Help, my (x) key is not working

[Shot]

ANother thing is if both of the keyboards you are using are not usb keyboards try plugging a usb keyboard in.

Both USB

Thanks

[Shot]

Does anybody know if he could re-program a function key to be "x".?

I gave this a try with a program called SharpKeys, but no luck

Thanks

[Shot]

Windows uses a lookup table to determine what the key you press should be. Is it possible that the lookup for 'x' has been deleted?

Search for a utility program called KeyTweak. It will allow you to assign/reassign the values in the lookup table.

Thanks for your reply.

I tried SharpKeys (something like that) and KeyTweak. Both programs will not reassign that key, but the programs work with other keys. I reassigned Z to the tab key which was successful.

[RichCor]

Do you have Microsoft IntelliType Installed? If so what version?

Yes, I have 7.1

Have you tried booting into Windows Safe Mode, and does the issue persist there?

Now, on to IntelliType:

While BB1950 may have another diagnostic envisioned,

Try first downloading fresh/new copy of IntelliType, hold it in reserve.

Uninstall the current version of IntelliType, reboot, and see if the issue persists.

Optionally, install the reserve version of IntelliType.

[Shot]

Do you have Microsoft IntelliType Installed? If so what version?

Yes, I have 7.1

Have you tried booting into Windows Safe Mode, and does the issue persist there?

Now, on to IntelliType:

While BB1950 may have another diagnostic envisioned,

Try first downloading fresh/new copy of IntelliType, hold it in reserve.

Uninstall the current version of IntelliType, reboot, and see if the issue persists.

Optionally, install the reserve version of IntelliType.

Hi. I should have mentioned this in my post after the restore:

Everything for the restore worked fine BUT IntelliType. It said it was unable to restore that program, delete and re-load, which I have already done.

[RichCor]

Again, have you tried booting into safe mode and does the issue persist there?

[Shot]

Again, have you tried booting into safe mode and does the issue persist there?

Yes, booted in safe mode, but no luck

[RichCor]

It would be interesting to have you directly 'boot' a Live Linux, to verify the issue doesn't exist there and directly confirm the issue is in your Windows OS 7, either a .dll, font, service, or process responsible for the persistent issue.

Very odd that it's trapping a naked key.

[BB1950]

Do you have Microsoft IntelliType Installed? If so what version?

Yes, I have 7.1

Have you tried booting into Windows Safe Mode, and does the issue persist there?

Now, on to IntelliType:

While BB1950 may have another diagnostic envisioned,

Try first downloading fresh/new copy of IntelliType, hold it in reserve.

Uninstall the current version of IntelliType, reboot, and see if the issue persists.

Optionally, install the reserve version of IntelliType.

Version 7.1 should be okay. There have been issues with Intellitype 8.2 and KB2529073 reported. The fixes were to uninstall KB2529073, Downgrade to Intellitype 7.0, or not use the Intellitype driver and use the default USB keyboard driver.

I would also like to know as RichCor has asked when booting into safe mode, does the x key work properly? Default drivers are used in Safe Mode.

[Shot]

^^That key does not work in safe mode. Bummer

[BB1950]

^^That key does not work in safe mode. Bummer

It would be interesting to have you directly 'boot' a Live Linux, to verify the issue doesn't exist there and directly confirm the issue is in your Windows OS 7, either a .dll, font, service, or process responsible for the persistent issue.

Very odd that it's trapping a naked key.

Looks like you're going to have to try booting a Live Linux CD now to see if the problem persists.

[Shot]

^^That key does not work in safe mode. Bummer

It would be interesting to have you directly 'boot' a Live Linux, to verify the issue doesn't exist there and directly confirm the issue is in your Windows OS 7, either a .dll, font, service, or process responsible for the persistent issue.

Very odd that it's trapping a naked key.

Looks like you're going to have to try booting a Live Linux CD now to see if the problem persists.

Looks like I can download something from here http://www.linuxliveusb.com/

Appears easy with an option to open Linu* side-by-side with W7, but run it independently. Will that work or do I need to boot from scratch? And, if so is that pretty safe?

[RichCor]

Looks like I can download something from here http://www.linuxliveusb.com/

Appears easy with an option to open Linu* side-by-side with W7, but run it independently. Will that work or do I need to boot from scratch? And, if so is that pretty safe?

You don't want to run it side-by-side.

Your PC should have the ability to BOOT from another device at Power-On. Using this feature along with a spare Thumb Drive memory device that you have made into a Live Boot will temporarily allow your PC to boot a working operating system exclusively from the external Memory Device (and precludes your Windows 7 install from even loading).

The idea is to make sure your HARDWARE is working correctly ... booting into another operating system should show your 'x' key is functional.

The 'Live Distro' you download needs to have the ability to easily make a spare Thumb Drive memory device bootable with the Live OS.

[Shot]

^^^Okay, thanks. I'll give it a try. Probably won't be until tomorrow. Kids and stuff now.

Thanks

[ravip]

Try getting in to the BIOS and test the key - but dont save and exit.

If it works, just reinstall Windows.

Edit

Or try booting with a bootable CD/DVD/Flash drive and test that key.

Edited July 10, 2015 by ravip

[RichCor]

Try getting in to the BIOS and test the key - but dont save and exit.

If it works, just reinstall Windows.

Edit

Or try booting with a bootable CD/DVD/Flash drive and test that key.

Yes, I was trying to think of a quick method to confirm the hardware actually worked.

Enter BIOS.

Maybe it and the other keys would just BEEP.

Maybe BIOS has a password field he could type into... just don't save!

Otherwise, create a bootable flash drive containing DOS. Boot that live. That would also be pretty simple.

Pretty sure it will confirm his Windows OS of F'd up and needs to be fixed (or probably replaced if the cause can't be determined).

[NeverSure]

There's some good info here but no joy. I think it's software. Next I'd go into device manager and delete all keyboards and reboot, letting Windows install a driver. That's a quicky to see what might happen.

Cheers.

[NeverSure]

Does anyone think this could be a serial bus driver and in particular USB? I don't really because data is passing fine and I don't see how it could drop instructions for just one key.

???

A corrupt keyboard driver could drop a key. I think. After deleting all keyboards I might update the keyboard drivers. ??

Cheers

[RichCor]

Does anyone think this could be a serial bus driver and in particular USB? I don't really because data is passing fine and I don't see how it could drop instructions for just one key.

???

A corrupt keyboard driver could drop a key. I think. After deleting all keyboards I might update the keyboard drivers. ??

Cheers

HID driver, or corrupted Intellitype data that's not getting overwritten or erased on reinstall or remove.

I would try uninstalling Intellitype and reboot. See if the issue is still persistent even after killing it.

Yea delete the keyboard drivers and reboot.

[NeverSure]

^^^ Good ideas.

OP, do you know how to uninstall keyboards? At Start, type in

device manager

Look above and open it. Look for Keyboards and double click and open it. Right-click on each and choose uninstall. All of them.

Reboot. Windows should install new drivers on auto-detect. Right where you deleted is also where you right-click and choose Updated Driver if there's still no joy.

I really like RichCor's suggestions right above. I might do the uninstall keyboards first only because I gravitate toward the fastest and easiest each time but up to you. I don't think it matters as you need to do all if one doesn't fix it.

Good luck.

Cheers.

Edited July 10, 2015 by NeverSure

[NeverSure]

OP, Please do things one at a time. It's frustrating to fix something and not know what fixed it. For instance if it wasn't Intellitype, then you wouldn't be afraid to run that.

I'd get really nasty and blow Intellitype out of there if I uninstalled it. I'd uninstall, reboot, go to Start> Programs> All Programs and find the folder if it's still there and delete all of it. I'd reboot and clean the registry with CCleaner or your favorite. I'd reboot again, LOL. At each step I'd try the X key.

Even if I didn't fix it I'd at least feel like I was doing something, LOL.

Cheers

[RichCor]

I'd get really nasty and blow Intellitype out of there if I uninstalled it. I'd uninstall, reboot, go to Start> Programs> All Programs and find the folder if it's still there and delete all of it. I'd reboot and clean the registry with CCleaner or your favorite. I'd reboot again, LOL. At each step I'd try the X key.

Even if I didn't fix it I'd at least feel like I was doing something, LOL.

Cheers

Right on!

I would probably go so far as to try to kill Intellitype with fire, even take a degaussing magnet to its install CD.

Might not help, but it might placate the frustration I get with issues similar to this.

[BB1950]

I would probably go so far as to try to kill Intellitype with fire, even take a degaussing magnet to its install CD.

Might not help, but it might placate the frustration I get with issues similar to this.

I hear you!

The fancy Microsoft keyboards and mice that use Intellitype and Intellipoint drivers were products of the Windows XP era. The OP's keyboard came out in 2005 and has been discontinued for years.

They worked great on Windows XP but are a PITA on Windows 7. If I recall the Windows XP versions of the drivers were flagged as incompatible with Windows 7 and Microsoft never got them to work well on Windows 7 (seems like they introduce another problem each time they fixed a problem.

After many flustrating moments. I have since discontinued use of those products that required them. I refuse to Intellitype or Intellipoint drivers again (even though they have nice features)! They aren't worth the headache!

I only use basic keyboards and mice. Even with wireless keyboards and mice you run into issues.

[Shot]

There's some good info here but no joy. I think it's software. Next I'd go into device manager and delete all keyboards and reboot, letting Windows install a driver. That's a quicky to see what might happen.

Cheers.

Hello and thanks for your post. Gave that a try but no luck.

[Shot]

I still have the live linu* thing to do, but too busy today for that. Will give it a go early morning I hope.

Appreciate all the input. Not having use of that key is certainly not the end of the world. I can work around it if needed. However, it has become somewhat of a quest at this point.

[RichCor]

linu*

I've been wondering WHY the OP keep typing linux as linu* (as most people type it as *nix)

... and it took me until I also wondered what the 'x' character letter frequency was in normal typed text rotation ...

and I can now officially state I'm a lax obnoxious excuse of an idiot.

(OP can't type 'x', ergo linu* ...duh!) The OP hides his disability well.

BTW,

Wikipedia Relative frequencies of letters in the English language (analysis of entries in the Concise Oxford dictionary)

Letter usage

z 0.074%

q 0.095%

x 0.150%

k 0.772%

v 0.978%

...

i 6.966%

o 7.507%

a 8.167%

t 9.056%

e 12.702%

[innerspace]

Have you tried plugging in a non MS usb keyboard and/or an old style ps2 keyboard if you have the right port spare.

Would help narrow down a bit.

[Shot]

Have you tried plugging in a non MS usb keyboard and/or an old style ps2 keyboard if you have the right port spare.

Would help narrow down a bit.

I have a few older keyboards with the non USB plug, but my PC doesn't have a matching port. Good idea though. Thanks for your input.

[NeverSure]

I still think it's software but I don't know what it is.

Shot, does it do this in all programs such as your browser, Notepad, word processor... ? It's just dead with any keyboard in all programs?

Does the capital X work - Shift + X? That would prove that the key is working even though it appears to in other computers.

I think I would search for and download a new driver from the keyboard manufacturer. Be sure to "update driver" in device manager rather than just run the new driver. This will instruct Windows to use the new downloaded driver. That was a right-click on the keyboard in device manager.

I don't know what it is if it isn't the driver. You have the x in the language pack because you can paste it. No other keyboard will type the x either. The keyboard will type x with other computers. If it was data through the USB I think it would be more than one key.

Do you know of anything that happened just before this went South? I recently had an updated driver from Windows Update knock something out and I had to uninstall the update and reinstall my original driver.

I'm sorry that I can't think of anything else but I just can't.

Edited July 12, 2015 by NeverSure

[innerspace]

Try going into language settings and change to us/uk english, or some other latin based language with an x. Try bios, dos or linux. Try a different brand usb keyboard. Recently saw that windows can be run from a live usb stick similar to how linux can, another good test.