Common Keyboard Problems
Keyboards are always used with a computer. Problems with keyboards rarely occur. However, when they do occur, it is really terrible. You can never use a computer without a keyboard (referring to traditional laptops and desktop computers). If you have a defective keyboard, it is like you own a computer that is useless. An example of a keyboard problem is when your computer starts to boot with your keyboard still working but later malfunctions when the booting process is almost done. Your operating system loads, but there are keyboard functions that you really cannot use. For example, you cannot press ctrl+alt+delete in emergency situations. There are many other problems that you might encounter with the use of keyboards. Let’s try to enumerate them and see what fixes can be made when we do encounter them.
1. Keyboard malfunctions when the operating system loads. Booting up process indicates that your keyboard is ok because you can press the F1, del or F8 keys. However, when the operating system (like Windows XP or Windows 7) takes over, all keyboard functionality vanishes.
2. Keyboard has power but doesn’t respond to your inputs. You can see that the num lock light indicator is on, and other key indicators are powered on, but whenever you press a key, your computer cannot recognize it.
3. Keyboard has power but isn’t detected by the computer’s operating system. You can see that light indicators of the keyboard are on, but your operating system doesn’t show that there is a keyboard attached (using device manager).
4. Some keyboard functions like key combinations don’t work. Some computers have special key combinations for added features. For example a laptop has Fn+right arrow for decreasing its speaker volume. These keys just won’t work.
5. Computer beeps when you press a key. There are times when your computer releases a beep each and every time you press a key. This is quite annoying since you cannot even see an output on your screen, but you can hear an annoying beep with your every press. A beep usually indicates a hardware problem, but in this case, since the keyboard is powered on, there might be other factors causing it.
