Keyboard won't type past login screen - Help!

[amack1n]

Hey.

As the title suggests, my keyboard is playing up. It works fine on the login screen (WindowsXP btw), but afterwards it takes 2 seconds and two 'beeps' for any key to register it's been pressed. Signing up took 15 minutes and now I've resorted to using the on screen keyboard.

So, how do I fix it? It was fine earlier and I haven't changed any sort of settings, I just turned my PC on and it stopped working properly. I can't see how the keyboard is broken because it works fine logging in, so I assume there's a problem with some settings somewhere.

Any help would be massively appreciated. Sorry if my replies are short, but this post took 20 minutes.

Thanks

[Dencandy]

Welcome to the forum, amack1n. 3 possibilities come to mind to begin with:

1 Did you install any new programmes or updates just prior to this problem starting? If so, try disabling them one by one to see if this problem persists.

2 Try checking for an updated version of your keyboard driver. If you have the latest version, uninstall it then re-install.

3 Do you know anyone with a plug-in keyboard that you could borrow? If a plug-in works, but not the built-in, you may have a faulty keyboard.

There's also some advice from Microsoft HERE.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Have a look in the Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) Processes tab. See if there is any process with high CPU usage.

[amack1n]

Welcome to the forum, amack1n. 3 possibilities come to mind to begin with:

1 Did you install any new programmes or updates just prior to this problem starting? If so, try disabling them one by one to see if this problem persists.

2 Try checking for an updated version of your keyboard driver. If you have the latest version, uninstall it then re-install.

3 Do you know anyone with a plug-in keyboard that you could borrow? If a plug-in works, but not the built-in, you may have a faulty keyboard.

There's also some advice from Microsoft HERE.

Nothing new was installed, but in the end I got fed up and used a cheap method. One system restore later, and the keyboard is absolutely fine. However, it's bought up some new issues.

Firstly, the keyboard is now set to US. I know how to change it (Control panel>regional settings>languages etc), so oviously I set the default to the English settings and delete the US settings from the default. I hit 'apply' then 'ok', but when I test it nothing's changed and when I go back to the settings they haven't changed and have just reverted back to US keboard settings

Also, purely an aesthetic thing here, the desktop 'resets' every time I start my computer. So my quick launch bar disappears and all my desktop icons are all moved to the far left. When I start up I spend a minute bringing the quick launch bar up and repostion everything again, but next time I turn my PC on, I need to do it again. Finally, I can't set a background image and, like the icons, if I chose a colour it 'resets' back to the light blue when I start my PC up again.

...Any help?

[Dencandy]

So far as keyboard and language settings are concerned Windows is an absolute nightmare. I've sometimes come close to a nervous breakdown trying to work out how to change them. Sometimes I've succeeded, sometimes not, all seemingly by chance. So I think you'll just have to keep experimenting. Unless someone else on the forum can put you on the right track. One thing I did discover is that some changes only take effect after a restart.

For your Task Bar/Quick Launch Bar, right click on the Start menu, click on a blank space, then click on Properties and check all the various settings there.

For the Desktop problem, right click on an empty space on the desktop, select Properties and check and experiment with the various settings there.

The Microsoft Help & Support search box is often very useful for finding solutions to these problems: http://support.microsoft.com/

[wawa]

oh very interesting issue! thanks for this post!