phantom typing

Hello,
I have not been able to find anything about this problem anywhere, so hopefully someone here knows something about it. It all started a few weeks ago when I was pressing some garlic and a little bit of water landed on the keyboard. I didn't notice until much later. Immediately after, everything went haywire. The control shift was wxza, 't' was lserds. I don't remember exactly but I was afraid that I would never be able to write a coherent sentence ever again. It wasn't much water, and by morning everything worked except for the 'z' key which still doesn't work. It gets typed after 'x' sometimes, but the actual key is dead.

About this same time, I found out about torrent files. And so, torrents so far have turned out to not be the cleanest possible files. So about a week ago, I do not know if this is related to the water or the torrents, but when I get to the blue Windows Log-in screen that pops up when the computer is started or after the screen saver has been on, now whatever I press, a mousepad click, the space bar, backspace, a letter, now matter what prompts a series of mystery circles to materialixxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I might as well leave that, as it is an example. I type 'x' to get a 'z' for the word above, and that many typed behind the x.
Anways, the bubbles that fill themselves in make it very hard to log in, and sometimes I have to restart the computer several times before it will work. Does anyone have any clue what sort of problem I have is? A proposed solution? Where I should be looking/looking at? Is this malware, a system error? I just can't figure this one out. Thank you

 

It sounds to me like you had/have two different problems. One was a problem due to a small amount of water getting on (and probably a few drops actually down inside) your keyboard. I believe that a small amount of water, such as you describe, isn't likely to cause permanent damage to your keyboard, though I guess it's not impossible. If something similar should ever happen again, you should shut down the computer immediately, unplug the keyboard and allow some hours for the water to evaporate thoroughly. If you should spill/splash more than just a few drops of water, then turn the keyboard over and shake out any water you can and then let the keyboard dry out, overnight if possible, before reconnecting it to see if it's OK.

If you're using peer-to-peer software, as I believe your reference to torrent files indicates, you may well be exposing your computer to malware of various sorts. In addition, you should be aware that if the files you are "sharing" and/or downloading consist of copyrighted music files or motion pictures, for example, you may be doing something that is illegal. And big music companies, for example, have been prosecuting individuals who've been caught distributing and/or downloading copyrighted music that they haven't paid for. In addition, even if you're not caught, there is, many of us believe, a clear ethical issue involved in taking someone's copyrighted work (whether they're musicians, film makers, writers, or software programmers) without paying them for it.

That said, your description of "mystery circles" really sounds like some sort of malware, which possibly arrived via some torrent downloads, and you may have better luck getting some help clearing it up if you post this problem in the Malware Forum here at MajorGeeks:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=35

 

You mean garlic juice or just plain water? if it's juice, that may have a corrosive effect or it may have a conductive effect.

 

Good point Augie. I assumed that "water" meant "water" not garlic juice, which appears to be what benway probably actually meant. And, even once it dried out, it may well have left a bit of residue or, as you suggested, caused some corrosion inside the keyboard.

I still think the "mystery circle" problem is more likely due to a malware infection though.

 

A new keyboard is only about $10.... a used one maybe $4 or $5..... get one!
Then visit the MajorGeeks malware forum, read this link, follow the steps, and clean the malware from the PC.
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407
Even if you have a laptop, you can use an 'external' USB keyboard.... they might cost a buck or two more...

 

Thank you for the info. Yeah, the 'water' was whatever comes out of garlic when it is pressed. So new keyboard sounds like a good idea. I don't live in the US, and so it isn't quite so cheap to get any computer products, but I'll find one next time I'm paid. And now I'll see of malware can figure out about the fact that my windows login password gets filled in with randomness. Thank you all.

 

Yeah, I started a thread in malware, because I thought that you all had decided that the phantom typing part was related to malware not the keyboard. Today has been one of those bad days when it took forever to log in because of keys typing by themselves. The best suggestion so far is to get a new keyboard. Does nobody think that they can think of a fix otherwise?

 

Actually, you started that other thread in the hardware forum, not the malware forum (unless you started two new threads -- the one plodr referenced in his post is in Hardware not Malware), which would be the place to get some help with cleaning your keyboard. I think a screenshot of those "magic circles" might be helpful in figuring out whether your problem is a physical one only (grit and garlic contamination, for example) or whether you may also have a malware problem. But I don't suppose you have any software that will allow you to take a screenshot at the login screen? How about a digital camera and a picture of the screen showing those magic circles? Attach it to a new post in your thread.

I'm going to post some additional info/suggestions in that new hardware thread you started.