As Mechanic's Corner did seem like the proper route, but it's occupied with Lusternian mechanics. I have a real world mechanic issue!!

I am using my iPod Touch to type this and it believes it is clever and will not hesitate to try and predict the word I am in the midst of spelling. That being said, I aplogize for typos

Now. I am typing this from my iPod because I went to boot up my laptop and my keyboard or it cursor pad refuse to take orders. They don't work. I can't type. I can't move the mouse unless I plug in my Wacom Tablet and pen. I lve tried rebooting the laptop several times but it doesn't work. It will only let me type in my password to get into the computer then it stops working. Is my laptop dead? Or can this be fixed? I kind of need my laptop for my class in an hour. I realize for those of you who are in North America who could help me with this are probably asleep. Damn my timezone!!


But yes, does anyone know know to fix this?

IF you can type in your password the computer isn't dead. Use your wacom tablet to go to your settings and reboot your drivers for mouse/keyboard.

Can check the bios to make sure everything's in order, however lacking laptop info etc, and it being 1:46am, I couldn't tell you what is right.

If I were to take a guess, however, I'd say it sounds like your keyboard is either fried or a physical connection is loose. Have you dropped your laptop or spilled more than a couple drops of water on the keyboard recently?

If it is fried, keyboards are pretty easy to replace (if you know what you're doing), depending on the laptop. However, it might just be more cost efficient to replace it, depending on the year, model, and quality of product.

I'm not tech savvy so I don't know where or how I'd reboot the drivers.


Eventru: I really hope it isn't fried. I haven't spilled anything on my laptop. Ever.

What brand/model is it, Maed?

I have the mouse problem all the time, your laptop likely overheated or got grumpy when it got shut down improperly (usually grumps at me when it runs out of battery power). Just let it stay off for a bit, turn in back on and try again.

Well, I need to head to bed shortly - however, a similar issue popped up for a friend of mine. Removing the battery and counting to 15 before replacing the battery did wonders.

Erm...Compaq is what it says...sole obscure brand.

T was a cheap bugger and came with Vsta Basc...


Thanks for your help, guys. I have to head to class now, laptopless. Hopefully if Dia is right, it was just grumpy at me for having it on for endless hours as I worked and will be in a better mood when I return. If not, I will try the other dead suggested here. Byyye!!!

Okay yeah, I have similar if not the same. Turn the laptop off, let it stay off a bit. Try Eventru's advice. It'll work. They're grumpy little buggers.

Pah. Compaq.

Get a Toshiba.

Or, if you're suicidal, a mac.

Although, as of late, I've been considering moving back to a desktop, after those cute little Zinos came out.

You can reboot the drivers by going to the control pannel/device manager and then clicking on the mouse/keyboard icons and click "update driver"

But that's just the quick way of doing the whole battery thing. There is also a "repair" function in windows, but I guess it would be too complicated to find it.

Compaq was at one point the top computer brand on the planet. Well before HP bought them.

Was.

If the above reset tricks don't work (and hopefully one will!), your keyboard might be disconnected from your motherboard. If you're feeling dextrous, this is a technically simple fix--it's just kinda hard to do physically.

Flip your laptop over, remove the battery, undo the screws, then put it back right side up. Then, very carefully, lift your screen and top half of your laptop base up as little as possible to get a good look at things. When holding your laptop like that, you should see two ribbon cables. A ribbon cable is a strip of several very small wires attached side by side so that they look a bit like a textured ribbon. It'll make lots of sense when you see them, and you can't mistake them for anything else.

The one near the laptop hinge is for your screen. Leave it alone. The one in the middle is for your touchpad and keyboard. Being careful not to lift the top half more than absolutely necessary (because you don't want to unplug your screen or have to go fumbling to find the socket!), try to push the keyboard cable's plug down into the motherboard.