Can't type = sign

[Conargle]

Long story short, i went to play some serious sam 3 and mess around in the console like normal, except changing anything requires the use of the = key, and for some reason the key isn't working. at least thats what i thought.

 

On a quick note, to get the = here, im using the ascii shortcut (alt + 61) because that's the only way i'm actually able to get it now.

 

Anyway, after closing the game and opening notepad, i tried again and the = + key still doesnt want to type the equals sign.  But it's not that the button itself is broken, because if i hold shift, it still types + just fine as if nothing is wrong. I've rebooted, tried all usb ports on my case (3.0 and 2.0), i've force re-installed my keyboards drivers, i've set macros using other keys to try and type the sign and even tried the on-screen keyboard which won't type it either. And what makes this even weirder, is that if i reboot my computer, quickly log in and open notepad again, for the first few seconds of starting up, the button actually works, and then all of a sudden it stops after a while, which leads me  to think that something in the start-up process is disabling it maybe? Though nothing i can see in the auto start up menu should make a difference considering the key was working perfectly fine a week or so ago.

 

 

For the record:

• Windows 10 x64
• i7 4790k
• Corsair Gaming K70 RGB

[ClockworkDeity]

That makes me suspicious of some kind of key logger, I would do a few scans. There are also other programs that might intercept keys like auto hotkey, or key express.

[Conargle]

That makes me suspicious of some kind of key logger, I would do a few scans. There are also other programs that might intercept keys like auto hotkey, or key express.

Any recommended program? AVG shows up all clear

[Elapo]

Any recommended program? AVG shows up all clear

Try Hitman Pro as a second opinion scanner.

[Conargle]

Try Hitman Pro as a second opinion scanner.

Still all clear

[Elapo]

Still all clear

You can be almost certain it isn't malware then. I've no idea as to what may actually cause this.

I've had the issue once, but only because I disabled the key myself using KeyMapper. Maybe you could try re-assigning the key to =?

Also, have you tried changing your keyboard layout? Might be an issue too.

[Conargle]

You can be almost certain it isn't malware then. I've no idea as to what may actually cause this.

I've had the issue once, but only because I disabled the key myself using KeyMapper. Maybe you could try re-assigning the key to =?

Also, have you tried changing your keyboard layout? Might be an issue too.

 

yeah i know it's only a small annoyance, but it's still an annoyance.

 

and yes i've tried both those ideas too and still nothing  :huh:

[Tetters]

you dont have any other language packs installed? There could be a issue with that. My keyboard switches between English and French at the hit of ctrl shift at the same time, maybe you have the same issue.

[ClockworkDeity]

does this still occur in safemode?

[Conargle]

you dont have any other language packs installed? There could be a issue with that. My keyboard switches between English and French at the hit of ctrl shift at the same time, maybe you have the same issue.

 

Nope, That did occur to me though, and i swapped to american English which still didn't work.

 

I've looked around and seen posts of people saying to hold all sorts of combinations of alt, shift, ctrl for various lengths of time and none of the suggestions worked either

 

does this still occur in safemode?

 

Oddly no, or at least, the time i tried it, everything was fine at that point. It's only when i boot up normally as far as im aware

[Tetters]

Hmmm holding keys is the usual way to swap languages (ctrl +shift tapped switches me from English to French etc).

 

Cant think of anything else, hope you get it fixed though and dont forget to post your solution in-case otters have the same issue

 

Good luck

 

T

[Conargle]

Hmmm holding keys is the usual way to swap languages (ctrl +shift tapped switches me from English to French etc).

 

Cant think of anything else, hope you get it fixed though and dont forget to post your solution in-case otters have the same issue

 

Good luck

 

T

 

I'd love to be able to find a solution, but still nothing 

[watts300]

I'd love to be able to find a solution, but still nothing

Try a new admin user account.

[Tetters]

I'd love to be able to find a solution, but still nothing 

oddest thing that this cant be solved ...

[Conargle]

Try a new admin user account.

 

huh... not a bad idea, at this point i'm open to anything and a fresh windows install is a very very very last resort. will get back with results

[Conargle]

Try a new admin user account.

 

ok so finally we're making progress.

 

making another user account, regardless of admin or not, results in the = key working properly. which means it's probably highly likely something that starts up on my main user account... i just dont know what it is/what im looking for

[watts300]

ok so finally we're making progress.

making another user account, regardless of admin or not, results in the = key working properly. which means it's probably highly likely something that starts up on my main user account... i just dont know what it is/what im looking for

Very bizarre issue. I wonder if it would just be easier for you to move all your stuff to the new user account instead of looking for the root cause.

[zentrobi]

Some program is doing this, try disabling all startup programs that is not nessery for window to run and then restart and see if it fixes the problem, then try enabling 1 program after another restarting between each for see wich program that does this

Edit: also its anoying that i have to edit my post here for follow the treadh when im using my phone

[Conargle]

Very bizarre issue. I wonder if it would just be easier for you to move all your stuff to the new user account instead of looking for the root cause.

 

as a second to last resort maybe, before re-installing windows. it'd be easier than that but still a pain

 

Some program is doing this, try disabling all startup programs that is not nessery for window to run and then restart and see if it fixes the problem, then try enabling 1 program after another restarting between each for see wich program that does this

Edit: also its annoying that i have to edit my post here for follow the thread when im using my phone

 

as i've said, i've been through the entire start up list several times and there's nothing new that hasn't been there since before this issue started, hence the screenshot i originally posted of it...  unless it's something that just isn't showing up in the start up list.

 

if i posted a list of the processes running as soon as i start up my pc, does anybody think they could help go through it and see if its something there?

[watts300]

as a second to last resort maybe, before re-installing windows. it'd be easier than that but still a pain

 

Unless you mean a clean wipe and reinstall, a repair-install won't help since it's user-specific. 

 

 

if i posted a list of the processes running as soon as i start up my pc, does anybody think they could help go through it and see if its something there?

 

I'd be happy to be a second set of eyes, but I don't want to misrepresent myself as an expert on what all of the processes are. 

 

It's also possible that it's something corrupted in your user account and not fixable. The odds of that? Who knows. 

 

You could also compare the Task Manager of the affected account and the new one... side by side.  The new one probably has a shorter list, so that one would be easier to take screenshots. 

[Conargle]

 

I'd be happy to be a second set of eyes, but I don't want to misrepresent myself as an expert on what all of the processes are. 

 

It's also possible that it's something corrupted in your user account and not fixable. The odds of that? Who knows. 

 

You could also compare the Task Manager of the affected account and the new one... side by side.  The new one probably has a shorter list, so that one would be easier to take screenshots. 

 

hmm might it also make a difference that my main user is also linked to my microsoft account? since thats how windows 10 wants to work now... i dont think it should since it was fine to begin with but...

 

 

that aside, after doing some tests, if you can call them that, there's definitely something wrong with my main user account.

• Switching from the other one back to this one would sometimes freeze up the computer at a black screen after entering my password with all i can do is restart
• turning the pc off from this user takes considerably longer than it used to and compared to the other user, despite having windows on an ssd (might be worth mentioning just in case)
• also i've noticed now that after a while, the device disconnect sound plays shortly after the = stops working and im given no visible clue that a device has stopped or been disconnected anywhere externally or internally. Checking all the cables, things certainly seem just fine.

I've managed to get the processes list onto paste bin since for some reason i couldn't attach a txt file to this post

 

Main User Processes

 

Fresh User Processes

[Conargle]

Try a new admin user account.

 

Long story short:

 

- Still couldn't find what the actual problem was

- Gave up trying to find it and so i did this as a last resort

- I made a new fresh user, sorted out my files so i have everything in the right places blah blah blah normality restored

- Somehow, the = key now works as it should

 

 

would love to know what happened though..