Laptop Keyboard's Mysterious Behavior

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oregonsbigfir

Please let me know if there is a better group for this question.

I have a user with a Dell Latitude D520 laptop who will occasionally
experience ghosts typing on her keyboard.

I thought maybe some kind of spyware was on it, but I reformatted and
reinstalled Windows XP, and it is still happening.

It will happen for 5-25 minutes at a time, usually when first starting
up the computer. She thinks she has found a common denominator in
that she only seems to experience it when she is in an area with lots
of wireless, i.e., her home or at an airport (although we have
wireless access points here at the office too, so I'm not sure about
this).

What will happen is that additional characters will get typed, many
times making it very difficult for her log in because she can't get
her password typed in correctly. Once logged on and in a program
where she can see what characters are being type, it is almost always
the b, n, /, and Backspace characters. She will hit one key, and 4
will appear. Then she might hit another and 2 more will appear. She
hits another and it might backspace once.

I have never seen the problem in person, so that is the best I can
describe it. She swears this is exactly what is happening, and agrees
with me that it is very strange.

I'm at a loss for what could be happening. Wireless interference
somehow causing extra keystrokes? Seems highly unlikely. Malware is
most likely cause, but I reformatted & reinstalled which should have
cleared that up, and still no dice.

Any ideas?
 
oregonsbigfir said:
Please let me know if there is a better group for this question.

I have a user with a Dell Latitude D520 laptop who will occasionally
experience ghosts typing on her keyboard.

I thought maybe some kind of spyware was on it, but I reformatted and
reinstalled Windows XP, and it is still happening.

It will happen for 5-25 minutes at a time, usually when first starting
up the computer. She thinks she has found a common denominator in
that she only seems to experience it when she is in an area with lots
of wireless, i.e., her home or at an airport (although we have
wireless access points here at the office too, so I'm not sure about
this).

What will happen is that additional characters will get typed, many
times making it very difficult for her log in because she can't get
her password typed in correctly. Once logged on and in a program
where she can see what characters are being type, it is almost always
the b, n, /, and Backspace characters. She will hit one key, and 4
will appear. Then she might hit another and 2 more will appear. She
hits another and it might backspace once.

I have never seen the problem in person, so that is the best I can
describe it. She swears this is exactly what is happening, and agrees
with me that it is very strange.

I'm at a loss for what could be happening. Wireless interference
somehow causing extra keystrokes? Seems highly unlikely. Malware is
most likely cause, but I reformatted & reinstalled which should have
cleared that up, and still no dice.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Possibly a bad keyboard controller. Have her plug in an external keyboard
and see if the problem persists.

SC Tom
 
Possible cure.
Disassemble Laptop and disconnect keyboard. Clean Keyboard connector and
socket with "golden Grain" Alcohol. Reassemble.
Reasoning -- Dirty contacts can cause this sort of symptom.
 
Thanks to all for the suggestions. I called Dell and was just barely
still under warranty, and they shipped out a new keyboard. I replaced
it, and it seems to be working ok so far.
 
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