Stubborn keyboard keys

All of a sudden about 2 weeks ago, certain keys on my keyboard have become extremely hard to activate. As far as I can tell so far, the problem is limited to the c, q, k, and period keys. That's it. All other keys behave normally

I can get those problem keys to activate by continually pressing for 10-30 seconds or so. It is so tedious to type due to this issue.

Any ideas what the issue is? I figure if the issue were mechanical, it would impact more than just a few keys, but I could be totally wrong

I have an Asus Q304UA laptop and am using the integrated keyboard and touchpad.

thanks in advance

Hi Ed,

Your suggestion is a smart one and makes a lot of sense, and I do have a USB keyboard. Unfortunately, it is in one of dozens of unpacked boxes in my apartment that I have left over from a recent move. I have no idea which one and won't be able to sift through them anytime soon.

In frustration, I ordered a new laptop this afternoon. I started looking after I posted here and saw a new model with a 3:2 ratio screen, which I have always preferred over the more common narrower screens. So I took the plunge and splurged (for me) on a Huawei Matebook X Pro i5. Should be here soon.

When I find the USB keyboard, I will test it on my Asus. I will come back to this thread and post the results as it may help someone else in the future.

Thanks for your help.

-LGM

Could laptop memory and heat make the issue worse at times? Here's what I don't understand -- at times the keys are so stubborn I want to throw this laptop out the window. Then at other times, the issue resolves itself around 80% so that it makes the laptop fairly usable.

Here's an example: when I wrote the response to Ed yesterday afternoon, it took me about 15 minutes to type out what should have taken no more than 5 minutes. And then all of a sudden this morning, I wake up to find the stubborn keys are mostly responsive. Even last night, there wasn't total consistency. It was easier to type in my desktop OneNote application than it was in Firefox. Right now as I'm typing this in Firefox, the keyboard is more responsive than at any time yesterday. A few times I will have to keep pressing one of the stubborn keys for 5-10 seconds, but nothing like yesterday when even after 30 seconds or so, I would have to give up.

Could it be a virus or corrupted RAM? Seriously, the keyboard is acting a lot better this morning. I am completely stymied by the lack of consistency in the problem.

P.S. Between last night and this morning, I did not even reboot my laptop.

EdTittel said:

Indeed, could be temp related, particularly if CPU, RAM, or SSD (all of which can raise ambient temperatures) are situated underneath the keyboard.

So if it's temp related, a rise in temp can make a mechanical keyboard issue worse? I thought if it was mechanical, then the problem would be there at the same level whether the laptop was cold or hot. Right now as I'm typing this, my keyboard is acting better than at anytime in the previous two days. This is what I don't understand.

Thanks for your informative replies, Ed. Your explanation makes a lot of sense. It can completely explain the inconsistent behavior I'm seeing. I rarely ever shut down my laptop for extended periods of time, and now I think I have to do that more often ... to let it cool down completely.

I am keeping my new Huawei laptop order, however. Using an external keyboard long term with a laptop is not an option for me.

When I find my USB keyboard, I will still test it out with this laptop to see if the problem is the same with it or not. I will update this thread.

Right now as I type this, my laptop keyboard is acting almost 100% normal. Yesterday I was totally frustrated.