Absolute Beginners Guide to Upgrading and Fixing Your PC

Keyboards aren't much more complex than mice. After all, a computer keyboard is nothing more than a bunch of switches, covered by plastic key caps. So there's not much to go wrong.

Right?

Here's a short list of keyboard-related problems you can run into:

It can get unplugged. The keys can start sticking. (This is exacerbated when you pour soda or coffee on the keyboard; try to avoid doing this.) The key mechanisms can simply go off and not transmit the proper electrical impulses. Some of the other electronic parts in the keyboard can go bad. You can type so fast that your system can't keep up with you. (Keyboard signals are stored in a kind of temporary memory called a buffer until your system can get around to processing them; you can actually fill up the buffer if you type quickly enough, causing a "buffer overflow" effect.) And, finally, you can set up parts of your system incorrectly so that your keyboard seems to be messed up.

If your keyboard does happen to go bad, you should just throw it away. You can buy new keyboards for less than $50, and you'd probably pay that much trying to get your old one fixed. It's cheaper to buy a new one.

Problem: Your Keyboard Won't Type No Characters Appear Onscreen

First, check to make sure that the keyboard is firmly connected to the system unit. If need be, reboot so that your system realizes that the keyboard is actually there.

If that doesn't solve your problem, you probably have a bad keyboard. Try hooking another keyboard to your computer. If the new keyboard works and your own keyboard doesn't, you have a bad keyboard.

If another keyboard doesn't work on your system either, you might have some weird problem in your system unit maybe a bad keyboard port. You can call the repair shop and take your PC in for repairs or just buy a USB keyboard, instead.

It's also possible that a frozen keyboard is caused by an incorrect keyboard driver within Windows. Open the Device Manager, scroll down to the Keyboard section, and highlight the keyboard driver. If the driver is nonfunctional, it will appear with a large red "X" over its icon. If this is the case, click the Remove button to delete the driver, then return to Control Panel and run the Add Hardware Wizard to reinstall your keyboard driver.

Problem: Your Keyboard Quits Working After You Install a New Peripheral

The most probable cause of a frozen keyboard after a major system change is a memory conflict. Your new device is now trying to share the same memory space needed by your keyboard.

The first thing to do is to remove the device that is causing the conflict. So whatever you just installed uninstall it!

Now reinstall the new device again, and see if there are any settings you can affect manually during installation. (There probably aren't.) If you continue to have keyboard problems after reinstalling the new device, contact the device's manufacturer for assistance.

Problem: Your Keyboard Won't Type Every Time You Press a Key, You Hear a Beep

Your keyboard is probably connected, but maybe not correctly. Make sure that the connectors are firmly plugged into one another. If that isn't the problem, something funny has happened while you were typing maybe you typed too fast and filled the keyboard buffer. Try rebooting. (If your keyboard is really dead, you can't reboot by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del, so you have to turn the system on and off from the reset button or the main power switch.)

If, after rebooting, you still have keyboard problems, try hooking up another keyboard to your PC. (Make sure you turn the PC off before you replace the keyboard, and then reboot with the new keyboard connected.) If the replacement keyboard works, you need to buy a new keyboard. Fortunately, keyboards aren't that expensive to replace.

Problem: You Spill Some Liquid on the Keyboard

When you spill the contents of your glass onto your keyboard, several things might happen:

• Nothing. You're lucky though you should turn off your computer and let your keyboard dry out before using it again, just to make sure that none of the electronics are damaged.

• It shorts out. Liquids and electronics don't mix. Spilling water or any other liquid onto your keyboard could cause the circuitry to short-circuit. Whatever you do, don't use the keyboard again until it dries out or you get it fixed or replaced.

• It gets gummed up. The sugar in most soft drinks can get down into the switches under the keys on your keyboard, which can cause them to malfunction or stick.

If you spill something on your keyboard, the first thing to do is turn off your computer and unplug your keyboard. Then use a soft cloth to wipe up the spill, as much as possible. You can then pull off individual keycaps, taking care not to damage the switches underneath, and clean up any excess liquid there.

It's a good idea to let the keyboard dry overnight, before testing it again. After drying, plug it back in and fire up your PC; if you're lucky, everything will work fine.

The worst that can happen is that you spill a liquid with a high sugar content (like a cola or other soft drink), and the residue gunks up your keyboard switches. If this happens, you can take the keyboard in for a professional cleaning, or just spring for a new keyboard.

Problem: You Type a Lowercase Letter, but an Uppercase Letter Appears Onscreen

You have the Caps Lock key on. Press the Caps Lock key again to turn it off. (The Caps Lock light should reflect the position of the key; if the light is on, the key is on.)

Sometimes your system can get confused and think that Caps Lock is on when it really isn't supposed to be. I don't know what causes this, but it happens to me sometimes when I type just a little too fast in some programs. If this happens to you, you might have to reboot to reset the system.

Problem: You Type a Number, but the Onscreen Cursor Moves Instead

You have the Num Lock key off. Press Num Lock again to turn it on. (The Num Lock light should reflect the position of the key; if the light is on, the key is on.)

As noted in the previous problem, sometimes your system can get confused and think that Num Lock is on when it really isn't supposed to be. If this happens, you might have to reboot to reset the system.

Problem: You Type One Key, and a Different Character Appears Onscreen

This is an interesting problem with four possible causes:

• You really didn't type what you thought you did. Look at your fingers. Now look at the screen. Now look at your fingers again. Is everything the way it should be? Good!

• If you have a programmable keyboard, you or someone else might have reprogrammed the keys so that they don't do what they normally do. Refer to the keyboard's manual for instructions about how to reprogram the keys.

• If you're in a specific software program, some programs let you reprogram the keyboard from within the program. When you exit the program, your keyboard should be back to normal.

• It's possible your keyboard is broken. Try hooking another keyboard up to your system and see how it works.

Problem: Your Keyboard Isn't Responding Properly

What do you do if you hold down a key and it repeats too fast or too slow? Windows lets you make adjustments to your keyboard via the Keyboard Properties dialog box.

Just open the Control Panel and select Keyboard, and then select the Speed tab. Adjust the Repeat Delay and Repeat Speed settings to your liking, and then test your settings by clicking in the blank box and holding down a key. After you have things adjusted to your liking, click OK.

Problem: Your Wireless Keyboard Isn't Responding Properly

This is the same issue as with a wireless mouse your batteries are getting weak. Replace the batteries in your wireless keyboard to put things right.

It's also possible that you're experiencing interference with some other wireless device. Try moving your wireless receiver or the offending device, or turning off the other device while you're at the computer.

Problem: You Press the Page Up or Page Down Keys, but Your Window Doesn't Scroll

Check to see if the Scroll Lock on your keyboard is activated. Sometimes having Scroll Lock on will cause strange scrolling problems with some programs.