Key on laptop not working

mini-me66

Hi

I am trying to write an assignment for a course and the 'A' key on my laptop keyboard is not working...well most the time. I can press it about 10 times and i might get one 'A'. (I am using a plug in keyboard before anyone comments).

I need to ba able to take my laptop around without the sep keyboard. Is it possible to remove the key and check underneath if there is something stuck?

Im guessing that as it very occasionally does work it cant be a problem with the actual computer. Any help would be great as i dont want to take it to PC world and get charged a fortune for them to do something simple.

Thanks very much

scheming_gypsy

you can just pop the keys off, flat screwdriver under the letter and twist gently

Hammyman

And under there you will find one of two things as the cause:

1) Dried up noodle or grain of rice.
2) The little rubber nipple has come adrift. Re-glue it back in place by sparingly putting glue along the bottom edge of it. If you overdo the glue it'll cover the contact in the middle of the hole and result in either no keypress being detected or never ending A's.

scheming_gypsy

Hammyman wrote: »

1) Dried up noodle or grain of rice.

and then run a cable tie under and between every key and be surprised at the amount of hair and dust you collect.

closed

as a temporary workaround, you can use the on screen keyboard by running osk.exe

mini-me66

Thanks for your help.

I very carefully got the key off and a nice bit of fluff came out. Unfortunatley it looks like part of the white plastic mechanism has cracked and now it wont go back on which is a pain. But i'm also worried it could be a different problem, as when the cover is off, i pressed the rubber bit and it still doesnt type an 'A'.
Would this be normal?

A friend mentioned i may need to get a new keyboard!? But i think i would pay for someone to fix it as obviously i break things even being very gentle

Thanks for the help though

macman

Changing a keyboard is very easy even if you are not experienced. And please don't take it to PCW, unless you want to find your data wiped and your OS reinstalled. If you must pay someone to do it, go to an independent PC shop.

Browntoa

if you post the make/model of Laptop we will find out how easy it is to replace

mini-me66

Hi

Thanks again..

Its a Toshiba Satellite A200-1YO

I had a look on ebay and looks like i can buy a replacement keyboard for £15 ish. If there is a simple way of replacing it that would be really helpful and dont really want to replace my laptop just yet even if it is 4 years old.

macman

Make sure that you are buying a UK keyboard and not a US one though-the listing should specify. Don't assume that a UK seller only sells UK keyboards.