Thunderstorm Followed By Keyboard Problems

Catfisher · 08 Jul 2010

My pc has been working very well. While I was sleeping yesterday there was a thunderstorm. The pc first appeared ok, but upon typing a bad problem became apparent. The Logitech usb keyboard was producing extra characters. I thought the keyboard had been damaged by the storm so I powered down and rebooted with a HP ps2 keyboard in place of the Logitech usb keyboard.

The HP keyboard also produces double characters, but the corrupt keys are different keys than the corrupt keys on the Logitech keyboard.

Here 'is 'an 'examp.le 'of 'what 'characters 'I 'am 'getting 'if 'I 'don 't 'ma,ke 'any 'corrections.l

space bar = ' letter k = ,k letter l = .l semi-colon = /; colon = ?:

comma = ,k ' period = .l forward slash = /;

I see a pattern here in that the letters all relate exactly to the row below and then the row above.

Also, I use the GOM player for video files. The spacebar is PAUSE, but it is also opening up some shortcut in the GOM player.

This keyboard - the HP pci wasn't pluuged into anything during the storm.

I have gone into Regions and Settings to verify all is standard U.S.. I also went back 3 days and did a System Restore to see if it would help, it didn't.

Do you know how I might stop this corrupt double character problem? If I only need a new keyboard, great, but since it is malfunctioning with 2 different keyboards that doesn't seem likely to me.

Any 'and 'a.l.l 'he.lp 'is 'appreciated 'because 'this 'wi.l.l 'drive 'me 'insane 'quic,k.ly!!!

Than,k 'You 'A.l.l

Dzomlija · 09 Jul 2010

Catfisher said:

My pc has been working very well. While I was sleeping yesterday there was a thunderstorm. The pc first appeared ok, but upon typing a bad problem became apparent. The Logitech usb keyboard was producing extra characters. I thought the keyboard had been damaged by the storm so I powered down and rebooted with a HP ps2 keyboard in place of the Logitech usb keyboard.

The HP keyboard also produces double characters, but the corrupt keys are different keys than the corrupt keys on the Logitech keyboard.

Here 'is 'an 'examp.le 'of 'what 'characters 'I 'am 'getting 'if 'I 'don 't 'ma,ke 'any 'corrections.l

space bar = ' letter k = ,k letter l = .l semi-colon = /; colon = ?:

comma = ,k ' period = .l forward slash = /;

I see a pattern here in that the letters all relate exactly to the row below and then the row above.

Also, I use the GOM player for video files. The spacebar is PAUSE, but it is also opening up some shortcut in the GOM player.

This keyboard - the HP pci wasn't pluuged into anything during the storm.

I have gone into Regions and Settings to verify all is standard U.S.. I also went back 3 days and did a System Restore to see if it would help, it didn't.

Do you know how I might stop this corrupt double character problem? If I only need a new keyboard, great, but since it is malfunctioning with 2 different keyboards that doesn't seem likely to me.

Any 'and 'a.l.l 'he.lp 'is 'appreciated 'because 'this 'wi.l.l 'drive 'me 'insane 'quic,k.ly!!!

Than,k 'You 'A.l.l

This is one of the reasons why I turn off my machine when we have a bad thunderstorm (and trust me, here in South Africa, they can get very bad).

If the problem persists between both a USB and a PS/2 keyboard, then your motherboard I/O Controller Chip is probably the root cause. You've got to remember that all a keyboard does is send signals to the motherboard. The I/O Controller determines how to to interpret them.

But without jumpingthe gun here, there is on way to be certain where the problem lies - keyboard or motherboard.

Plug your keyboard into an entirely different computer (from a friend or maybe a work pc). If the problem persists, then it's the keyboard. If not, then you most likely have motherboard problems...