Dell Laptop FN Keys and Limited Keyboard Function

[jbkillable]

Hello,
I'm working on fixing up an older laptop for someone I work with, they've got a Dell Inspiron Mini with Windows 7 Starter Edition installed. Upon trying to boot into a USB drive with Linux, I found that I couldn't get further than the boot selection menu, it seems all the Function keys work as expected, but the keyboard has an odd issue where it simply doesn't type as it should, for lack of a better term.
The best example I can give is the login screen, as that's as far as I can get it booted. For example, if I press the S key, knowing that the login bar is selected, it'll change the target to the shutdown menu (switching from Sleep, to Shut Down being selected as S is hit repeatedly)
I've tried all the general troubleshooting I can (including connecting another keyboard, same result), and really don't know where to go with the issue. Any ideas as to how I can get past this?

 

[Lutfij]

Does this issue with "a depressed key" show itself when you're in BIOS or when booting to Windows' OS? If so then the issue is with the keyboard. If not then the issue is with limited functionality parameters for the OS you're trying to work with, i'e an incompatibility. You could try and update the BIOS in hopes that it might be alleviated, provided the keyboard isn't the culprit(physically damaged).