Keyboard screwed up on lappy?

[PanzerKammander]

My friend just reformated his laptop, and when he got done he noticed that the keyboard is displaying a "2" when he hits the caps lock key, and a "1' when he hits Tab.

Anyway to fix this? It is a dell afterall, but still thats really odd.. stumped me.

 

[talldude123]

Start -> Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options
Press the Details button

Change the Language to either English (US) or English (Canadian)

 

[PanzerKammander]

Thanks, We'll see if that works, what would cause that? Just wondering?

 

[talldude123]

Well, the keyboard might have been switched to a different language during install, such as UK, so keys would be different.

Hopefully its not a hardware defect, keyboards on laptops arent an easy fix.

 

[PanzerKammander]

That's a negative. And we have a new symtom.. The "Backspace" key does nothing.
So what now?

 

[talldude123]

Did you switch the keyboard language? Did it work OK?

 

[talldude123]

What do you mean by the keyboard displays "2" and "1"? Are they the lights, or on the LCD screen?

 

[PanzerKammander]

Yeah, when he hits Tab the number 1 is typed onto his screen, like in notepad, if he were to hit the tab button, a 1 would appear.. instead of being tabbed over..

 

[PanzerKammander]

Did you switch the keyboard language? Did it work OK?

No, it didnt do anything.

 

[talldude123]

my last suggestion:

Clean the keyboard with a very, very damp rag, and a cotton swab (Q-TIP)