Typing letters produces numbers

[Guest]

Hi,

My wife's computer just started giving her numbers instead of letters when
she types on the right side of the keyboard. Windows XP Pro, Office 2003.
Any ideas from any one on what might have happened? Is there some setting
that got changed somehow?

Thanks,
Robert

 

[Patrick Schmid]

Hi Robert,

this sounds like your wife has a laptop? If she does, then Num Lock got
accidentially activated and a part of the keyboard now serves as a numerical
block like you'd have on the right of a normal desktop keyboard. To switch
it off, take a close look at the top row of the laptop keyboard (the one
that starts with ESC, F1, F2, etc) and all bottoms above it. Depending on
the make of your laptop, somewhere there you should see (normally in a
different color and smaller on the bottom of the keys) "NumLk", or "NumLock"
(or something similar). Generally you have to press the Fn key (which is
normally a special key left of the spacebar and next to Ctrl. it's often in
the same color as the text in the F-row) and then the key that says NumLk.
That should switch it off and solve your problem.

I hope this helps.

Patrick Schmid

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Is this a notebook/laptop computer? If so, then there's probably a key
combination that toggles certain keys so that they have a number pad
configuration. Check the documentation for the computer to see how to turn
them off.

If it's not a notebook/laptop or isn't some kind of compact keyboard that is
supposed to use those keys as a number pad, then I would try a different
keyboard.

 

[Guest]

Hi Patrick,

Problem solved and that was very perceptive of you to figure out that it's a
laptop. Thanks for the help. I had actually tried the function buttons one
after the other, but I didn't do the "number" button by itself. That was the
ticket!!!

Thanks,
Robert