Thought I had a virus but maybe its hardware issue?


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i think i got a virus on my wifes HP DV6 1375x laptop but after i deleted the partition and then reformatted this is still the issue.

before the reformat the computer would type some weird comboniation of letters say I typed M...M would come out as as234az and then A would be ys2uwjs or something along those lines....

i thought it was the virus but after the reformat i put a USB Keyboard to the laptop and i can type perfectly...

any thoughts or ideas what to do or what might be the issue.

thanks.

mark

That issue could very well be a faulty keyboard. I had a similar issue with my T410 about a month after I bought it. Lenovo replaced the keyboard and the issue went away permanently. Try booting into Dell Diagnostics and running the automated and manual keyboard tests.

n_K's theory that your issue is the ribbon cable could be correct, but if you have not serviced the hardware recently it seems much more likely that the actual keyboard is your issue. Regardless, you could visually inspect the keyboard's ribbon cable for crimps. I have seen the keyboards of many Macbook and Macbook Pro apparently fail because of a faulty ribbon cable. (Apple notoriously crimped the keyboard's ribbon cable in the Macbook and Macbook Pro 5.x models, which caused most of them to fail after a couple years.) It's possible that your laptop has the same issue, but I would definitely Google a bit to see if it is a known issue with your model. If failure of the keyboard ribbon cable is not a common issue with your model, it is very unlikely that is your issue.

Sounds like the cable or the keyboard might be the issue, if you're competent at dis-assembling it, (usually 4 screws marked on the back depending on the model) I would try removing the keyboard, cleaning it with pressurised air <blowing on it> and checking the cable to make sure it's not become unseated or damaged, might do the trick)

If you suspect keyboard, easy test - grab a usb keyboard and plug it into a port, if you get the same issue, not the keyboard.

Does the wierd character happen only in the OS as well? If so, maybe a driver issue. You can always download a live boot CD of a linux distro to test that theory.

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