Saturday, September 28, 2013

Incorrect Characters are Displayed when Using Keyboard

4:34 PM | Posted by | | Edit Post
There are two common keyboard issues that can occur during the normal operation. The first is the Num Lock key gets accidentally pressed, turning a portion of the keyboard into a number pad. The other is the keyboard language gets inadvertently switched from its original language to another, resulting in some letters and numbers appearing different on the screen than how they are typed.





CHECK  THE NUM LOCK KEY

Occasionally when typing on the keyboard, numbers and symbols replace the letters. This typically occurs when the Num Lock key is pressed, switching the keyboard to the mode in which it doubles as a number pad.
You can manually test which mode the keyboard is set to and change its configuration by following the steps below.
  1. Open a word processing program and type the word jump on the keyboard.
    If the word displays as jump , then the keyboard is set to its default mode. If the word displays as 140* , then the keyboard has been set to a number pad configuration.
  2. To switch modes, press the Num Lock key (on some models, you may have to press Fn + Num Lock ).
  3. Type jump again to confirm that the keyboard configuration has been reset.
The configuration of the keyboard has been successfully reset.

SET THE KEYBOARD LANGUAGE

By default, the keyboard language corresponds to the operating system language for the region where the computer was purchased. If it was purchased in an English-speaking country, it has a keyboard configured for an English operating system. Similarly, a computer purchased in Japan has a keyboard configured for a Japanese operating system. The keyboard language is controlled by the operating system, and can be changed to any language that the operating system supports, even if the physical keyboard layout does not match a selected language.
If the keyboard inadvertently gets switched to another language, anything typed on it may not produce the expected results.
For example, if a German keyboard gets mistakenly set to English, then the keystrokes produce English-style text instead of German-style text. Typing the German word "Katze" (cat) instead produces "Katye" (a nonsense word).
Figure 1: German and US keyboard layouts
Lay outs of keyboards for Germany and the US
You can resolve this issue by setting the keyboard to the desired language.
To set the keyboard language:
  1. Click Start , enter regional in the search field, then select Regional and Language Settings from the search results list.
  2. Select the Keyboards and Languages tab, then click Change keyboards .
    Figure 2: Keyboards and Languages
    Regional and Language Options with Keyboard and Languages and Change keyboards selected
  3. In the Text Services and Input Languages window, click the Add button.
  4. In the Add Input Language window, select a language and click OK .
    Figure 3: Add Input Languages
    Add Input Languages with German selected
  5. In the Text Services and Input Languages window, set the Default input language to the one you just selected.
    Figure 4: General tab of Text Services and Input Languages
    General tab of Text Services and Input Languages
  6. Next, select the language you do not want and click Remove .
    Figure 5: Removing a language
    Removing a language
  7. Click OK to save the changes and close the window. Then click OK again to close the Regional and Language Options window.
The keyboard is now set to the selected language.

UPDATE THE BIOS AND DEVICE DRIVERS

If you experience persistent keyboard errors, such as the keyboard frequently switching modes, try updating the notebook's BIOS and device drivers.



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