My laptop is slowly dying

[The Polack MSgt]

the keyboard backlighting has died and everythinh I write is screwed up now.

Eothere oi have to edit everuying for about as long as I typed it or look like I had a stroke recenyly

[mr_lebowski]

1. Pop all the keys out with a small knife or the like ...

Then take a can of compressed air and ... you know the rest.

Time to give its undercarriage the old 'who's your father?'.

Likely won't fix the backlight issue but worth a try for the key issues.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-clean-your-keyboard

[5X]

2. Don't do that, the keys will never go back on correctly and won't fix it.

It likely needs a new keyboard or, at least the ribbon cable reseated.
I worked on laptops for 20 years.

[mr_lebowski]

5. Admittedly if it's a chiclet style keyboard, key removal must be done with great care ...

If it's not, popping the keys out for cleaning underneath is really not a big deal. I've done it numerous times over the years.

Whether it fixes it or not depends on what the underlying problem is.

[5X]

6. Somebody experienced may get away with it,

especially on older models. Most new laptops, removing keys doesn't work.

[The Polack MSgt]

4. Can't just dunk things in a shaker box full of TriChloro-TriFlouro Ethane anymore

That crap was so powerful it could clean a Republican's soul. Well... If you gave a day or so to soak

[5X]

3. See reply #2

[vsrazdem]

7. I would just buy a keyboard and plug it into the USB port. Way cheaper than a new laptop.

[OnDoutside]

8. True, I never touch the keyboards on any of my laptops. And you

can get some nice ergonomic keyboards for a reasonable price.

[vsrazdem]

14. Me neither. I am a trancriptionist and type on my keboard about 12 hours a day. I usually go

through a keyboard every 6 months, but the letters are already worn off after about a month.

[The Polack MSgt]

10. That's probably how I'll handle it

I'm not impoverished by any means, but I don't have new computer money just falling out of my pocket either

[The Polack MSgt]

9. This laptop has had a rough life

I don't have separate road and home computer and I travel quite a bit - so this old Dell has seen more than its fair share of abuse.

Here is the root cause of its issues;

The hinge on the left side came loose from the chassis and the top has cracked around it. The keys are fine but the cool and stylish red on black color scheme sux without back lighting.

To make things worse, my arthritic Hormel Ham sized hands don't really belong on a reduced size key board.

I use an ancient springy full size keyboard at the office. CLICKITTY CLACK!

My coworkers KNOW when I'm typing on that thing - it's barely any quieter than the Underwood Pro I learned to type with in the 70s

I was just making a joke (also, an excuse) about why I have so many typos

[WestLosAngelesGal]

11. May I recommend a wireless solar keyboard?

Logitech K750 Wireless Solar Keyboard for Windows

I have them for all of my computers. if the battery goes low, sit the keyboard in a windowsill in daylight to juice it back up. I've bought them for years and love them for laptops because it saves the laptop keyboard when you use a different keyboard. If you get crumbs in them or spill a drink in them, they're toast, but I swear by this brand and this model.

A while back, I walked into BestBuy, saw they had them, but were expensive. I had to buy a new one because a small grandchild had taken the wireless transmitter and lost it. I asked the salesperson to give me the best online price for a new one and was able to get it for $25. Hoping you can get one. Don't buy refurbished if you can get a new one. And if your BestBuy is open, negotiate that price. Good luck.

EDIT: I just saw online Walmart has 3 left!

[lindysalsagal]

12. Get a wireless keyboard at costco. Awesome.

My cd writer died, I got a portable usb one. Now, one of my usb ports seems to be acting up. These things are not built to last....

[Midnight Writer]

13. Have you tried hydroxychloraquine? It works miracles. What have you got to lose?

[The Polack MSgt]

15. ;)

[abqtommy]

16. I was having problems with all my puters so I downloaded Malwarebytes and used the 14-day

free feature to check and clean up all my machines. It worked wonders, found and quarantined lots of bad stuff. Then I went ahead an subscribed. That's about the best thing I ever did...

[BootinUp]

17. The lights don't come on at post bios screen?

If not I assume it is hardware prob. You could try restoring bios optimized defaults.

My 9 year old asus lappy has been a pain with win10, finally came together. It’s been tough because I had to go through all the drivers and utilities testing what’s ok with win10.

[The Polack MSgt]

18. It's definitely hardware

I will buy a USB key board and us an old (Still decent) monitor and tuck the old beast into a corner.