For the last couple weeks, the Esc key on my Microsoft 800 wireless keyboard does nothing whatsoever.
This problem has persisted through at least three restarts.
I probably average using Esc once a day.
How do I determine whether I have a Windows 7 problem or a keyboard problem ?
Thanks.
Plug in a wired keyboard, and see if the esc key works on it.
Check the battery on the wireless keyboard - it may be low.
With the wired keyboard plugged in, unplug the dongle from the computer, wait a minute, then plug it back in. Try the esc key.
With the wired keyboard plugged in, go into Device Manager and uninstall the wireless keyboard. Then right-click on the top item and choose "scan for new devices" or something like that. Once it finds your wireless keyboard, try the esc key.
I didn't think of that either! That would be a good first step.
If it works fine on another machine, then you will get the added benefit of it resetting itself on the original computer, because it was unplugged for a while from that computer.
Another thing you can try: take the batteries out of the keyboard for a few minutes, then reinstall the batteries. Doing so will reset the keyboard.
Okay, I unplugged the dingie-thingie, waited a few seconds and re-plugged (of course I had already did that a couple times before I panicked and asked for assistance); no help there.
I replaced the batteries even though my tester said that they were plenty hot; no help there either.
I tried the keyboard on two other machines and the Esc key works perfectly on both of them.
I first confirmed that the Esc key on one of the other wireless keyboards was working on it's machine and then moved it to the problem machine; no Esc function with that keyboard either; I put it back where it came from and Esc worked fine there.
So, the problem is definitely something to do with the machine and it's O/S.
I will investigate some of those other suggestions as soon as I get a couple outside chores took care of.
It seems like I have been having more than my share of weird computer occurrences lately.
Excellent troubleshooting. You have narrowed it down to very likely being a Windows issue, which probably means that it is the driver for the keyboard.
Another possibility: run Task Manager on both computers, to see what services and processes are running on the problematic computer and aren't running on the working computer. One of those services or processes could be the culprit - it could be conflicting somehow with your keyboard.
I dug out an old antique ACER wired keyboard and am typing this message with it.
Esc does not work with the wired keyboard either.
This ACER has a big prominent "SLEEP" Button; of course, I inadvertently hit it and almost never got my machine back alive; I finally pressed the power button for a split second and got it woke back up.
After this keyboard, that makes three separate keyboards tried on this machine, two wireless (Microsoft and Logitech) and one wired, and no Esc with any of them.
Apparently this a lot more common problem than I first thought; I Googled it and got like a million articles about it; I clicked on this one:
How to Fix an Unresponsive Escape Key
In the article it mentioned that Photoshop could somehow get a "hook" on your keyboard and cause this.
I have used Photoshop Elements 7 for years and it is up and running on three of our machines almost continuously and I have never before had this problem.
However, I just closed Elements and the problem immediately went away.
There is something in Elements called a Preferences File where Elements sort of saves up various preferences to the way one does things; often, when something goes haywire, one can delete the preferences file and the problem will be cured; of course, all of the preferences one has set will also be wiped away.
I will delete that preferences file, reopen Elements, and see if the no Esc problem has went away.
Thank you ever so much for helping me in this mystery.
Glad you got it figured out!
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