# [SOLVED] laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP



## Niner31 (Oct 23, 2007)

I have an Acer Aspire 3003WLCI laptop running Windows XP Home SP2. The problem that I'm having is that my keyboard is not working correctly in Windows. The keyboard works fine in the Bios and an external USB keyboard works fine in windows, but the keyboard on the laptop itself does not work correctly at the windows login screen or once inside windows. Basically, nothing happens when I press any key on the keyboard. Occasionally, it will type one letter, but that is rare. 

I've read some of the other posts on here and am not able to determine what the issue is based off of those. One of the suggestions I've seen is that it could be spyware related. So, I've checked for and removed any spyware and done a complete virus check and that hasn't changed anything. It's not hardware related since the keyboard works fine in the bios so it must be something with windows. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

Welcome to the forum . . . 

Will the keyboard work in Safe Mode?

You can try a USB or PS2 external keyboard to see if that works . . if it does, look in Device Manager to see what is under "Keyboards"


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## DominicanZero (Oct 25, 2007)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

Hello everyone, first post here, though not entirely pleasant.

I have an Acer Aspire 5670 with WinXP Pro SP2, and (as a poor man's luck would have it) had the exact same problem happen to me recently, right after the laptop went past its 1-year warranty period (not that I'd have been able to send it back though, I bought it through NewEgg last year while I was in the US on vacation; I live in the Dominican Republic).

The details of the problem are as follows:

1. Both the keyboard and touchpad are unusable in Windows.
2. Both the keyboard and touchpad are working fine, because booting to safe mode proves this, as I am able to perfectly use both like that.
3. I can enter the BIOS and change settings around, to further prove the fact that at the very least, the keyboard is okay.
4. Acer's recovery utility DVD (created when I first used the laptop) allows both the keyboard and the touchpad to work fine, since I used both when I did a factory restore about two days ago, after doing the impossible to rescue and safeguard my data.
5. Occassionally, holding or rapidly pressing a key while Windows boots (even to the finalizing setup screens, where the administrator password is set, as well as the computer name and all that) sometimes forces that specific key to work temporarily (as, after much fumbling and tinkering, I managed to turn on the Caps Lock light), though everything becomes useless again right afterwards.
6. An USB Mouse/USB Keyboard combo works (tried it just today at my university lab), but since the battery died on me I couldn't finish the user setup process (which isn't really a problem, since I can just restore again and start everything from scratch).

I have a completely unbelievable story as to what I did to be able to restore my laptop, all because the damn keyboard stopped working. It's a long story, so unless anyone's interested in the knowledge I gained from it (which was so unlikely, I don't really know if anyone would be interested) I'm not going to post it here. However, I'm having the same problem as the thread starter. Any ideas?


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## Niner31 (Oct 23, 2007)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*



simpswr said:


> Welcome to the forum . . .
> 
> Will the keyboard work in Safe Mode?
> 
> You can try a USB or PS2 external keyboard to see if that works . . if it does, look in Device Manager to see what is under "Keyboards"


The keyboard does work in Safe Mode and a USB keyboard works too. When I look under keyboards in the device manager while in Safe Mode, it lists "Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard" and it shows up as working properly. Any ideas?

I've run spybot and norton to remove any spyware or viruses as I'd found that possibility on other posts, but it's still not working.


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

Try removing or uninstalling the keyboard when in Safe Mode and reboot to let Windows "Discover" the keyboard and load the drivers


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## Niner31 (Oct 23, 2007)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

Just tried uninstalling keyboard and restarted. That didn't work either. It found the keyboard, reinstalled it, restarted and nothing changed. Any other ideas? I'd prefer not to have to try a complete restore of the system if I don't have to, but it's starting to look like that might be my best option.


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*



Niner31 said:


> I'd prefer not to have to try a complete restore of the system if I don't have to, but it's starting to look like that might be my best option.


I'd first have the security folks look at your system . . Start here:

http://www.techsupportforum.com/sec...pdated-important-read-before-posting-log.html


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## DominicanZero (Oct 25, 2007)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

I have found the cause of our problem, Niner31 -- believe it or not, OUR BATTERIES ARE BAD. Apparently, the OEM version of WinXP shipped with Acer machines has additional drivers for the battery, and if those can't load, some of the other hardware drivers also fail to load. I just plugged my laptop with no battery to the power outlet, and voilà, problem solved.





Now to spend the next three or four days restoring everything to how it was before the complete factory restore... ;_;


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## Niner31 (Oct 23, 2007)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

Good catch. I unplugged the battery and it works fine now. Thanks for the help. I guess I'll just use it on AC power only. It's not like I'll miss the 30 minutes worth of battery life that I was able to get anyway. Thanks.



DominicanZero said:


> I have found the cause of our problem, Niner31 -- believe it or not, OUR BATTERIES ARE Bad. Apparently, the OEM version of WinXP shipped with Acer machines has additional drivers for the battery, and if those can't load, some of the other hardware drivers also fail to load. I just plugged my laptop with no battery to the power outlet, and voilà, problem solved.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## maitresaman (Dec 20, 2007)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

I am getting a similar problem. I have an HP laptop with XP MCE running. They keyboard works until windows loads. It works during BIOS on many boots disks, but not windows. Not even in safe mode. I tried uninstalling and re-installing with no luck. I've tried an external keyboard with no luck. I spoke with HP and they tell me the keyboard has no specific drivers. Either way XP should pick it up and doesn't. The mouse works fine however.


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## Chauncey (Dec 20, 2007)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

maitresaman, can you click your way into Device Manager and make sure your keyboard drivers are not disabled?

Start > Control Panel > System > "Hardware" tab > Device Manager > Keyboards > right-click on "Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard" for "Properties" and make sure all is well there.


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## mark.murray26 (Jan 23, 2008)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

Thanks, I had a similiar problem with my acer travelmate 4100, the keyboard worked in the bios but not in Windows, also the touchpad did not work in windows. I tried your suggestion and it worked perfectly.

I realised there was a problem with my battey because it did not charge and if I plugged out the power lead it turned off immeadiately. I was already planning on buying a replacement battery but I'm not running the Win XP that originally came with the machine so do you reckon I will encounter this problem on the new battery also.



DominicanZero said:


> I have found the cause of our problem, Niner31 -- believe it or not, OUR BATTERIES ARE F*CKED. Apparently, the OEM version of WinXP shipped with Acer machines has additional drivers for the battery, and if those can't load, some of the other hardware drivers also fail to load. I just plugged my laptop with no battery to the power outlet, and voilà, problem solved.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Viva (May 18, 2008)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

I wish to thank DominicanZero and others for this solution (taking the batteries out) for my keyboard touchpad problem. I spend hours going into safe mode, mucking around in the keyboard driver section (looked a bit scary when it came down to installing and reinstalling the driver, which thankfully I didn't do). I guess I can chalk all that up to a learning experience (isn't that what we always do?), but I was so glad to get my Saturday back without having to pay Microsoft (who wouldn't have known what to do anyway). Why doesn't the manuracturer or someone tell us about this problem up front? But really, I'm ranting. Just want to say THANK YOU!


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## tridry (Jan 26, 2008)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

I'd like to add a BIG THANK YOU to DominicanZero for his solution to the keyboard problem. I had the same issue with my Acer Aspire 1640Z. The touchpad and keyboard were not working during Win XP installation. I removed the battery and everything works fine now! Acer really do use cheap crappy parts.


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## BobCrabtree (Jun 6, 2009)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

Late, I know, but another vote of thanks!

This was with an Acer 1640z and you really don't want to know the time and trouble I went to in failing to get the built-in keyboard and mousepad working.

Suffice it to say that even a new hard disk and a clean install of an OEM copy of XP Home (not one supplied with the PC) didn't do the trick (though things WERE okay-ish until I installed XP SP3!)

Having removed the battery, I've just now put back in the original HDD, installed SP3 and all remains well!

Worth commenting, too, that when I first set eyes on this PC, the built-in Ethernet was disabled (though I could enable it manually), so, clearly, the Ethernet driver was affected by the duff battery, too. Grrr!! 

Again, many thanks!


Bob Crabtree


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## victory service (Feb 26, 2011)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*

I had the same problem with a Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 Motherboard in a desktop system after my client had a nasty virus. Even wiping and reloading windows did not help. Believe it or not, flashing the bios from a USB floppy drive solved my issue. Apparently, since Motherboard Manufacturers are now making bios flashable from windows, it has made the bios vulnerable to viruses now. 
If all else fails, try flashing the bios outside of windows.


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## mbolgradov (Jul 19, 2011)

*Re: laptop keyboard not wkg in Windows XP*



DominicanZero said:


> I have found the cause of our problem, Niner31 -- believe it or not, OUR BATTERIES ARE BAD. Apparently, the OEM version of WinXP shipped with Acer machines has additional drivers for the battery, and if those can't load, some of the other hardware drivers also fail to load. I just plugged my laptop with no battery to the power outlet, and voilà, problem solved.
> 
> ----------------
> Thank's a lot DiminicanZero - Three days I trying to figure out why the keyboard Acer laptop not only works under Windows.
> ...


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