Help! Keys stopped working on my laptop

Rollingskies · 26 Aug 2008 at 11:09

I was on my Sony Vaio laptop the other day and all of a sudden while typing the letter P stopped working. On examination I then found that several other keys also had stopped working at the same time. These were backspace and several numerical keys. If it wasn't for the letter p not working I could still use it, but with university coming up in September I need my laptop for studying. I seem to be faced with a choice, a new keyboard or a new laptop. Short on money right now I hope it is the former. However, how can I tell?

Restarting and reformatting made no difference.
Taking it apart, removing the keyboard, and replacing it showed no signs of anything sinister.
The laptop has not been subject to anything that could make it go wrong. No coffee spills, no damp, not dropped or bashed!

How can I tell if I just need to spend 50 quid on a new keyboard or 500 quid on a new laptop?

Thanks

Rollingskies · 26 Aug 2008 at 11:12

I could add that the computer does not recognise I have hit these keys. If I go into notepad and press p and then cross it off, it does not ask me if "I want to save changes to untitled" that it would normally. This tells me that it is not recognising that I have actually hit the key.

Emlyn_Dewar · 26 Aug 2008 at 11:17

Numlock? *hopes that it isn't*
Edit: What age is the laptop?

Rollingskies · 26 Aug 2008 at 12:08

lol no.

The laptop is just over 2.5 years old. It has been used for 2 years at university, so it has received a lot of typing! Still there was no pre-problems with any of the keys beforehand. Probably the numerical keys (only 1,3,7,8) are the least used anyway.

Any clues as to how I can identify it as the computer or keyboard at fault?

Thanks for the response.

Aod · 27 Aug 2008 at 00:35

open the OSK and see if the "p" key lights up when you press P on the keyboard?

Rollingskies · 27 Aug 2008 at 16:34

Thanks very much for the reply. Never thought of doing that. There is no light on their though. Not even the working keys cause the OSK to give any signal. I am on XP.

MooMoo444 · 27 Aug 2008 at 16:52

Might just be wear and tear has killed your keyboard, you should be able to buy a replacement keyboard.

Rollingskies · 27 Aug 2008 at 18:58

This is the issue. It is either a faulty keyboard or a faulty computer. If the keys had started playing up and over time stopped working, I wouldn't hesitate on buying a new keyboard. However, it was all working fine and then half a dozen, including some of the least used just became unresponsive. I don't want to spend £50 on a keyboard that could have gone to a new laptop.

Anyone have any ideas as to how I could test that? I doubt a PC shop will tell me without charging a bomb first!