Dell complaints

[dgoldsmith]

Hi! Machine: Inspiron 6000. OS: XP Pro, SP2, fully updated. Status: recently had to replace the HDD, some (much?) of Dell's OEM software may be missing (but I'm pretty sure I was having the problem before, but not long before, the HDD failure). Current problem: when I press and hold the right "shift" key, the next key I press is not "shifted," but all subsequent keys pressed while the shift key remains pressed are shifted. This behavior is consistent, not intermittent, which leads me to believe that it is a software problem, not a hardware problem (if it was a physical problem w/ the keyboard, such as a bad contact, why would it always fail only after the first subsequent key?) I thought perhaps I had inadvertently changed some setting/keyboard mapping, but I can't find any controls for this (e.g., nothing relevant in my Keyboard CP). Any thoughts?

DG

[HellComputer]

Have you tried another keyboard?

[100pcob]

First boot to a DOS CD and see if it does the same thing at the prompt. If it does, then it's a hardware issue. Re-seat the keyboard connector and try again. If it still has problems, then try a different keyboard.

If the new keyboard doesn't work, it means the character processing chip on your motherboard has been damaged (possibly by static electricity while replacing the HD) and the only way to fix it is by replacing the motherboard.

[diashto]

If you boot from your resource cd, you should be able to get into the diagnostics. there's a keyboard test there that should be able to tell you what's going on.

Try plugging in an external USB keyboard and seeing if the problem still occurs then. If so, then its definately a windows setting somewhere, most likely under accesibility options. (sticky keys or some such)

[dgoldsmith]

Great, thanks for the suggestions!

DG