a1 s2 d3 f4 Fix

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
This is for my future reference (and if it helps anyone else, great!)

My Lenovo laptop keyboard (Windows 10) started typing weird things, but just the home row keys.

asdf jkl; would add a corresponding number to the letter, to wit:

a1 s2 d3 f4
g and h were fine
j7 k8 l9 ;0

Search for solutions was unhelpful because geeks want to recommend convoluted solutions (coded in geek speak) for what turned out to be a fairly simple problem. Microsoft "help" topics were even worse.

Update driver? BZZZT
Drain battery and reboot? BZZZT
Turn off Numlocks? BZZZT
Turn off Sticky Notes? BZZZT
Stand on your head and bark like a dog? BZZZT
Didn't work? You're screwed and need a new keyboard. :loser: I KNOW it's a software problem, so don't tell me dumb things like that.

The solution ended up being:

Right-click Start
Choose Device Manager
Expand Keyboards
Right-click the keyboard
Uninstall.

BOOM. Fixed.

I've been fooling with this since 8am. Unfortunately there are a number of ways to "remove my keyboard" that didn't do anything of the sort. This is what finally worked. So next time I have this problem, I can google a1 s2 d3 f4 and this thread should show up in the results so I can get back in business.

:banghead:
 
I've found that Windows Update likes to install updated device drivers, and everytime I do, the device screws up. I have disabled optional updates and only install mandatory updates.
 
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