# F8 key not working on new Acer Laptop



## tangled_b (Jun 4, 2008)

Hey everyone,

I bought an Acer Aspire 5738G laptop less than a month ago.

Recently I've noticed that the F8 key on the keyboard doesn't respond when I try pressing it in applications like Windows Media Player, Corel Draw etc. 

However, I know the key is still physically functional, since when I press the F8 in conjunction with the "function" button (Fn + F8), it mutes the laptop.
I was also able to access the Safe Mode menu by pressing F8 during startup.

I called Acer, and they said to do a system restoration.
When I did restore the system back to factory settings, the F8 key was working.

I had uninstalled a number of programs including the Antivirus and the Office Trial Version. I thought the computer was fixed, so I removed the unwanted programs again... and now the F8 key is back to only working when pressed with the "Fn" button.

I really don't want to do a system restore again, and I don't know why the F8 key isn't working - all other F1, F2, F3 etc are working.

Can someone help me with this problem?

Thanks!


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## Madcatz (Apr 15, 2008)

it really sounds like you may have uninstalled a peice of software that does something with the F keys, but should effect all the keys, not just one.

but the F8 key doesn't need software to turn the volume down in media player. Have you updated windows? Try a USB keyboard, see if that gives you the same problem.


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## Raj2005 (Feb 8, 2010)

Hi dude.i have the solution for your problem.because i have faced this problem too on my Acer Aspire 5738G Laptop.Remove The Acer Bio Protection Software from your system which is used for FingerPrint Authentication.Your F8 key will work fine forever.I hope u appriciate my effort.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

some other program sounds like it has taken over the F8 function in windows

i had the problem with avg doing the same 2 or 3yrs back and i had to change it from f8 to something else within the avg setup

stop any programs on auto startup 1 at a time and see if you regain control of F8


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## Galerak (Nov 28, 2010)

Hi there

I too had this problem, being unable to keybind the F8 key in any programs but after reading this post I have tracked down the answer :grin:

If you have an Acer system with Acer Bio Protection as I do then do the following :-

Look in the System tray (bottom right of your screen near the clock) for the Acer Bio Protection icon.

Right click on this icon and select system settings. If you have set up bio protection for the settings screen you will have to swipe your finger to access this.

Next click the 'FingerNav Management' tab at the top. This is the 5th from the left on my version and looks like the four points of a compass.

At the botton of this page you will see 'Hotkey Settings', this is set as F8 by default. It seems as tho you can't disable this feature so in my case I have specified that the hotkey only works if 'Ctrl' AND 'Alt' are pressed.

The F8 key should now be assignable as a hotkey (without ctrl & alt pressed) in any program you need.

I hope this helps people out as this has been frustrating me for quite some time now.

I would like to thank everyone who originally posted answers on this topic as without them I wouldn't have known where the problem lay... not for while anyway :smooch:


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