Problem with keyboard

[guymaine]

This has been happening for some time, but we have now sold our desktop unit,
and I am using the Dell Inspiron 8600 exclusively.

This only happens when I am keyboarding -- never when my husband does. I am
very fast, and he says it's because the keyboard is accustomed to his touch.
I find this hard to believe, but suppose it is possible.

It happens so frequently that it is really slowing me down. I am a
freelancer and do a lot of keyboarding. This problem is driving me nuts.

It happens when I am in Outlook and Word, but never in Excel or Access or
PowerPoint.

I will be typing along, and all of a sudden, the wrong letters appear. There
is no rhyme or reason to them. Sometimes it happens as soon as I boot up or
go into the software. Sometimes it happens after I've been typing awhile. I
have to exist the program before I can "fix" it. Then, it may or may not
happen for some time, or it may start again immediately.

Dell has sent me a new keyboard, but that did not solve the problem.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them?

Appreciate your assistance.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

Do you have a different account from your husband? If so then why not
try to create a new account for you and see if this solves the problem.

Also, have you scanned your system recently to see if any rogue programs
is doing this.

I am of course, assuming that when you type letter "a" you get something
else but not "a" and so on. If this is so then there are viruses out
there in the wild which can do this.

hth

 

[guymaine]

Good thought, but we only have one account on this unit. And you're right
about the problem, I may type "O" and get "e." Usually, it isn't a key
anywhere close to what I wanted.

It happened four times since I wrote my request for assistance, just a
couple of hours ago.

I appreciate your taking the time to respond.

 

[guymaine]

Oh, and this has been happening for well over a year. Of course, the computer
has been scanned several times. No viruses have ever been detected.

Thanks again.

 

[DL]

What 'exactly' do you mean by; "I have to exist the program before I can
"fix" it"
i.e. you typed 'a' and a random letter appeared, does this mean you cannot
delete it, or that you can but randomisation occurs repeatedly?

And what occurs if you type slowly? if you can.

Oh, and this has been happening for well over a year. Of course, the computer
has been scanned several times. No viruses have ever been detected.

Thanks again.

 

[guymaine]

If I type "a" and "O" appears, I have to exit the software, come back in, and
it will react correctly for maybe 5 minutes or maybe an hour. There is no
consistency. Yes I can delete the incorrect letter(s), but I still cannot
type any correctly until I exit the software, whether it be Word or Outlook
or whatever.

It happens whether I am typing slowly (which is difficult, but I try
sometimes) or fast. Everyone is teasing me and saying "it" knows my touch
immediately. I find this hard to believe.

 

[DL]

All sounds very bizare. I wonder if, that if you were able to borrow a
completely different keybd, that has its own driver, as to whether this
would be repeated.
Or perhaps you might try booting pc to safe mode and testing there.

If I type "a" and "O" appears, I have to exit the software, come back in, and
it will react correctly for maybe 5 minutes or maybe an hour. There is no
consistency. Yes I can delete the incorrect letter(s), but I still cannot
type any correctly until I exit the software, whether it be Word or Outlook
or whatever.

It happens whether I am typing slowly (which is difficult, but I try
sometimes) or fast. Everyone is teasing me and saying "it" knows my touch
immediately. I find this hard to believe.

 

[Jos]

I have had the same problem....intermittently in XP and with Vista. I
"solved" it before by a system restore (twice in say 3 months). I have a
Vista PC now, and it happend a couple of days ago again. That time I "solved"
it my shutting down and retstarting ten PC.

I have no idea what triggers this, except perhaps a certain keystroke
sequence, getting a different keyboard mapping. I notice that keys are
swapped: so an "a" for instance would type an "o", and an "o" would type an
"a".

Would love to know if there is an explanation!