keyboard not working properly...XP - MS natural keyboard

[David D]

This is a recent event, since I have had the keyboard for about 10
years.
I have the MS natural keyboard that was working fine until today. The
Shift key now make funny characters and BEEPS when pressed. I went to
MS and downloaded the drivers, but this didn't seem to help.
I am not sure if this might be a virus, but I haven't downloaded
anything in a while. I am performing a backup now in case this thing
goes awry and the computer has issues.
I do have a KVM that I am running, but I cannot get to the other
computer using SCROLL LOCK ARROW because the keyboard will not let me
use those keys (another issue besides the SHIFT key).
I tried unpluggin the KVM and just using the keyboard and mouse on one
computer, but the result was the same, the keyboard is acting up, not
letting me type or use the keys properly because they seem to be
reassigned or something. I DEFAULTED the keyboard settings in the
control panel, but this didn't help either. Any ideas?

 

[David De]

This is a recent event, since I have had the keyboard for about 10
years.
I have the MS natural keyboard that was working fine until today.  The
Shift key now make funny characters and BEEPS when pressed.  I went to
MS and downloaded the drivers, but this didn't seem to help.
I am not sure if this might be a virus, but I haven't downloaded
anything in a while.  I am performing a backup now in case this thing
goes awry and the computer has issues.
I do have a KVM that I am running, but I cannot get to the other
computer using SCROLL LOCK ARROW because the keyboard will not let me
use those keys (another issue besides the SHIFT key).
I tried unpluggin the KVM and just using the keyboard and mouse on one
computer, but the result was the same, the keyboard is acting up, not
letting me type or use the keys properly because they seem to be
reassigned or something.  I DEFAULTED the keyboard settings in the
control panel, but this didn't help either.  Any ideas?

Also, ACCESSIBILITY options for STICKY KEYS is not checked. I went to
check that before anything else. The space bar and control key is
also acting up, printing random characters and performing random
windows commands when pressed.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

This is a recent event, since I have had the keyboard for about 10
years.
I have the MS natural keyboard that was working fine until today.
The Shift key now make funny characters and BEEPS when pressed. I
went to MS and downloaded the drivers, but this didn't seem to help.
I am not sure if this might be a virus, but I haven't downloaded
anything in a while. I am performing a backup now in case this
thing goes awry and the computer has issues.
I do have a KVM that I am running, but I cannot get to the other
computer using SCROLL LOCK ARROW because the keyboard will not let
me use those keys (another issue besides the SHIFT key).
I tried unpluggin the KVM and just using the keyboard and mouse on
one computer, but the result was the same, the keyboard is acting
up, not letting me type or use the keys properly because they seem
to be reassigned or something. I DEFAULTED the keyboard settings
in the control panel, but this didn't help either. Any ideas?

Questions...

Can you try the same keyboard on another system it has not been connected to
(through the KVM or otherwise) to see if the keyboard has just started
failing?

Can you try a different keyboard all together on the systems this keyboard
has been used on to see if it exhibits the same trouble.

It is a mechanical piece of equipment, after all... They do go bad and
10-years is a good run for a keyboard. I am a bit shocked that you didn't
try this already - esepecially since you have a KVM - meaning this keyboard
is used on several systems, I assume?

 

[James Martinez]

Not sure if you have done this by now, but I would try to run a couple of
virus and spy-ware scanners on the system. Not sure if this is allowed, but I
would recommend Avast! and Spy-bot S&D just to be sure there are no bugs in
your system. Also, have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the keyboard
drivers? If you have then I will have to agree withe the other poster and say
time to upgrade your keyboard.

Good luck.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

This is a recent event, since I have had the keyboard for about 10
years.
I have the MS natural keyboard that was working fine until today.
The Shift key now make funny characters and BEEPS when pressed. I
went to MS and downloaded the drivers, but this didn't seem to help.
I am not sure if this might be a virus, but I haven't downloaded
anything in a while. I am performing a backup now in case this
thing goes awry and the computer has issues.
I do have a KVM that I am running, but I cannot get to the other
computer using SCROLL LOCK ARROW because the keyboard will not let
me use those keys (another issue besides the SHIFT key).
I tried unpluggin the KVM and just using the keyboard and mouse on
one computer, but the result was the same, the keyboard is acting
up, not letting me type or use the keys properly because they seem
to be reassigned or something. I DEFAULTED the keyboard settings
in the control panel, but this didn't help either. Any ideas?

Questions...

Can you try the same keyboard on another system it has not been
connected to (through the KVM or otherwise) to see if the keyboard
has just started failing?

Can you try a different keyboard all together on the systems this
keyboard has been used on to see if it exhibits the same trouble.

It is a mechanical piece of equipment, after all... They do go bad
and 10-years is a good run for a keyboard. I am a bit shocked that
you didn't try this already - esepecially since you have a KVM -
meaning this keyboard is used on several systems, I assume?

Not sure if you have done this by now, but I would try to run a
couple of virus and spy-ware scanners on the system. Not sure if
this is allowed, but I would recommend Avast! and Spy-bot S&D just
to be sure there are no bugs in your system. Also, have you tried
uninstalling and reinstalling the keyboard drivers? If you have
then I will have to agree withe the other poster and say time to
upgrade your keyboard.

Not so sure if this issue is anything more than a defective piece of
hardware... but, since the possibility of malware was thrown out there...

Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan (separately) with the
following two applications (freeware versions are the ones to use for this):

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

After performing a full scan with one and then the other and removing
whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall these products,
if you wish.

Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

Reboot.

 

[Richard in AZ]

Almost exactly the same problem, same conditions, same keyboard, same life cycle.
On mine the first symptoms were that the Ctrl Key did not work.
Then scroll-lock key went bad.
Unfortunately I had to replace the keyboard. But the new one works just fine.

This is a recent event, since I have had the keyboard for about 10
years.
I have the MS natural keyboard that was working fine until today. The
Shift key now make funny characters and BEEPS when pressed. I went to
MS and downloaded the drivers, but this didn't seem to help.
I am not sure if this might be a virus, but I haven't downloaded
anything in a while. I am performing a backup now in case this thing
goes awry and the computer has issues.
I do have a KVM that I am running, but I cannot get to the other
computer using SCROLL LOCK ARROW because the keyboard will not let me
use those keys (another issue besides the SHIFT key).
I tried unpluggin the KVM and just using the keyboard and mouse on one
computer, but the result was the same, the keyboard is acting up, not
letting me type or use the keys properly because they seem to be
reassigned or something. I DEFAULTED the keyboard settings in the
control panel, but this didn't help either. Any ideas?

Also, ACCESSIBILITY options for STICKY KEYS is not checked. I went to
check that before anything else. The space bar and control key is
also acting up, printing random characters and performing random
windows commands when pressed.