- Mar 6, 2009
- 7
- 0
- 18,510
Hi all, I came across a very strange problem I had never seen before in a computer. This is the story.
My friend had a commodore laptop which for some reason, couldn't log on to windows. So he took it to a repair shop, and, when he got it back, the computer wasn't booting. Then, he brought it to me and asked me if I had any idea of what had happened.
We checked the computer and I got the message "reboot and insert proper media..." after POST, so I thought either the HDD was dead, wasn't connected, or simply didn't have an operating system. The last idea was the correct one, the HDD was formatted.
Then, I put on the Windows 7 DVD and installed it. When I got to the part in which I had to type username and computer name, I found out the keyboard wasn't working. Only a couple keys worked but inserted wrong characters, such as backspace, which inserted an unknown character, or letter Z, which seemed to work as the space bar :S
I couldn't go on with the last part of the installation since it was impossible to input a username.
But, as I didn't have any problem before in the setup, -at least with enter and the arrow keys, they were working before- I rebooted the computer and started trying the keys. I came across the windows boot menu and selected the choice of editing windows boot file -just to be able to write-. Almost all the keys worked -including backspace, supr, enter, which didn't work in windows-, with the exception of I letter
I rebooted back to windows and removed the laptop keyboard, then connected a USB keyboard, and I was able to type a username. Then at the windows desktop, I plugged the laptop keyboard back without unplugging the USB one. Both keyboards did exactly the same -backspace writing an unknown character, Z letter working as space bar- but if I disconnected again the laptop keyboard, the USB would work properly again.
Based on all this, I'm not sure whether to tell my friend that he should replace the keyboard, as it does seem to work properly outside windows, and when it's connected together with the USB keyboard, both keyboards work incorrectly in the exact same way.
What do you guys think?
My friend had a commodore laptop which for some reason, couldn't log on to windows. So he took it to a repair shop, and, when he got it back, the computer wasn't booting. Then, he brought it to me and asked me if I had any idea of what had happened.
We checked the computer and I got the message "reboot and insert proper media..." after POST, so I thought either the HDD was dead, wasn't connected, or simply didn't have an operating system. The last idea was the correct one, the HDD was formatted.
Then, I put on the Windows 7 DVD and installed it. When I got to the part in which I had to type username and computer name, I found out the keyboard wasn't working. Only a couple keys worked but inserted wrong characters, such as backspace, which inserted an unknown character, or letter Z, which seemed to work as the space bar :S
I couldn't go on with the last part of the installation since it was impossible to input a username.
But, as I didn't have any problem before in the setup, -at least with enter and the arrow keys, they were working before- I rebooted the computer and started trying the keys. I came across the windows boot menu and selected the choice of editing windows boot file -just to be able to write-. Almost all the keys worked -including backspace, supr, enter, which didn't work in windows-, with the exception of I letter
I rebooted back to windows and removed the laptop keyboard, then connected a USB keyboard, and I was able to type a username. Then at the windows desktop, I plugged the laptop keyboard back without unplugging the USB one. Both keyboards did exactly the same -backspace writing an unknown character, Z letter working as space bar- but if I disconnected again the laptop keyboard, the USB would work properly again.
Based on all this, I'm not sure whether to tell my friend that he should replace the keyboard, as it does seem to work properly outside windows, and when it's connected together with the USB keyboard, both keyboards work incorrectly in the exact same way.
What do you guys think?
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