Help with Laptop keyboard

May 10, 2012 7:13 AM

My wife's laptop keyboard is messed up. Whenever she hits "b" it spits out 4b, whenever she hits "n" it spits out 7n. The space bar doesn't work. This is a Lenovo laptop. She did just clean the keypad and she used a damp paper towel, but she didn't seem to spill any liquids into the keyboard. Is this salvageable? Solutions, ideas, help?
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Plug a USB keyboard into it to make sure it's the physical keyboard that's at issue. Unlikely that it's anything else, but it can't hurt to be sure. After that, maybe take the keyboard out, wipe it right down and try reseating it carefully.

Lenovo is really good about spare parts, so you should be able to replace the keyboard (not super-trivial, but generally not impossible) yourself if you're so inclined.
posted by mhoye at 7:16 AM on May 10, 2012

Use a can of compressed air, it might be dust under the keyboard. You can find cans at an office supply store.
posted by hooray at 7:21 AM on May 10, 2012

Famously, "trust me" , mhoye has it. if I can replace a keyboard, and I have many times, on laptops more challenging than a Lenovo, you can also do it. Plenty of on line tutorials.
posted by rmhsinc at 7:22 AM on May 10, 2012

Give it a chance to dry out first (at least a few hours in a warm dry room). She may have accidentally gotten some water in there; it's possible that after it evaporates the problem will go away.
posted by ubiquity at 7:25 AM on May 10, 2012

Some keyboards have a number pad activated by holding down a modifier or function key. Check if those keys are also numpad keys, then check that the function key isn't stuck.
posted by devnull at 7:27 AM on May 10, 2012

I've got a lenovo laptop, and I've replaced both the keyboard and added memory (which requires removing the keyboard). I am not experienced with messing with hardware at all, but I didn't find it difficult--it helped to have another computer with the instructions while I worked on the laptop.

This link and this one were very helpful for me, and the sites themselves no doubt have more direct instructions.
posted by lemniskate at 7:39 AM on May 10, 2012

I had this same thing happen on my Lenovo when milk got spilled on it. The keyboards are expensive, so while they are replaceable, I was poor and just wound up using ctrl-V for my T and Y keys and eventually started using an external keyboard.

I will note that the behavior changed over time - at first, many keys were broken, but most of them got better eventually.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 9:59 AM on May 10, 2012

This happened to to me a few weeks ago. My best guess was that a little water splashed on it but I still can't figure out what happened. I left it open and flipped over (with a rolled-up magazine under the hinge to support it) for the rest of the day. Also removed the battery. The next day it was fine. It's definitely worth a try before replacing the keyboard!
posted by wallaby at 12:40 PM on May 10, 2012

If you flip the keyboard over, look for a sticker with a FRU (field replaceable unit) number, which is usually like 41g3214. (Two digits, a letter, four more digits.) Use that number to search for a keyboard on ebay. Shouldn't be more than $25.

But I'd suggest looking at the function-numlock thing, and also letting it dry for a few days, just to be sure.
posted by gjc at 4:57 PM on May 10, 2012

Thanks everyone, it is working now.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 11:30 AM on May 15, 2012