Keyboard types two letters

Question

My daughter, who is away at college, has a keyboard problem. She wrote this email:

dfadfdfy, i cvan' handflre this kreyboaerfd nonsrensre. herlp mre!!

As you can see, if she presses "d" she gets "df", and so forth. It seems she gets the key she presses and also the next key over, but this doesn't happen on all keys. We just bought her Inspiron in August 2005. She has Windows XP. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

bska74 · Answer

I can see from reading previous posts that this is a common problem. I guess I'll have to fight it out with Dell when she comes home for Christmas.

bweed6 · Answer

if it is still under warranty, she should call it in for replacement. most likely, the keyboard is simply kaput.

bweed6 · Answer

there shouldn't be a need to fight it out. keyboard failures on portables are not terribly uncommon. of course she can call it in herself from school - there is really no need to wait for christmas.

good luck.

Rollie_R · Answer

bska74,   Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.   She should run the keyboard test from the Dell Diagnostics.  I feel confident that this will confirm a hardware problem.  Either she or you can then contact Dell Technical Support, which can be done via email.   As a temporary workaround, until the system can be fixed, an inexpensive USB keyboard may make it possible to use the system without the problem.  Just a suggestion to help her get through the last weeks of school.

Walt S. · Answer

I have the very same problem, 3 = 34, d = df, c = cv and the inverse, 4 = 43 etc.

Inspiron 8500.

Is there a marginal condition with the rc input filter on the system board? 33 ohm & ~ 400pF?

Three different keyboards have all had the same personality.

bska74 · Answer

Walt S.,

I didn't take the laptop apart. I needed to get it repaired asap so I could give it back to my daughter at school. I feel that Dell is having too many failures with keyboards, and they should acknowledge a problem. My system was only 4 months old......one month out of warranty. I had to pay Dell's standard charge to get it repaired. They replaced the keyboard, and that solved the problem. I am not satisfied with the treatment I got from Dell and I'll never buy another Dell product.

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Keyboard types two letters

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