# HELP !.......my CTRL keys do not work.



## IKE (Jul 18, 2017)

They worked fine earlier this morning but now both my left and right CTRL keys don't work.....I did not change any settings.

Being computer illiterate the only thing I've done so far is a Defrag, complete virus scan and I read something on Google that said hitting CTRL, FN and ALT at the same time might solve the problem but of course that did nothing.......I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium.

I use the CTRL key a lot to enlarge the screen size.......any suggestions ?


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## tnthomas (Jul 18, 2017)

Laptop or desktop?      here's one thing to check:


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## IKE (Jul 18, 2017)

tnthomas said:


> Laptop or desktop?      here's one thing to check:



It's a desktop Thomas.


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## Steve LS (Jul 18, 2017)

Turn off the computer, then turn on. - NOT, RESTART!! - Did that help?


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## IKE (Jul 18, 2017)

Steve LS said:


> Turn off the computer, then turn on.NOT, RESTART!!Did that help?



That didn't work either Steve.


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## Steve LS (Jul 18, 2017)

IKE said:


> That didn't work either Steve.


Hmm, if Windows try System Restore.Do you need instructions on ow to do that?


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## IKE (Jul 18, 2017)

Steve LS said:


> Hmm, if Windows try System Restore.Do you need instructions on ow to do that?



Yes I will need very explicit instructions I'm not joking when I say that I'm computer illiterate........I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium.


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## Camper6 (Jul 18, 2017)

I'm still running XP but not the Pro version. However.

Go to Start>Settings>Control Panel> Keyboard.

Click on Hardware. It will tell you if the device is working properly and also there is a Troubleshoot box to click on.


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## Falcon (Jul 18, 2017)

Ike, Is it clean?  Was something accidentally spilled on it : coffee, food etc.?

They are sensitive  to dust, food, liquids  etal.

I have a paint brush (artist's)  that I periodically  brush in and around the keys.  I've never had any "stuck" like that.

How old is the keyboard ?  If it can't be fixed, you might  need a new one; they're not that too expensive.

I have a cover for mine but usually forget to use it.

Keep us informed, as we might run into the same problem.


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## Camper6 (Jul 18, 2017)

Falcon said:


> Ike, Is it clean?  Was something accidentally spilled on it : coffee, food etc.?
> 
> They are sensitive  to dust, food, liquids  etal.
> 
> ...



It doesn't sound like stuck keys or anything like that because they were working previously.

It sounds like something got reset during the Defrag. It might be a hardware problem that can be checked by switching keyboards on a desktop.


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## Camper6 (Jul 18, 2017)

Steve LS said:


> Turn off the computer, then turn on. - NOT, RESTART!! - Did that help?



Why not restart.?  I would try.  Start , Turn off Computer, Restart.  That approach has fixed my computer numerous times.  Especially after a Defrag.  Remember.  This is Windows XP an old operating system.


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## Don M. (Jul 18, 2017)

It's been years since I used XP, but something like the keyboard, and its basics hasn't changed much with the various Windows versions.  Find your Device Manager, click on Keyboard, and you should have a screen telling you that the keyboard is a "Standard PS2 keyboard", or words to that effect.  Then, click on that line, and a new window should appears with "Driver" being one of the options.  Click on that, and you should see an option to "Update Driver".  Clicking on that should reload the keyboard driver, and any updates, and with a little luck you will be back to full function.


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## Camper6 (Jul 18, 2017)

Don M. said:


> It's been years since I used XP, but something like the keyboard, and its basics hasn't changed much with the various Windows versions.  Find your Device Manager, click on Keyboard, and you should have a screen telling you that the keyboard is a "Standard PS2 keyboard", or words to that effect.  Then, click on that line, and a new window should appears with "Driver" being one of the options.  Click on that, and you should see an option to "Update Driver".  Clicking on that should reload the keyboard driver, and any updates, and with a little luck you will be back to full function.



Don. Windows XP is no longer supported. There may be no update driver available. Before doing anything I would try the restart because the operating system will be reloaded. I'm still running XP. Always assume that any thing you do like a defrag prior to the problem appearing caused the problem. Same with updates especially with Windows. Many changes require a restart for them to take effect.


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## Butterfly (Jul 18, 2017)

Yeah, I would turn the computer OFF at the switch -- not restart command -- and then leave it about 30 seconds and turn it back on and let it reboot. While the computer is off, I'd turn the keyboard upside down and shake it just to see if something might be stuck in there -- I had a dead moth get stuck in mine once.  Then I would check my settings and see if something got accidentally changed (sometimes happens during updates or for no apparent reason, or you might have struck a key by accident).


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## IKE (Jul 19, 2017)

Camper6 said:


> I'm still running XP but not the Pro version. However.
> 
> Go to Start>Settings>Control Panel> Keyboard.
> 
> Click on Hardware. It will tell you if the device is working properly and also there is a Troubleshoot box to click on.



I completely turned off the computer for four hours and the CTRL keys are still not working........I did what you suggested Camper and it says that every thing was working properly.

I now also notice that when I hover my cursor over any of the icons like the smiles, reputation star etc etc I no longer see the text pop up to tell you what that icon means.

I made a mistake.......I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium not XP.


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## Camper6 (Jul 19, 2017)

IKE said:


> I completely turned off the computer for four hours and the CTRL keys are still not working........I did what you suggested Camper and it says that every thing was working properly.
> 
> I now also notice that when I hover my cursor over any of the icons like the smiles, reputation star etc etc I no longer see the text pop up to tell you what that icon means.
> 
> I made a mistake.......I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium not XP.



Do me a favor. Do a restart. If that doesn't fix it you may need to try another keyboard. And if that doesn't work the you might have to have Windows reloaded. You should then take your unit to a technician. It's not for a non knowledgable person.


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## Camper6 (Jul 19, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> Yeah, I would turn the computer OFF at the switch -- not restart command -- and then leave it about 30 seconds and turn it back on and let it reboot. While the computer is off, I'd turn the keyboard upside down and shake it just to see if something might be stuck in there -- I had a dead moth get stuck in mine once.  Then I would check my settings and see if something got accidentally changed (sometimes happens during updates or for no apparent reason, or you might have struck a key by accident).



Why are you recommending off at the switch instead of restart? I never turn my computer off at the switch.  When you do a restart everything gets shut down first. If my computer gets stuck I always use the Control Alt Delete keys but the Ctrl key is not working.


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## IKE (Jul 19, 2017)

I turned the system completely off, with the power button / off at the switch, and went back to bed for a few hours and got up just a bit ago.

With everything still off I turned the keyboard upside down and shook it pretty hard and added a few taps......you wouldn't believe the little pieces of whatever that came out.....yuck. 

I just turned the system back on, came here, read the posts, did a RESTART and nothing has changed......still no CTRL button.

What I'm using is a Gateway package system (monitor, mouse, keyboard and tower) that I bought new six years and six months ago on Jan. 31 2011 for $647.82 and up till now I've not had a bit of trouble with it.

If you were in the mood to guess what do you think the average lifespan of a 6 1/2 year old computer is ?......where I'm going with this is do you think it's time to just bite the bullet and purchase another new system or continue to try to fix my current problem and wait for something else to happen ?

I'm by no means made of money but I do have a little 'stash' built up from selling off some of my gun collection so a complete new system, around the same price or a little more, as my current system is doable.


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## Camper6 (Jul 19, 2017)

IKE said:


> I turned the system completely off, with the power button / off at the switch, and went back to bed for a few hours and got up just a bit ago.
> 
> With everything still off I turned the keyboard upside down and shook it pretty hard and added a few taps......you wouldn't believe the little pieces of whatever that came out.....yuck.
> 
> ...



Before you spend money on a new system.  Can you take the keyboard somewhere and plug it into another computer?

My desktop is about 15 years old running Windows XP.  I have replaced the keyboard three times.

For lifespan? It depends on the usage.  Eventually all computers will succumb to the rigors of the internet.  

Go to one of those places that fix computers and buy another keyboard. Take your keyboard with you they can test it.   They usually have plenty of them on hand and very inexpensive.  What have you got to lose?  I bought the last one for $10.00 and it's working just fine.

You use the CTRL key and the mouse to enlarge your text?  It could even be the mouse.


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## IKE (Jul 19, 2017)

Well I'm going to assume it's not the mouse.......I have a used spare Kensington mdl. K72222 mouse that is known to be in good working order that I'm using right now and that did not solve the problem.

So It's probably either the keyboard or some sort of glitch......I think I know where I can go get the keyboard checked out later this morning.


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## Camper6 (Jul 19, 2017)

Good luck.  If your keyboard doesn't work on another computer you have eliminated the problem so you can discount a glitch on your tower or the operating system.


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## IKE (Jul 19, 2017)

I loaded up my tower, keyboard and mouse this morning to have everything checked out at a local computer shop and everything I have works fine.....found out that after them doing a upgrade it ended up being a AOL glitch.

I'm not exaggerating at all, I spent four solid hours on the telephone with four different people with AOL in the Philippines only to end up with them saying, "we're working on it." 

It's something to do with the AOL browser also because when I pull up and surf with MSN or Internet Explorer, as opposed to AOL, my CTRL key works just fine. 

I'd like to thank everyone that took the time to reply and offer suggestions.


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## Camper6 (Jul 19, 2017)

IKE said:


> I loaded up my tower, keyboard and mouse this morning to have everything checked out at a local computer shop and everything I have works fine.....found out that after them doing a upgrade it ended up being a AOL glitch.
> 
> I'm not exaggerating at all, I spent four solid hours on the telephone with four different people with AOL in the Philippines only to end up with them saying, "we're working on it."
> 
> ...



How do you like that?  Have you tried Firefox for a browser.?  That's what I am using now.  Do not like Internet Explorer. Have never tried MSN.

Anyway thanks for the update.  It's something that I would never have suspected in a hundred years.


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## Butterfly (Jul 19, 2017)

It's almost always a software glitch, not the hardware.  I spent about 4 hours on the phone with McAfee the other night trying to find a glitch that was making my system act funky.  Turned out to be a software glitch that resulted from a faulty update install.

I use Firefox, too.  I had too much trouble with IE.


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## Camper6 (Jul 20, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> It's almost always a software glitch, not the hardware.  I spent about 4 hours on the phone with McAfee the other night trying to find a glitch that was making my system act funky.  Turned out to be a software glitch that resulted from a faulty update install.
> 
> I use Firefox, too.  I had too much trouble with IE.



Back in the days of mainframe computers IBM . We kept a diary of changes to refer to. Updates cause glitches. I turned off automatic updates and prefer to update if I want the update. Most of the time it's a security patch with Windows. I'm still running XP and I'm not going to play the Windows game. I have an I pad and an android tablet to access the Internet as well as my cell phone all wireless connections and I can print remotely if I want to. My tower computer can't update to Windows 7 8 10 so I'm just playing the Windows game for now. I might pick up something used if I have to use the keyboard. I used to do accounting . My grandson only 10 years old is into 3D printing. Amazing stuff. Keyboards can be a problem with sticky keys etc. Don't ever take the keys off to clean them. A vacuum cleaner is the best.


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## Ken N Tx (Jul 20, 2017)

FireFox all the way!!! Been using them for years!! I tried many others and always went back!!!
.


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## IKE (Jul 20, 2017)

It looks like quite a few here like Firefox......I may give it a try.


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## Don M. (Jul 20, 2017)

IKE said:


> It looks like quite a few here like Firefox......I may give it a try.



I use Google Chrome, and Firefox...and now W10 Edge...all with No troubles.  IE is so obsolete that I removed it completely, and AOL went into the ditch years ago....IMO.  Try Chrome or Firefox...both are very good.


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## Camper6 (Jul 20, 2017)

IKE said:


> It looks like quite a few here like Firefox......I may give it a try.



There's one really nice feature in Firefox.

If you save your passwords to your computer.

Then if you forget a password?  Go into tools on Firefox.  Go to security and it asks you if you want to show your passwords.  The saved passwords show up.

You can also configure certain websites to your liking.


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## SeaBreeze (Jul 20, 2017)

Not that long ago I added Firefox to my browsers, and I use it 90% of the time.  We still use IE a little bit, and the Edge browser that came with my new windows 10 computer I don't use at all.  Good luck Ike, I don't know too much about computers so I had no advice with the Ctrl key problem, but I like to keep things as simple as possible with my computer.


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## Camper6 (Jul 20, 2017)

I don't like Google Chrome.  They want too much information to my way of thinking.  They want every detail of your internet experience.


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## Camper6 (Jul 20, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> Yeah, I would turn the computer OFF at the switch -- not restart command -- and then leave it about 30 seconds and turn it back on and let it reboot. While the computer is off, I'd turn the keyboard upside down and shake it just to see if something might be stuck in there -- I had a dead moth get stuck in mine once.  Then I would check my settings and see if something got accidentally changed (sometimes happens during updates or for no apparent reason, or you might have struck a key by accident).



I still do not understand why you recommend turning the computer off without restart.  When you phone for trouble the first thing they tell you is try a restart.


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## Ken N Tx (Jul 20, 2017)

Camper6 said:


> I don't like Google Chrome.  They want too much information to my way of thinking.  They want every detail of your internet experience.


...I shy away from anything with the word Google in it!!!


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## Butterfly (Jul 20, 2017)

Camper6 said:


> I still do not understand why you recommend turning the computer off without restart.  When you phone for trouble the first thing they tell you is try a restart.



Dell always tells me to turn the computer off at the switch because it really shuts down everything.  I don't understand it either, but maybe restart leaves some things running in the background??  I dunno -- it's above my paygrade.


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## Butterfly (Jul 20, 2017)

Camper6 said:


> I don't like Google Chrome.  They want too much information to my way of thinking.  They want every detail of your internet experience.



I didn't like the way google chrome operated on my computer, and it seemed to have a lot of glitches, worse even than IE.


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## Camper6 (Jul 21, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> Dell always tells me to turn the computer off at the switch because it really shuts down everything.  I don't understand it either, but maybe restart leaves some things running in the background??  I dunno -- it's above my paygrade.



Actually it's the restart that shuts down every thing that is running before it reloads Windows.

From a computer forum:
If Fast Start/Boot is enabled then a Shut Down is not a full,  complete shut down but is an abbreviated form of hibernation and uses a  hibernation file.  In true, full hibernation when the system is being  shut down a file image of the OS state as well as the application  program states are written out to disc for retrieval when the machine is  turned back on.  When Fast Startup/Boot is enabled, the hibernation  only includes the OS state, not the application program states, but  these are still written out to disc for retrieval when the system is  fired up again.

 By contrast, Restart intentionally saves absolutely nothing regarding  the OS state or the applications states.  After shutting down it  reloads the OS from scratch from the disc drive files that make up the  OS.


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## HipGnosis (Jul 21, 2017)

I, for one, am amazed that AOL has a browser and that anyone is using it.


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## IKE (Jul 21, 2017)

HipGnosis said:


> I, for one, am amazed that AOL has a browser and that anyone is using it.



I've been with AOL since I got my first computer back in the early 90's.


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## Kadee (Jul 21, 2017)

Ike my hubs said try the windows key.....with what other key you want to use ...... Windows + 1 as an example


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## IKE (Jul 22, 2017)

Kadee46 said:


> Ike my hubs said try the windows key.....with what other key you want to use ...... Windows + 1 as an example



Thanks Kadee I'll give it a try.


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## Camper6 (Jul 22, 2017)

Here's one I use quite often. The Windows key and the M key gets the desktop.  Very handy.  I save pictures to the Desktop to post them to the forum.

Now . Does anyone know what the key next to the Windows key on the right side of the keyboard is for?


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## Camper6 (Jul 22, 2017)

Kadee46 said:


> Ike my hubs said try the windows key.....with what other key you want to use ...... Windows + 1 as an example



What does that do?


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## IKE (Jul 22, 2017)

Camper6 said:


> What does that do?




Just for giggles try it.......on mine holding down the Windows button and hitting the + blows the screen up HUGE


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## Camper6 (Jul 22, 2017)

IKE said:


> Just for giggles try it.......on mine holding down the Windows button and hitting the + blows the screen up HUGE



I'm to afraid to try it.  It might stay that way and unable to get it back.  Haven't you had that happen at times when a change is made?  I remember my toolbar going vertically along the side instead of at the top.  I couldn't figure out how to fix it.  :banghead:


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## Son_of_Perdition (Jul 23, 2017)

Reading an CNET article last week the author was talking about Windows 10 latest updates & the fact that MS is removing some of the drivers for older peripheral equipment such as keyboards, external drives & such.  Work around is to go to the manufacturer's website & download the current drivers.  Can't say one way or the other since I don't do Windows but that may be the problem.  Also last week I helped a neighbor hook up her lines for her old desktop after moving it.  First thing was after booting she accessed 'Chrome' which came up with a warning that they no longer support Windows Vista or XP.  I told her when she gets ready for Linux give me a call.


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## tnthomas (Jul 23, 2017)

Son_of_Perdition said:


> Reading an CNET article last week the author was talking about Windows 10 latest updates & the fact that MS is removing some of the drivers for older peripheral equipment such as keyboards, external drives & such.  Work around is to go to the manufacturer's website & download the current drivers.  Can't say one way or the other since I don't do Windows but that may be the problem.  Also last week I helped a neighbor hook up her lines for her old desktop after moving it.  First thing was after booting she accessed 'Chrome' which came up with a warning that they no longer support Windows Vista or XP.  I told her when she gets ready for Linux give me a call.



When I started using Linux in 2004, I started loving my computer.  I felt like I had left a bad habit behind, and attained a freedom I never imagined.


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