Head-scratcher... any thoughts?

[Mike Stranks]

Win 11 user; new deskop in July with Win 11 preinstalled. Thus far, a happy bunny, but...

Here's a puzzle...

A few days ago I think I 'fumble-fingered' at the LH of my keyboard - and may have done something wacky involving the CTRL key...

So here's what I'm now experiencing...

At log-on the Welcome Screen is displayed with the invitation to enter my PIN. But it won't let me enter the PIN - keyboard inactive.

So I click on 'enter password'. The switch to password entry starts. If I then click the cancel (x) icon. The PIN screen comes back at smaller resolution. Now I can enter the PIN and am good to go...

But then sometimes I'll find that I can't use control-key functions and have to right-click and use menu entries... even for Copy/Paste.

Accessing the web through Firefox or Chrome also glitches. Sometimes I can't close tabs except by using menu 'Close Tab' entries... and the mouse wheel suddenly switches from scrolling to becoming a screen zoom in/out control. Using the keyboard merely opens HTML options - the keyborad is not letting me enter text. A restart and the PIN-dance - see above - gets me back on track for a while... but if I 'sleep' the PC everything's haywire on wake-up and I have to rsetart to get stability again.

I've tried all the usual recommendations - Keyboard Troubleshooter, reinstalling the browsers, checking keyboard drivers, disconnecting and reconnecting keyboard, etc. scf /scannow said it had fixed some stuff - but not this!

I've run Glary which is up to date and Malwarebytes. No difference. All Windows updates installed...

Am I in 'boot from CD', 'load image' (both of which I saved about 3 weeks ago!) territory? If so a child's step by step would be appreciated. I don't want to screw things completely. Oh; also I have no qualms about unsecured data... I use Backblaze!

Any suggestions much appreciated! Thanks!

[resistorman]

Does 11 still have system restore? You could try that before loading an image. Sounds pretty borked.

[merlyn]

There are keyboard shortcuts on the left side of the keyboard that switch the keyboard layout and language. Have you switched layout? I wouldn't have thought that would affect the Ctrl key, but worth a look.

[ef37a]

Does 11 still have system restore? You could try that before loading an image. Sounds pretty borked.

Might have R man, they tried to hide it a bit in W10, maybe they have done away with it altogether for 11?

Dave.

[awjoe]

The Microsoft support page has instructions for it.

[The Elf]

Give Pete at Scan a ring. They are the best kind of people to advise.

[Hugh Robjohns]

There are keyboard shortcuts on the left side of the keyboard that switch the keyboard layout and language. Have you switched layout?

I was going to suggest this. Go into settings and check which keyboard layout is registered.

[Mike Stranks]

Hmmm

Just completed an image restore from before this problem occurred... still present...

I shall now pursue your 'keyboard' suggestions...

... which I did... only UK and US shown... deleted US... still the same...

[Drew Stephenson]

Have shufti in the device settings for the keyboard and see if there's anything odd there.
Might also be worth checking there's nothing funny running in the start-up configuration.

[resistorman]

Maybe the keyboard itself is bad… has it had a drink lately, or maybe too many crisps?

[sonics]

Agreed. Such odd behaviour it doesn't sound like a Windows thing, and sounds too odd to be linked to the accessibility features. The first thing I would have done is tried another keyboard...

[Mike Stranks]

The first thing I would have done is tried another keyboard...

So would I, if I'd had one... I may not be a Windows expert, but I'm not a complete *******

I ordered one immediately I became aware of the 'keyboard' focus of the funnies... it's caught-up in the current UK postal shenanigans...

Drew: Thanks for the suggestion; I had a look, but all seemed well.

BTW... PC, keyboard and mouse less than six months old (Lenovo)... been delighted up to this point....

Everything now on hold until the arrival of the new keyboard... all stable as long as I perform the little PIN-dance when first booting and awaking from sleep.

Thanks for your interest and suggestions...

[tea for two]

This pc's got it in for you

Infamy Infamy they've all got it in for me
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h6BJJe9JV_A

I tried to replicate this head scratcher on my wind11 desktop.

Only thing I could think of possibly mebe graphics driver.

[Mike Stranks]

Having got a clean bill of health from the first things I tried: Keyboard Analysers - MS and otherwise and connect/reconnect... yadayadayada... I'll now await the new keyboard and see what that achieves...

Otherwise, it'll be the nuclear option of 'factory-reset'....

Incidentally, both image-restore and Backlaze restore both worked faultlessly... the safety-nets proved their worth - even if they weren't the solution!

[ajay_m]

My immediate thought would be that the ribbon cable from the keyboard is not properly seated in the mainboard socket. This can cause any number of weird intermittent issues. However I would expect to see issues when typing but possibly into wordpad rather than notepad as this'll pick up probably more spurious key events. Try typing firmly and use all the keys plus test out the trackpad, also, try gently tapping around the keyboard with a wooden spoon or something that won't damage anything and see if you can provoke bad behaviour.

[Mike Stranks]

Just to clarify... USB keyboard...

[sonics]

The first thing I would have done is tried another keyboard...

So would I, if I'd had one... I may not be a Windows expert, but I'm not a complete *******

You didn't mention that in your first post, though.
Good luck with your fix, anyway.

[LeVzi]

If it's a USB keyboard, try moving to the top left or top right USB slot on your motherboard. Don't plug it into a USB hub or suchlike.

I know this is important for the BIOS, should you need keyboard use in that (Which we all do), so it maybe not seeing drivers prior to WIN 11 booting.

If that doesn't work, can you get another keyboard to try the PC with it ? Maybe a mate can bring his/hers over just to test ?

[ef37a]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NitWits-All-On ... 4927&psc=1

Dave (I'll get me coat)

[Kwackman]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NitWits-All-On ... 4927&psc=1

Dave (I'll get me coat)

I'm an idiot. Will I never learn not to click on links.
I'm looking forward to Amazon now recommending weird items because "you recently looked at this item"!

[Mike Stranks]

Just noticed the RH CTRL key was permanently 'on' /stuck down.

Released, and all my (IT) problems have resolved...

So much wasted time... ho hum...

[Hugh Robjohns]

Ooookaaayyyy.... well, at least you found the problem — and a keyboard swap would have proved it too of course.

I was wondering what the solution would be so thanks for the update.

[Drew Stephenson]

Doh!

Still, as Hugh says, sorted now and mystery solved.

[resistorman]

To be fair, that's not a common problem for a keyboard, it's never happened to me and I've used a LOT of them over the decades. Was something wedged in or is it a bad design?