Simulated keystrokes aren't recognized by my laptop

[domino66]

For whatever reason, I can't send simulated keystrokes to my HP Spectre 13" laptop (running Windows 8.1).

I've tried using Autohotkey -- and every function works properly EXCEPT that it can't accept any text input...like I can get an AHK script to, say, launch a program, but I can't get it to input text. (So, for example, I can assign a macro to Ctrl-W that launches a program, but if I edit it so that it's supposed to type "good morning to you" in a text editor, nothing happens.)

(I was 100% configuring the AHK script properly; tried it on my Alienware laptop and it worked fine.)

But THEN, I used my mouse customizing software to assign custom functions to my mouse buttons, and EXACTLY THE SAME THING HAPPENED: I can get the middle mouse button to perform a function, like launching a program, but I can't get it to send an F5 keystroke to my computer.

So something's clearly wrong here: why might my laptop not be recognizing simulated keystrokes / text input?

 

[ttjambe]

Some of the bloatware from HP may be capturing keystrokes. Antivirus softwares can also interfere with this. Try disabling both.