Help! Laptop help needed

[blujay40]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

"Open Device Manager (type "device manager" in the "Ask me anything" box on the taskbar)"

OK, how's he going to do this if his keyboard doesn't work?

DOH! will edit and fix that. Thanks for the correction!

[RVBuff]

Just a thought...Have you tried plugging in a USB keyboard? Even if it works, it may not be a suitable permanent solution, but would let you access the machine to do whatever else you want to try.

[BDickherber]

Your problem is your memory usage and temporary files on your computers. Download cleanup 4.0 by Steven Gould and run on both systems. Download superantispyware free version and run this also. You'll be amazed.

[bareftn]

Wow everyone has their idea of what's wrong and all I can say is I have a dell inspiron 15 with windows 10 and I have the same problem since day one and its only 2 months old

[onetonford]

the only time my Toshiba keyboard doesn't work is when I use microsoft's edge program then I cannot type anything in the search window I have to use the touch screen keyboard with the mouse.

[Phil57]

Tom I simply call my son in law and tell him to fix this POS. He usually comes through. I have nothing else to add other than have a Merry Christmas.

[swbouton]

What's the last time you restarted your machines? Also, think about replacing Superantispyware with either Norton or Trend Micro.

[SilverArrowPro]

I'd go in to devices and remove the keyboard and reboot, let it reinstall the device.

[johnbryanpeters]

Originally Posted by bareftn

Wow everyone has their idea of what's wrong and all I can say is I have a dell inspiron 15 with windows 10 and I have the same problem since day one and its only 2 months old

Inspirons are just dog slow by design, especially for five or ten minutes after they boot.

On the original question: About 2% of the reply comments have been useful. The others run from useless to damaging.

Open a Dell support call and let them help you figure out what the real problem is.

[tmmar]

OK- here goes. In response to each of your suggestions.

I have done a restore to a point where the keyboard is working again. I did this several weeks ago and the issue started again.

I went to dell website and it DID an update to the BIOS. It says that the keyboard driver is up to date, and there is no new device connected that would cause the keyboard to stop working.

I have not cleared the cache or used cccleaner.

jjacobsaz - I need to enter a password to get into windows. If I get into the old control panel it says that there is a windows 7 restore which does nothing.
I usually shut my machine down each night and restart every morning.

I have not tried plugging in a usb keyboard.

and to Phil, does your son-in-law make house calls to Long Island? (LOL!!) Merry Christmas to you and Dianna as well. See you soon.

Also, I am out of warranty and to call dell they want to charge for trouble shooting.


at this point I am not sure which of the suggestions to try first.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[larrysteimel]

I bought this Dell laptop the same day the free Windows 10 became available. As I recall I did the upgrade from 8.1 and when I was done 10 wasn't acting right. I don't remember what problems I was having but I just did the upgrade again and it has been working fine ever since. My brother did the same thing.

[tahoe1840]

When was the last time you checked your cmos battery? Its the little c2032 battery that resides on the motherboard. It holds your cmos settings. Next, sounds like it could be a driver problem. Go to Dell web site on another computer,*go to support, download drivers, enter your service tag number for your defective computer and see if there is a new keyboard driver. Last, Windows Defender does a splendid job at defending your Windows 10 computer against viruses. If you really don't want to use it then at least pair yourself down to one (1) anti virus program. Use only one. Anti virus software does not play well together and can cause some pretty crazy things to happen to a PC. It may not be causing your specific problem but you really only need one. I recently fixed a keyboard issue with changing the cmos battery.

[uhduh camping]

OK so it is a Dell, so you must think like a Dell. First close the top, then carry to the paper shredder. Proceed to shove laptop into the running paper shredder within a few minutes you will begin to see some real computer processes start to take place. While laptop is loading into paper shredded take a ride to Best Buy or equivalent and buy real a laptop.

[Stealth FQ2916]

Originally Posted by uhduh camping

OK so it is a Dell, so you must think like a Dell. First close the top, then carry to the paper shredder. Proceed to shove laptop into the running paper shredder within a few minutes you will begin to see some real computer processes start to take place. While laptop is loading into paper shredded take a ride to Best Buy or equivalent and buy real a laptop.

LOL, that's mean....

[uhduh camping]

Originally Posted by Stealth FQ2916

LOL, that's mean....

You're right, I'm sorry about that. I should not be naughty on Christmas Eve.

[pmsherman]

The first thing you really need to do is to determine if your problem is caused by a hardware or software issue. Given that it appeared on two computers at the same time and that restoring to a previous restore point "fixed" it, I'd strongly suspect software but that's only a guess. As recommended, a USB keyboard may be a temporary solution. If you compare the installed software between a restore point where the keyboard works and a current system, you may be able to identify a windows update that effects the keyboard. You can try using the control panel's "Install/remove software" panel to see a list of installed updates.

When you boot your system, you should have an option to go into the BIOS instead of booting up the operating system. Most BIOS software has internal diagnostics that will allow you to test every key on the keyboard to verify that they work properly. That's the first place to start. You should run the keyboard test a few times to verify that something doesn't fail after the system warms up. If your keyboard isn't working on a power up cycle, then you definitely have a hardware issue and a keyboard replacement may be required.

After your keyboard passes the BIOS test, the next option to try is to start Windows in "safe" mode. Check out this web site for instructions on booting into safe mode:
4 Ways to boot into Safe Mode in Windows 10 | Digital Citizen
If the keyboard works fine in safe mode then the problem lies with some interference between one of the other windows drivers that's not used in safe mode and the low level keyboard driver that Dell provides.

If you still have the keyboard problem in safe mode, then you need to try running your computer with a different operating system. If this works, then you definitely have a software problem that's associated with Win 10. One way to do this is to download one of the many available versions of Linux which is bootable/runnable from a CD. If your BIOS is set to boot from a CD drive before booting from the internal disk drive (BIOS boot sequence setting), it'll boot from the
CD drive if you have a disk loaded when you power up the system. An alternative to a CD is to set up the linux system on a USB device and boot from it. A USB bootable system will boot and run a bit faster than a CD. My preference for a full linux system is Fedora with a Mate desktop and for a minimal system, Puppy linux.

Phil

[nothermark]

To start with are you in a document in a word processor or on a web site like this one? If you are on a web site it is not your computer. The internet has been hanging up a lot lately. One issue is I can type an answer but the typing buffers and does not appear until later. You can try restarting your browser but it really is not your computer.

[BandJCarm]

I'd just drive to Best Buy, hand it to the Geek Squad, and say "Fix it".

Problem solved.

[NMWildcat]

I went from Windows 8.1 to 10 also. Had quite a few weird problems. Nearly all were solved when it was my turn to install the Anniversary Update. Lots of info out there in how to figure out if your system has auto updated to this level or not, and if not, how to get it installed. I would try this before changing anything.

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexp...Wd6I4FlQiBW.97

[tmmar]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Can't really try any of them since the laptop is working ok right now and hopefully it will continue to work well and I won't need to implement them.

I will heading over to my sons to spend the day with him and the grand children and will be signing off for the day.
I will be back tomorrow.
Again, thanks everyone for the help and hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.
Tom