Puzzling computer problem & fix

[KenK]

I've gotten a lot of help here so thought this might help somene in the
future in return.

Yesterday morning couldn't type into programs with keyboard or start
programs from the bottom of the screen. Lots of other problems as well.
Rebooted several times. About ready to reinstall XP. For some reason tried
MS Word. First off it told me control key was down! Sure enough - stuck
halfway down. Pulled it up and all works again! Will switch to another
keyboard tomorrow before I boot up. I'd have never noticed it without
Word's help.

Just a tip to put in the back of your mind. In all my ~50 years or so of
computing never had this happen before so it really stumped me.



--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

[Susan Bugher]

On 2/28/2017 8:54 AM, KenK wrote:
> I've gotten a lot of help here so thought this might help somene in the
> future in return.
>
> Yesterday morning couldn't type into programs with keyboard or start
> programs from the bottom of the screen. Lots of other problems as well.
> Rebooted several times. About ready to reinstall XP. For some reason tried
> MS Word. First off it told me control key was down! Sure enough - stuck
> halfway down. Pulled it up and all works again! Will switch to another
> keyboard tomorrow before I boot up. I'd have never noticed it without
> Word's help.

Dirty keyboard? Turn it upside down and bang it gently - if a lot of
debris falls out that may cure the problem. (Vacuuming keyboards
sometimes helps too.)

Susan




--

[The Real Bev]

If you have an IBM Model M, take the top off and marvel at how much
cruft is in there. I did it the hard way -- take the keytops off and
use a Q-tip :-(


--
Cheers, Bev
"When I was a kid my dad once joked that the best way to
prevent being on a plane with someone carrying a bomb
would be to bring your own bomb and not detonate it.
Sounded convincing. What are the odds that two people
board, each with a bomb?" -- Rowdy

[Michael Black]

On Wed, 1 Mar 2017, The Real Bev wrote:

> On 02/28/2017 12:25 PM, Susan Bugher wrote:
>> On 2/28/2017 8:54 AM, KenK wrote:
>>> I've gotten a lot of help here so thought this might help somene in the
>>> future in return.
>>>
>>> Yesterday morning couldn't type into programs with keyboard or start
>>> programs from the bottom of the screen. Lots of other problems as well.
>>> Rebooted several times. About ready to reinstall XP. For some reason tried
>>> MS Word. First off it told me control key was down! Sure enough - stuck
>>> halfway down. Pulled it up and all works again! Will switch to another
>>> keyboard tomorrow before I boot up. I'd have never noticed it without
>>> Word's help.
>>
>> Dirty keyboard? Turn it upside down and bang it gently - if a lot of
>> debris falls out that may cure the problem. (Vacuuming keyboards
>> sometimes helps too.)
>
> If you have an IBM Model M, take the top off and marvel at how much cruft is
> in there. I did it the hard way -- take the keytops off and use a Q-tip :-(
>

It can be quite disgusting.

I opened up one keyboard that was in good shape, and either lost a keytop
or broke something, enough to render that keyboard useless. Sadly it was
a better than average keyboard.

Michael

[The Real Bev]

That's why we buy every model M we find at yard sales! The one I
destroyed with a cup of coffee was from 1988. This one is from 1996.
1988 was a sentimental year :-(

--
Cheers, Bev
His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of morbid curiosity.

[Michael Black]

The stupid thing was that I didn't run an "IBM compatible" until 2001, so
there was a long period when I'm sure I could have picked up those early
good keyboards, but had no use for them. I'm not seeing them now, when I
can use them, but I'll keep looking.

We had some warmish weather for the past two weeks, though now it's cold
again, but spring can't be far off, and then garage sales. We aren't the
lucky ones who have them all year around.

Michael

[The Real Bev]

EXCEPT holiday weekends and weeks when it was assumed to rain on
Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Yard sales used to be a lot better when
people had to pay to put an ad in the paper. Now, since Craigslist is
free, people figure "Oh, I don't feel like getting up this morning,
let's do the sale next Saturday...". Even worse, they say "Corner of
Longden and Santa Anita" so enraged shoppers can't throw a brick through
their window if they drove tens of miles to a good-sounding sale only to
find NOTHING. Almost as bad -- the 'corner of' people don't put up a
sign, just figure you'll drive around the nearby area until you get lucky.

I swear I'd laugh and applaud if I saw somebody else heave a brick
through their window.


--
Cheers, Bev
"My life outside of USENET is so full of love and kindness that I have
to come here to find the venom and bile that I crave." --R. Damiani

[Bob F]

On 3/2/2017 9:36 PM, The Real Bev wrote:

>> We had some warmish weather for the past two weeks, though now it's cold
>> again, but spring can't be far off, and then garage sales. We aren't the
>> lucky ones who have them all year around.
>
> EXCEPT holiday weekends and weeks when it was assumed to rain on
> Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Yard sales used to be a lot better when
> people had to pay to put an ad in the paper. Now, since Craigslist is
> free, people figure "Oh, I don't feel like getting up this morning,
> let's do the sale next Saturday...". Even worse, they say "Corner of
> Longden and Santa Anita" so enraged shoppers can't throw a brick through
> their window if they drove tens of miles to a good-sounding sale only to
> find NOTHING. Almost as bad -- the 'corner of' people don't put up a
> sign, just figure you'll drive around the nearby area until you get lucky.
>
> I swear I'd laugh and applaud if I saw somebody else heave a brick
> through their window.
>
>

Then there are the signs with no date. And the corresponding people that
never take their signs down. No date - no go.

[Michael Black]

I've been tricked by that. I see a sign, it looks new, so I go down that
street, and can't find the sale. I used to assume that it was a leftover
from a previous week, but after Bev's comments (and she's made them
before), I now wonder if someone puts up the signs, then changes their
mind or closes early.

Michael

[The Real Bev]

And the signs on corners with tiny light letters -- suitable for
pedestrians, but NOT for drivers :-(

OTOH, if these people were smart they never would have bought stuff they
were willing to sell for 5 cents or less on the dollar!


--
Cheers, Bev
"If you put the government in charge of the desert, there would
be a sand shortage within ten years." -- M. Friedman (?)

[Bob F]

Maybe they bought them at "5 cents or less on the dollar"

[The Real Bev]

Unliikely; we tend to keep our shit until we die, at which time the
heirs pitch it into the dumpster or DAV truck.


--
Cheers, Bev
"Incontinence hotline, can you hold?"

[greg.p...@colonialpenn.com]

On Tue, 28 Feb 2017 15:25:50 -0500, Susan Bugher <sebu...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

I wish I couold find the picture I took of a keyboard that kept having
keys stick. I cleaned it, and within a few days it would stick again.
Thats when I took it outside, set it on a post, tied it to the post with
bailing twine. Then I loaded my 22 Rifle, and shot that goddamn keyboard
at least 10 times. Thats when I took pictures of the remains of that
keyboard. I knew that no key would ever stick again, because every key
was blown off, and the cord was hanging from a shattered case and pieces
of circuit board.

I have to admit, it felt good blasting that fucker after it had pissed
me off for weeks. The local Walmart had a new keyboard and for about $15
I was back online without fighting with that piece of shit keyboard.

[wilm...@gmail.com]

For every problem there is a gun. 'Murica!