F24 Key code constantly registering = multiple issues.

[bstrong]

Hi everyone,

I can't seem to track this down and I don't really want to do a clean install after setting up my environment for work. I'm not sure if this happened out of the box or not. I'm hoping someone will have magic solution that will save hours of reinstalling...

I first noticed the problem when having multiple windows of the same type open. The taskbar by default would stack these. To switch between them you would hover over the stacked icon and that would bring up a grid or list of the windows above the icon. On m machine this 'preview' would only flash and then disappear. I also noticed the screensaver would never come on, alt+tab window switching would also flash and then go away, and there were some other general 'window focus' issues. After googling for a solution and reading some related issues I got the idea to write a quick app that would display keystrokes and mouse presses to a window. For some reason the F24 key is constantly being sent to the OS. I don't have a F24 key(I'm thinking it is either a combination of keys or a storage for a hotkey). Since I don't have a physical F24 key I'm thinking it has to be a software issue. I've tried killing processes one at a time and testing to see if it helps without any luck. I've run out of ideas without doing a clean install. Does anyone have any other ideas???

I have an Alienware m17x, core duo T9600 2x 2.80Ghz, 4GB Ram, NVIDIA GeForce 9400 running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Please Help

 

[seekermeister]

It appears that it is a virtual key code which = home:

Virtual Key Codes

Is it possible that you have a stuck key?

 

[bstrong]

The code is "F24" not 24. That does not have a direct key association.

 

[seekermeister]

Okay, going down the same list, it shows:

VK_F24 	87H	     F24 key

What 87H would stand for, I have no idea.

 

[bstrong]

It probably just means 87 in hex which = 10000111 in binary and is what the OS passes around. I don't think it has a direct value to input by default.

 

[seekermeister]

You may well be right, but it makes no sense to me to associate any hex value to a keystroke, unless there is a use for it.

 

[alienwhere]

Same problem on same system!

I also have an alienware m17x that is (for lack of a better term) spamming the F24 function key twice a second CONSTANTLY! Please, does anyone have any insight into this issue?

 

[madtownidiot]

Something like that can probably only be done with a malicious script... try booting to safe mode and see if it happens there.

 

[andmike]

I am having the same issue. I see that mine is hitting the "International 5" key every half second or so. I looked this up and it translates out to "muhenkan 0x7B 0x8B Keyboard international 5"

So, it is thinking it is hitting some standard Japanese key I think

Has anyone found a fix?

 

[stepht]

I also have troubles with the stuck F24-key.
87 (16)=135 (10) is the Windows Scancode for F24.
I dont think that it colud be a malicious script because if you put Windows into Hibernate while the key is stuck and then resume, the problem is solved.
Because of this and other problems Dell replaced my motherboard 8 times, graphics card 4 times and once my keyboard. Even after reinstalling windows the issue persists. Dell's engineers dont know the problem so I am going to get my money back (They say that since summer).

 

[fseal]

I was going to ask, is there a common keyboard/driver in the mix? Like a logitech gaming keyboard with a macro driver that is broken or something?