Keyboard wierdness

IBM ThinkPad R31 with XP Home. The keyboard is acting very strange. All the letters work, both lower and upper case. The numbers work OK; but if you go shift+number you don't get what you should get: for example shift+2 gives you quotes " and not the at symbol @. All the other keys like the brackets do something similar; some of them are OK without shift, but if you go shift+/ you don't get the question mark ? you get something else (I don't remember what). So I think a different keyboard theme is loaded in, not a standard United States QWERTY theme.... any tips or ideas on a fix?

 

Check regional options in control panel.Maybe it's not English(United States),maybe it's English(United Kingdom).

 

How old is the ThinkPad? Is it still under Warranty? Have you tried an external keyboard? Does that still do the same? Bazza

 

I checked it, and it was set OK. I tried a few other settings just to see what was up, and it is still the same. It's set the same as like an old typewriter keyboard would be, or like my old Apple ][e keyboard...

It's not new... about 2-3 years old. No warranty. Yeah- I just tried a USB keyboard and it does the same thing. I even tried uninstalling the keyboard from the device manager and rebooting, but it's still the same.... HELP!

 

Have you tried the right hand Shift key ?
I assume you are using the left Shift key. Any difference?

It looks like you might have to visit a laptop repair centre unless someone here can help out further.

One partial solution might be to try the on-screen-keyboard program at c:\windows\system32\osk.exe (for XP). Does that work, or does it have the same symptoms? Make a shortcut, or load it at startup.
I've run out of ideas / suggestions. Bazza

 

Problem solved! There was a 3rd party language app that was configured for Spanish/Guatemalan entry. Even if the app wasn't running, the keyboard stayed in that mode. Why? Who knows. Did I remove the app? You bet.
So, thanks for your ideas folks!

Have a Happy New Year! :wine

 

Glad you solved your problem. :cool Happy New Year :major Bazza