My neighbours cat strolled across my laptop and now I have a screen which says only USER-A or an administrator can unlock the computer. On the screen there is a box to input my User Name and Password but when I try to type anything nothing appears on the screen and I get beeping noises as I press... How do I unlock the keyboard?

I am the admin, and I've tried pressing the Fn key and a bunch of others, including the windows lock key but nothing seems to work. There are NO keys on the keyboard with a lock on it... It's running XP professional.

It sounds like there is a "stuck" key on the keyboard and when you try to press another key is why you would be getting a beep

Try giving each key on the keyboard a 'hard' tap to see if there is a key locked down and visually look at each key as you press, normally you should be able to see the key that is stcuk in a pressed down position

So as you tap each key, look at it to see if it may appear to be locked down

it sounds like there is a "stuck" key on the keyboard and when you try to press another key is why you would be getting a beep

try giving each key on the keyboard a 'hard' tap to see if there is a key locked down and visually look at each key as you press, normally you should be able to see the key that is stcuk in a pressed down position

so as you tap each key, look at it to see if it may appear to be locked down

I did look at that... I couldn't see any..

I'll go try again :).

Okay it's definitely not a sticky key. I can press Ctr + alt + del fine... and restarting doesn't help the issue. This is the second time it's happened... the first time someone was able to figure it out... it had something to do with the F8 key but I'm not sure why or why.. I could be remembering wrong.

Can you start the PC in safe mode, if so see if a system restore point might help to when this was not a problem

I really think this is a pebkac error... and I don't know what I did sort of thing, cause it was the cat pressing buttons... not me.

What type of laptop

Umm I'm not sure exactly, it was provided by my office. It's a HP and has "Compaq NC6320" on the back where it says "product"... it has so many stickers, what should I be looking for?

This link provide live chat with HP support - go to Launch an active chat session
HP Instant Support Professional Edition (http://h50203.www5.hp.com/hpisweb/customer/HPInstantsupport.aspx?&cc=us&lang=en)

I have used this before for my compaq and was beneficial - hopfully this will help get resolved

Thank you, I will do that and get back to you :)