windows 7 shift key suddenly opening apps, weird symbols etc

T

tongue_of_colicab

Veteran
hi,

out of nowhere my shift key became unusable. if i press shift it opens applications or typs a bunch of weird letters. this happens with both shift keys. can't typ capitals or anything anymore.

i already tried removing my regional keyboards, removed keyboard usb driver, rebooted, crtl alt p etc but nothing works. its both keys so i doubt its a hardware issue.

anybody got any idea how to fix this questionmark. its goddamn annoying.

thumb up to the amazing programmer that managed to make this happen...
 
Try inverting the keyboard and shaking it violently, I find this usually loosens crumbs/hair/dust from under the keys and lets it all shower down on wherever you're shaking it from.

If that doesn't work use a hammer, if that doesn't work get a new keyboard because you just smashed your borked one with a hammer...
 
That's because that didn't break it, only fixed it. I have no clue what caused the issue.

Btw it could have been shift p as well now that I think about it.
 
  1. its fucking happening again and no matter what i do it keeps returning. sometimes i hit some buttons and its okay for a while but after a couple of minutes whenever i press shift it opens vlc again or does double colums or whatever the fuck ms managed to create. i mean how the fuck can i get a : when pressing shift plus b cant write a question mark because of ms's bullshit.
 
tongue_of_colicab said:
  1. its fucking happening again and no matter what i do it keeps returning. sometimes i hit some buttons and its okay for a while but after a couple of minutes whenever i press shift it opens vlc again or does double colums or whatever the fuck ms managed to create. i mean how the fuck can i get a : when pressing shift plus b cant write a question mark because of ms's bullshit.
Click to expand...

It's likely a short is developing in the keyboard, so when you hit that key or key combination a different signal is being sent than the one that should be sent. This is basically what happens if you spill a conductive liquid on your keyboard, every affected key you hit outputs something completely different than what it should be outputting.

If this isn't being caused by a liquid (condensation maybe?) then you may have no other option but to replace it. There's other really strange things that could potentially cause. For example, a bug getting squished under the key and enough of it's bug juices getting out to connect 2 traces could cause a similar kind of short. But in all my years, I've only seen that happen once. And even then it should be temporary.

Regards,
SB
 
It suddenly fixed itself. Before that I took off they key and couldn't see anything wrong. A few reboots later it was suddenly ok.

I'll see how it goes.
 
Scan your eyes around, make sure none of my cats has visited you and watching you, in silence.

Anyway, any chance this is actually a keylogging malware gone haywire?
 
I had the same thought. Did a full virus and malware scan but nothing found. I also haven't installed anything apart from steam games in ages and got a bunch of ad blockers in my browser. Not that I think that will block everything.
 
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