and then look at the description
of the updates before actually installing them.

Going back to your original problem, if this is a desktop, try another
keyboard. If it's a laptop, your options are more limited.
--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[HeyBub]

A few days ago, a random problem started. I'll be working and the
keyboard acts, from what I can tell, as if the alt key is locked on.
I can't type into any application, but if I type a menu key, such as
'f', the menu item activates. In addition, alt-tab stops working. The
only way to fix this is to reboot windows, then it works ok for a
while.

It's new and I've recently had a few windows updates download. That's
all I can think of that's different on my system.

What do you know about the issue and its resolution? Should I
uninstall the updates?

Try an external keyboard.

 

[David Teich]

Thanx. There was a glitch the other day, I was able to get to it today.
Doesn't look like there were any driver updates in March, just Media Player,
security and general. So, sadly, I guess we can rule that out.

It is a laptop. Maybe it's time to go back to an external keyboard and see i
f that works. My last one was left overseas, as it was just about dead. I'll
buy a new one this weekend.

thanx,
David