It appears that something has locked my keyboard so when I use the numbers above the letters all I get are the symbols.

Hit the Caps lock key

Is it a laptop? It is possible the function key to enable the numerical keypad has been toggled.

It is a laptop.

What make and model?

IBM Thinkpad (41)

Did capslock not work?

Caps Lock does not work to resolve this.

Your Alt key isn't stuck is it? Sometimes to type special characters you have to turn on the number lock, then type a certain combo while holding down the Alt key. Just a thought. Try turning off the number lock too.

But it definitely is entering the shifted value of the numeric key?

Correct.

The only thing that would cause that is if the keys think that shift has been placed or caps lock is on. If only those keys are reacting, it could be a short inbthe keyboard. If you hold down the shift key as you press the numbers, what happens?

More on this tomorrow. I'll try these couple of things tonight and let you know what happens. Thanks for the help.

Do you use a intellipoint mouse? There is some glitch that if you have a button pressed and click the intellipoint mouse it locks that button, should be able to fix it by just pressing the shift ke or holding it down for 8 seconds.

There is also something called Sticky Keys, it is turned on and off by pressing the Shift key 5 times in a row. Doesn't sound like your issue though, it makes the shift key stick after you press it so you don't have to hold it in to type a symbol or cap. Turn it off by pushing shift 5 times.

There should be a weird colored FN key down along the row with your spacebar. That key held down while you press the NUMLOCK key or some other key along the top row may unlock this feature. A little experimentation should reveal it.

The weird colored FN key down along the row with your spacebar held down while you press the NUMLOCK key worked! Thanks everyone.

The weird colored FN key down along the row with your spacebar held down while you press the NUMLOCK key worked! Thanks everyone.
Another satisfied customer...


amricca agrees: Nice job, where did you find that info?I work 90% of the time on my company laptop, every laptop I've ever had has a some special functions that are only available if you hold down that special FN key, so I'm very familiar with it.

The most common use I have is the screen's brightness level. FN-F7 on my laptops reduce the brightness, FN-F8 increases it. When I unplug my laptop power so I'm running on batteries, the screen automatically gets less bright to conserve energy, and sometime I want it bright anyway, so I toggle it up manually.

There's also a Sleep key, a "switch to external monitor display" key, keys to skip songs if I'm listening to music.

If you work on a laptop, take a few minutes out and examine all the funny colored commands on the Function keys and a few other keys. Those are your extended functions and are activated with your colored FN key.

Play with them. It's your laptop!

The weird colored FN key down along the row with your spacebar held down while you press the NUMLOCK key worked! Thanks everyone.That's what I was alluding to in my reply in post #3 but I got sidetracked. Well done.