Keyboard 'special' keys not working

terrypinterrypin
edited July 2005 in Science & Tech
First post; not sure if this should be here or in Hardware Forum...

On my WinXP PC I have a 'Microsoft USB Internet KB'. I've suddenly lost
the use of the special keys, like 'Calculator', 'My Computer', etc. I tried uninstalling from Device Manager>Keyboards, but after reboot and automatic reinstall that has made no difference.

I use Calculator a lot, so I'd like it back. More important, I'd like to know what's going on, in case it's affecting anything else.

Any ideas anyone please?

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

Comments

  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited July 2005
    Does your keyboard have a Function Lock button? If your function lock is off, it may disable those buttons as well. I'm not sure though, I'm not familiar with your particular keyboard.
  • terrypinterrypin
    edited July 2005
    GHoosdum wrote:
    Does your keyboard have a Function Lock button? If your function lock is off, it may disable those buttons as well. I'm not sure though, I'm not familiar with your particular keyboard.

    Thankss, but no, no such button. FWIW, I reckon this 3 year old KB is one of the most widely used types.

    Also tried run>sfc /scannow but no change.

    --
    Terry, West Sussex, UK
  • terrypinterrypin
    edited July 2005
    Happily, it's working again - but I'd like to discover what caused it, in case it happens again.

    I tried scandisk /f, and also ran>sfc scannow, but still no change. In Update Driver, I then tried changing from USB KB to 'HID', which brought up lots of extra entries, but seemed to make matters worse. Uninstalled each of those entries and rebooted. After the automatic reinstall of Microsoft USB Internet KB, to my surprise the special keys were working again. Yet the first re-install failed to achieve that!

    --
    Terry, West Sussex, UK
  • rykoryko new york
    edited July 2005
    should probably try ms intellipoint software if you want the special keys...

    it's free to download, just google it and get the latest version.
  • terrypinterrypin
    edited July 2005
    Thanks. Someone else advised that MS Intellipoint was essential, so I assumed it must already be installed. But it doesn't appear in Add/Remove programs. Nor can I see any reference in Task Manager.

    BTW, I thought Intellipoint was mouse software?

    --
    Terry, West Sussex, UK
  • rykoryko new york
    edited July 2005
    yeah intellipoint is mouse---you want intellitouch......my bad :scratch:

    much better than <a href="http://www.mantouch.com">mantouch!</a&gt; ;D
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited July 2005
    ryko,
    after choking on my pretzel, because I laughed so hard due to clicking innocently on your "mantouch" link...I must thank you for a very funny moment.

    terrypin,
    I would suggest this link as a better solution to your problem...

    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=03398183-870e-4e1d-be81-cb467620df61&DisplayLang=en
Sign In or Register to comment.