Dell Lattitude keyboard jam

Hey all

I have passed on my old Cpi Lattitude to my 4yr old deaf nephew who is very much into 'puters.

My sister left him alone for two minutes the other night and ... typical ... the keyboard will not now respond.

When we start up we get the 'enter your password' prompt (Windows XP) and when you try to type in all you get is key beep.

I presume he has found some obscure keyboard shortcut lock ... tried to ask him exactly what he has done (he was playing a game) however he's not really sure and just wants it fixed!

Has anyone got any idea how to undo, at the login splash screen?

Cheers

 

do you get any characters or nothing happens except for the beep?

can you get into the BIOS; i.e., does the keyboard problem only happen in windows?

you can try booting into safe mode.

you can also try unplugging the keyboard and then plugging it back in.

i've never heard of any keyboard lock unless it's something you installed aftermarket.

 

won't let me into bios and no characters only beeps.

Um ... unplugging the keyboard? I don't know how to do that on a laptop, didn't know you could.

I never heard of a keyboard lock either ...nothing aftermarket, bog standard.

Bugger!

 

Call Dell there are a set of keys you can press to bypass the password screen and take you into the bios.

 

I know you can't get into the BIOS, but is the laptop booting up even? or is it requiring a password for it to even turn on? This is not the same as XP asking for your password in order to get to your desktop.

I would try unplugging the keyboard and plugging it back in. You can find the service manual for your laptop here:
http://support.dell.com/support/systemsinfo/documentation.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~cat=12&~subcat=87


SG

 

Yep, I understand the difference b/w boot up and XP logon ... I can't get into bios during boot up cos the keyboard doesn't work, hence XP starts and asks for password ... but keyboard doesn't work so can't do that even!

I have called Dell however they were characteristically of no help.

Aah my little nephew's a treasure!

 

what about requesting a new keyboard? If you have warranty, this should be covered under it. If not, it should only cost around 20 bucks if you search online.

 

well, a computer won't boot without a keyboard attached (you'll get an error during POST) so the keyboard isn't broken.

it would help if you elaborated on what dell said.

i suspect the problem is somewhere else than your keyboard (could be wrong); i.e., your nephew jacked his "treasure"

EDIT: forgot to ask, did you try unplugging/pluggin in the keyboard?