some keyboard keys not working properly

Question

I'm using Windows 7. All of a sudden, a couple of hours ago, this happened:

My keyboard number keys [above the letters] stopped working properly, both as numbers and as symbols. Only 5 and 6 are functional. Also, I've noticed that the End key isn't working either, and perhaps a couple more from that group.

I'm pretty sure it has something to do with those evil Sticky Keys/Filter Keys/ whatever those ease of access things are, BUT I've turned off all the ease of access keyboard options and nothing has changed. Is it possible that something is still turned on while I unchecked it? Are the on/off checkboxes to control WHEN it happens or IF it happens? I also tried rebooting and uninstalling/reinstalling keyboard from device manager, to no avail.

It's certainly a software issue and not a hardware issue, as I've tried another keyboard and the problem persists. And, predictably enough, it's annoying. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Have you tried the keyboard on another system? Is this a usb keyboard or a PS/2 keyboard? Have you tried plugging it into different ports?

If you answered yes to all of these points then I would suggest 1 of 2 different actions. Try a system restore back a day or two before this happened and see if that fixes it.

If that does not fix it and this is a PS/2 keyboard try a USB one.

Answer 2

If you're using an USB to PS/2 adapter, that might be causing the issue... Defective ones are known to cause this error.

Answer 3

I've just tried to resolve it for an hour, on the phone with a friend who had an opposite issue (only 5 6 and left control were NOT working). What eventually worked for him was: Control+Alt+Fn key (or Windows key instead of Fn)

Note that in some cases the left Control is not working so you should try with any of these. Of course try typing the non-functional keys each time to see if it worked.