Alt keys on my laptop stopped working

[aragis]

Alt and Alt Gr keys don't work. I've tried everything, I've cleaned them both up nicely. I've tried tampering with keyboard language options in the Control Panel. Hell I've REFORMATTED the laptop and the problem is still there. They stopped working some time ago, I don't have a clue why...

It's an Asus N53SN laptop with Windows 7 64-bit

I'm pretty sure it isn't physical damage. After all, what are the odds of BOTH Alt keys getting damaged at the same time? But I don't know why a full reformat didn't fix it...

Funny thing is, if I plug in another keyboard, the Alt buttons do work on that keyboard, they still won't work on the laptop keyboard of course.

The warranty isn't over yet, but I don't want to have it taken away for weeks just for two damn buttons. If I can fix it, I want to do so. Any help is extremely appreciated!

 

[aragis]

Alt and Alt Gr keys don't work. I've tried everything, I've cleaned them both up nicely. I've tried tampering with keyboard language options in the Control Panel. Hell I've REFORMATTED the laptop and the problem is still there. They stopped working some time ago, I don't have a clue why...

It's an Asus N53SN laptop with Windows 7 64-bit

I'm pretty sure it isn't physical damage. After all, what are the odds of BOTH Alt keys getting damaged at the same time? But I don't know why a full reformat didn't fix it...

Funny thing is, if I plug in another keyboard, the Alt buttons do work on that keyboard, they still won't work on the laptop keyboard of course.

The warranty isn't over yet, but I don't want to have it taken away for weeks just for two damn buttons. If I can fix it, I want to do so. Any help is extremely appreciated!

bump

 

[Dion07]

Alt and Alt Gr keys don't work. I've tried everything, I've cleaned them both up nicely. I've tried tampering with keyboard language options in the Control Panel. Hell I've REFORMATTED the laptop and the problem is still there. They stopped working some time ago, I don't have a clue why...

It's an Asus N53SN laptop with Windows 7 64-bit

I'm pretty sure it isn't physical damage. After all, what are the odds of BOTH Alt keys getting damaged at the same time? But I don't know why a full reformat didn't fix it...

Funny thing is, if I plug in another keyboard, the Alt buttons do work on that keyboard, they still won't work on the laptop keyboard of course.

The warranty isn't over yet, but I don't want to have it taken away for weeks just for two damn buttons. If I can fix it, I want to do so. Any help is extremely appreciated!

bump

I know this is an old post. But did you ever find an solution? I am currently having the same issue on my Acer laptop. Both Alt keys stopped working at the exact same time. I cleaned up the keyboard and reformatted my laptop and I am in the same boat.

 

[aragis]

Alt and Alt Gr keys don't work. I've tried everything, I've cleaned them both up nicely. I've tried tampering with keyboard language options in the Control Panel. Hell I've REFORMATTED the laptop and the problem is still there. They stopped working some time ago, I don't have a clue why...

It's an Asus N53SN laptop with Windows 7 64-bit

I'm pretty sure it isn't physical damage. After all, what are the odds of BOTH Alt keys getting damaged at the same time? But I don't know why a full reformat didn't fix it...

Funny thing is, if I plug in another keyboard, the Alt buttons do work on that keyboard, they still won't work on the laptop keyboard of course.

The warranty isn't over yet, but I don't want to have it taken away for weeks just for two damn buttons. If I can fix it, I want to do so. Any help is extremely appreciated!

bump

I know this is an old post. But did you ever find an solution? I am currently having the same issue on my Acer laptop. Both Alt keys stopped working at the exact same time. I cleaned up the keyboard and reformatted my laptop and I am in the same boat.

I initially guessed that it couldn't be a hardware problem because both ALT keys were not working and the odds for that was low. It turned out that it really WAS a hardware problem. My guess is that the ALT keys are wired together or something, so when one of them fails, so does the other one.

In a few weeks, other keys on my laptop also started to fail and it slowly spread to several buttons. Fortunately, my laptop was still under warranty and Asus replaced the keyboard. That solved the problem.

I heard that laptop keyboards are susceptible to user errors like spilling liquid. Even if it's a trace amount that you thought nothing of, it can potentially kill your keyboard.

It's most likely not a software based problem. Try plugging in a USB keyboard and see if ALT keys work. If your warranty hasn't expired, Acer might replace the keyboard.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[Dion07]

Alt and Alt Gr keys don't work. I've tried everything, I've cleaned them both up nicely. I've tried tampering with keyboard language options in the Control Panel. Hell I've REFORMATTED the laptop and the problem is still there. They stopped working some time ago, I don't have a clue why...

It's an Asus N53SN laptop with Windows 7 64-bit

I'm pretty sure it isn't physical damage. After all, what are the odds of BOTH Alt keys getting damaged at the same time? But I don't know why a full reformat didn't fix it...

Funny thing is, if I plug in another keyboard, the Alt buttons do work on that keyboard, they still won't work on the laptop keyboard of course.

The warranty isn't over yet, but I don't want to have it taken away for weeks just for two damn buttons. If I can fix it, I want to do so. Any help is extremely appreciated!

bump

I know this is an old post. But did you ever find an solution? I am currently having the same issue on my Acer laptop. Both Alt keys stopped working at the exact same time. I cleaned up the keyboard and reformatted my laptop and I am in the same boat.

I initially guessed that it couldn't be a hardware problem because both ALT keys were not working and the odds for that was low. It turned out that it really WAS a hardware problem. My guess is that the ALT keys are wired together or something, so when one of them fails, so does the other one.

In a few weeks, other keys on my laptop also started to fail and it slowly spread to several buttons. Fortunately, my laptop was still under warranty and Asus replaced the keyboard. That solved the problem.

I heard that laptop keyboards are susceptible to user errors like spilling liquid. Even if it's a trace amount that you thought nothing of, it can potentially kill your keyboard.

It's most likely not a software based problem. Try plugging in a USB keyboard and see if ALT keys work. If your warranty hasn't expired, Acer might replace the keyboard.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Thank you for the quick reply!
I am able to use a USB keyboard and the ALT keys do work. I will have to go check my warrenty then
Thanks again!

 

[aragis]

Alt and Alt Gr keys don't work. I've tried everything, I've cleaned them both up nicely. I've tried tampering with keyboard language options in the Control Panel. Hell I've REFORMATTED the laptop and the problem is still there. They stopped working some time ago, I don't have a clue why...

It's an Asus N53SN laptop with Windows 7 64-bit

I'm pretty sure it isn't physical damage. After all, what are the odds of BOTH Alt keys getting damaged at the same time? But I don't know why a full reformat didn't fix it...

Funny thing is, if I plug in another keyboard, the Alt buttons do work on that keyboard, they still won't work on the laptop keyboard of course.

The warranty isn't over yet, but I don't want to have it taken away for weeks just for two damn buttons. If I can fix it, I want to do so. Any help is extremely appreciated!

bump

I know this is an old post. But did you ever find an solution? I am currently having the same issue on my Acer laptop. Both Alt keys stopped working at the exact same time. I cleaned up the keyboard and reformatted my laptop and I am in the same boat.

I initially guessed that it couldn't be a hardware problem because both ALT keys were not working and the odds for that was low. It turned out that it really WAS a hardware problem. My guess is that the ALT keys are wired together or something, so when one of them fails, so does the other one.

In a few weeks, other keys on my laptop also started to fail and it slowly spread to several buttons. Fortunately, my laptop was still under warranty and Asus replaced the keyboard. That solved the problem.

I heard that laptop keyboards are susceptible to user errors like spilling liquid. Even if it's a trace amount that you thought nothing of, it can potentially kill your keyboard.

It's most likely not a software based problem. Try plugging in a USB keyboard and see if ALT keys work. If your warranty hasn't expired, Acer might replace the keyboard.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Thank you for the quick reply!
I am able to use a USB keyboard and the ALT keys do work. I will have to go check my warrenty then
Thanks again!

You're welcome. I hope it gets fixed soon.