Hewlett-Packard F.20, 10/13/2009 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T6600 @ 2.20GHz, 2200Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
After installing Adobe Flash 10, I noticed that several keys on my HP G71 were intermittent. After a few weeks now of fighting with them, and even removing and replacing (the same) keyboard with no improvement, I now realize it is certainly a software issue.
The keys g, h, ', backspace, esc, and keypad 8, and even more pronouncedly the Shift+ of the same, delay their start after keypress. For example, all the other keys, when held down, begin immediately and repeat at a smooth steady rate while depressed. Those mentioned keys, however, delay their start by a second, several seconds, or until another key is pressed, then generally repeat for 4 or 5 chars, pause, repeat for 8 or 10 chars, &c., each new string longer than the last before another pause.
I am typing this with an external USB keyboard, which works perfectly fine.
If I try to type "the" on the built-in laptop keyboard, I get "te", or, if I go "t" then hold the h down, there is a pause, then I get 4 h's in quick succession, unless I am quick enough to let up at just the right time. If not, I try to backspace, and the same thing happens, a pause, then a burst of repeats, so that I often lose all the h's and maybe the t.
To get double quotes, I am unable, so I go Alt + 0034. Usable in an emergency, but what a pain!
But this repeatable behavior tells me it is certainly not a hardware issue. That coupled with the fact that it occurred immediately after the install of Adobe Flash 10, and my initial instinct was to blame that install.
My question to the forum is, should I flash the BIOS? I've tried uninstalling the keyboard as the administrator user, but it still works immediately as soon as the restart requires my login. I even deleted the on-disk copy, but it reinstalled itself without a peep.
I suppose I could reinstall Windows, but I'm really not in the mood.
If I have a good battery, is it safe to flash the BIOS? And is it likely to help?
Any comments will be most welcome.
