Spacebar now acts like Backspace

[Ray K]

For no apparent reason, Spacebar now acts like Backspace, deleting the
character to the left of the cursor. (It's not because I'm in the Insert
or NumLock modes.)

I have a keyboard remapping utility called Keytweak. I used it to swap
Spacebar with Right Alt. Right Alt now acts like Spacebar (which is how
I'm writing this and is faster than alt-32), but Spacebar continues
acting like Backspace instead of remapping to Right Alt.

I've run Malawarebytes on my C: drive; no problems. Avira isn't fully
compatible with W8 yet. AdAware full scan says everything is okay except
for minor issues with cookies.

The problem may have started when I put what I thought was a USB flash
drive into the USB connector on the front of my (desktop) computer.
Actually, it was a Zeikos SK/MMC card reader. I have no idea who gave me
the device or what was on the SD card in it. But File Explorer balked
trying to simply recognize it. After it was recognized as a removeable
device in the left pane, I clicked on it hoping to read its contents.
Instead, about two minutes later I got a dialog box asking me to Please
insert a disc into Removeable Disc.

(I went from XP to W8 several weeks ago without any keyboard problems. )

Thanks for your suggestions for restoring my spacebar.

RK

 

[Mike Tomlinson]

I have no idea who gave me
the device or what was on the SD card in it. But File Explorer balked
trying to simply recognize it. After it was recognized as a removeable
device in the left pane, I clicked on it hoping to read its contents.
Instead, about two minutes later I got a dialog box asking me to Please
insert a disc into Removeable Disc.

Try another keyboard, if it still does it, it's almost certainly
malware. Do a System Restore to a point before you plugged in the card
reader.

 

[Flasherly]

For no apparent reason, Spacebar now acts like Backspace, deleting the
character to the left of the cursor. (It's not because I'm in the Insert
or NumLock modes.)

I have a keyboard remapping utility called Keytweak. I used it to swap
Spacebar with Right Alt. Right Alt now acts like Spacebar (which is how
I'm writing this and is faster than alt-32), but Spacebar continues
acting like Backspace instead of remapping to Right Alt.

I've run Malawarebytes on my C: drive; no problems. Avira isn't fully
compatible with W8 yet. AdAware full scan says everything is okay except
for minor issues with cookies.

The problem may have started when I put what I thought was a USB flash
drive into the USB connector on the front of my (desktop) computer.
Actually, it was a Zeikos SK/MMC card reader. I have no idea who gave me
the device or what was on the SD card in it. But File Explorer balked
trying to simply recognize it. After it was recognized as a removeable
device in the left pane, I clicked on it hoping to read its contents.
Instead, about two minutes later I got a dialog box asking me to Please
insert a disc into Removeable Disc.

(I went from XP to W8 several weeks ago without any keyboard problems. )

Thanks for your suggestions for restoring my spacebar.

RK

Or boot from a diagnostic type CD. Hirens. See what it's doing while
looking for mechanical failures on the most commonly used keys. Kind
of weird thing for a keyboard to do and they'll usually get pretty
ratty before wearing out. (I've run into MBs that don't mix well with
all keyboards, though it's at the base or BIOS level and not just
Windows. Vaguely seems may have even swapped a worn mechanical switch
for a less-used key on a board once.)

 

[FromTheRafters]

Ray K wrote :

For no apparent reason, Spacebar now acts like Backspace, deleting the
character to the left of the cursor. (It's not because I'm in the Insert or
NumLock modes.)

I have a keyboard remapping utility called Keytweak. I used it to swap
Spacebar with Right Alt. Right Alt now acts like Spacebar (which is how I'm
writing this and is faster than alt-32), but Spacebar continues acting like
Backspace instead of remapping to Right Alt.

I've run Malawarebytes on my C: drive; no problems. Avira isn't fully
compatible with W8 yet. AdAware full scan says everything is okay except for
minor issues with cookies.

The problem may have started when I put what I thought was a USB flash drive
into the USB connector on the front of my (desktop) computer. Actually, it
was a Zeikos SK/MMC card reader. I have no idea who gave me the device or
what was on the SD card in it. But File Explorer balked trying to simply
recognize it. After it was recognized as a removeable device in the left
pane, I clicked on it hoping to read its contents. Instead, about two minutes
later I got a dialog box asking me to Please insert a disc into Removeable
Disc.

(I went from XP to W8 several weeks ago without any keyboard problems. )

Thanks for your suggestions for restoring my spacebar.

RK

Does the "Restore All Defaults" button on the Keytweak interface work?

 

[FromTheRafters]

Or boot from a diagnostic type CD. Hirens. See what it's doing while
looking for mechanical failures on the most commonly used keys. Kind
of weird thing for a keyboard to do and they'll usually get pretty
ratty before wearing out. (I've run into MBs that don't mix well with
all keyboards, though it's at the base or BIOS level and not just
Windows. Vaguely seems may have even swapped a worn mechanical switch
for a less-used key on a board once.)

If he gets the same swapping on "osk" then I think he can rule out the
mechanical aspect.

 

[FromTheRafters]

Ray K laid this down on his screen :

I have an odd-ball Compaq keyboard that, as a touch-typist, I love. The
spacebar is divided in half, with the left half acting as a second Backspace
when pressed with the left thumb. Even though the normal Space key wasn't
dragging down the adjacent key, after I took apart the keyboard and
reassembled it (found nothing obviously wrong), everything worked perfectly.
What a relief.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

RK

One time when I had keyboard problems, I set it upside down on my
kitchen table and tapped it a few times to dislodge the crap that had
gotten into it. The signals inside are low level and I found that cat
hair actually conducts signals to where they don't belong and creates
very odd behavior. Using "osk" (On Screen Keyboard) helped me to
troubleshoot some keyboard problems in the past.

 

[Ray K]

Try another keyboard, if it still does it, it's almost certainly
malware. Do a System Restore to a point before you plugged in the card
reader.

I've done a restore to 3/5. Didn't solve problem. I'll scrounge for
another keyboard or try the hirens idea.

Thanks.

RK

 

[Ray K]

Ray K wrote :

Does the "Restore All Defaults" button on the Keytweak interface work?

I have an odd-ball Compaq keyboard that, as a touch-typist, I love. The
spacebar is divided in half, with the left half acting as a second
Backspace when pressed with the left thumb. Even though the normal Space
key wasn't dragging down the adjacent key, after I took apart the
keyboard and reassembled it (found nothing obviously wrong), everything
worked perfectly. What a relief.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

RK

 

[Flasherly]

If he gets the same swapping on "osk" then I think he can rule out the
mechanical aspect.

Maybe. Some keyboards are weird. I've got a (extra) mouse in my
spacebar with selector switches besides. All works off one usb port.
Mouse looked good on advertising, just sucks, even is the rest is top
quality and works with virtually anything (just won't match a better
gaming, high-quality switches keyboard, of course). But take another
logi keyboard I have with a gigabyte MB - things do get weird with
that. If that's OSK software doubt it would help (those two don't work
right right from the boot, although it'll adapt fine to other MBs).