It sounds like you have a foreign keyboard (FR or ES, for example) setting,
and are getting what's call "dead keys" behavior. For working in French or
Spanish, it's great. For working in English, it's annoying.
In the Windows task bar, do you see a section that has something like ES or
FR in it? That's the Language bar. It's usually just to the left of the
system tray (the area where the clock, among other things, resides). If you
see it, click it and choose EN.
If you don't see it, then right-click the task bar and choose Toolbars -
Language bar, assuming it's not already checked. You should see it now. You
should be able to select EN (US English).
You might be accidentally toggling keyboards by pressing the Ctrl & Shift
keys. Right click the EN and choose Settings. Click Key Settings and tell
Windows not to use any keyboard shortcuts for switching languages. You can
always click on the language toolbar icon and select a different language
when/if you want one.
