BMRMEUP

I know this is a BMW forum but I seem to have more problems with my computers We've been having problems with keyboard functionality on our desktop. We replaced the first one thinking it was the keyboard, had problems with the next one (no comment on what happened to it) and now we have a very simple USB type and STILL the keys seem to work only randomly. I tried updating the drivers, but the system apparently already has the most current drivers. So...I plugged it into my laptop to see if the problem carried over and..no. Working fine.

Any ideas what the problem might be? Before something bad happens to the computer...??

BetterMakeWay

Hey maybe it's the mother board?!

Bob525D

+1

I am assuming you have tried a different USB port on the computer to see if they problem is still there. Also, if the computer is busy processing you may get delayed type, I would check this in task manager under performance or the process list.

BMRMEUP

Hate to think it's the mother board...had wondered about the possibility of a virus but haven't found anything on the net indicating that this is characteristic of anything going around, and I've seen no indication of foreign users or unusual use of the memory. Puzzling. I could pay someone to look at it (and will before we go replacing mother boards, for sure), but you get tired of not knowing the answer to these things....would be nice to work it out and learn something in the process.

Anyway...thanks for the suggestions guys

skelevirus

Buy apple

BMRMEUP

That's a snack, right?

Bob525D

If you were near me I'd happily have a look, i have worked in IT for 18 years now and i am pretty sure i could have figured something out for you. I mostly work on servers now but i still keep my hand in on the desktop pc side.

When i am troubleshooting something heres a list of the things i consider.

1. When did the problem first start to occur. This will help you to narrow down changes that were made at that time, knowing what has changed can often tell you what has broken it.
2. What changes have been made recently, ie. magazine demo disk, new app, new video card or other new hardware device memory, cpu, wireless card etc?
3. When did i last backup my important files? Very important if you are planning to take the computer to a repair shop and asking them to scrub and reinstall the Operating System.
4. If I wanted to see if anyone was remotely accessing my machine i'd run NETSTAT for a quick check from a command prompt or use Wireshark to monitor the network traffic. Another thing to look for is unexplained high hard disk activity when nothing is running on your machine.
5. You may want to consider digging out all the disks that came with your machine and paying someone to reinstall the OS, IMPORTANT - Make sure that a backup of your files and settings are taken before hand.

I have assumed that your are running a reasonably new pc with either XP or Vista, backing up files and settings are alot easier with the inbuilt utilities the OS has. It could also be either a trojan, spyware or a virus. Some of these will cause alot of hard disk activity which may cause delayed type, you should get someone who knows their stuff to take a look. It might help people if you list the make and spec of your machine.

If you want to ask anything, I will try to help.

PS. Apple Macs are good machines for people who dont want to get bogged down with techy stuff but there is a better software library for the PC, personally i prefer a PC.

pukka

Is your keyboard wireless?
If so, is it RF or bluetooth?

I'm not convinced your motherboard is bad - been around computers for a long time and never eheard of a PC motherboard failure whose symptom was a bad non-integrated keyboard.

My guess is one of two things:

1-you have an incorrect BIOS setting
2-there is some sort of device conflict (they still do exist even in Vista)

If you don't know how to access your computer's BIOS either check your computer user's manual or have a computer geek do it for you. If the BIOS settings check out, then disconnect every peripheral (printer, external disk drive, etc.) and test it with only a WIRED keyboard plugged in (PS2 if you have the port on your computer).

BMRMEUP

The first keyboard was wireless (I assume RF...there was a device with three lights on it that you plugged in and then synced the keyboard and mouse with), but this one is wired (US. I'll have to see what other ports are on the back, and also see what I can figure out regarding the BIOS. I assume the purpose of unplugging all peripherals is to eliminate hardware conflicts?

pukka

Yes.

As for the BOIS, there may be some sort of keyboard setting that you will have to change.