my Sony Vaio laptop has been typing strange characters when I try to type, 
even when you press backspace it prints some weird characters..how can I fix 
it. ?

Max wrote:
> my Sony Vaio laptop has been typing strange characters when I try to type,
> even when you press backspace it prints some weird characters..how can I 
> fix
> it. ?

Plug in an external (USB) laptop.  Start using it.  Any 'strange' 
characters?

If so - what are your keyboard regional settings set at (what should they 
be)?

-- 
Shenan Stanley
     MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html 

thnks for the response.
strange characters in a sense that it when you type an alphabet it types a 
number..looks like the key board setting is messed up..
I am trying to reset my keyboard settings (regional setting US/North 
America) but don't know how to do it.

"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> Max wrote:
> > my Sony Vaio laptop has been typing strange characters when I try to type,
> > even when you press backspace it prints some weird characters..how can I 
> > fix
> > it. ?
> 
> Plug in an external (USB) laptop.  Start using it.  Any 'strange' 
> characters?
> 
> If so - what are your keyboard regional settings set at (what should they 
> be)?
> 
> -- 
> Shenan Stanley
>      MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html 
> 
> 
> .
> 

Max wrote:
> thnks for the response.
> strange characters in a sense that it when you type an alphabet it
> types a number..looks like the key board setting is messed up..
> I am trying to reset my keyboard settings (regional setting US/North
> America) but don't know how to do it.
>

Look at the keys. Does the "O" also have a "2" (or similar)?

Turn off the numlock. See the manual. 

Max wrote:
> my Sony Vaio laptop has been typing strange characters when I try to type,
> even when you press backspace it prints some weird characters..how can I
> fix it?

Shenan Stanley wrote:
> Plug in an external (USB) laptop.  Start using it.
> Any 'strange' characters?
>
> If so - what are your keyboard regional settings set at
> (what should they be)?

Max wrote:
> thnks for the response.
> strange characters in a sense that it when you type an alphabet it types a
> number..looks like the key board setting is messed up..
> I am trying to reset my keyboard settings (regional setting US/North
> America) but don't know how to do it.

Is it just the U, I, O, P; J, K, L; M, <, > keys?

If so - is NUMLOCK off?

Also - you never said what happens when you plug in a USB keyboard...

Google is friendly. ;-)
http://www.google.com/search?q=choose+keyboard+layout+in+Windows+XP

I like:
http://www.conversationexchange.com/resources/keyboard-language.php#xp

  1.. Click Start and then Control Panel
  2.. In Control Panel, if you are in Category View, click on Switch to 
Classic View (top left corner)
  3.. Open Regional and Language Options.
  4.. Click on the Languages tab.
  5.. Under Text services and input languages, click on the Details button.
  6.. Under Installed services, click Add.
  7.. In the Add Input Language dialog box, choose the input language and 
keyboard layout or Input Method Editor (IME) you want to add.
  8.. Click OK twice. You should now see a language indicator in the System 
Tray (located at bottom right hand corner of the desktop by default). You 
can switch between different input languages (= keyboard languages) by 
pressing the Alt + Shift keys
-- 
Shenan Stanley
     MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

thnks the two of you...I got it fixed..yes it was the numlock...

"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> Max wrote:
> > my Sony Vaio laptop has been typing strange characters when I try to type,
> > even when you press backspace it prints some weird characters..how can I
> > fix it?
> 
> Shenan Stanley wrote:
> > Plug in an external (USB) laptop.  Start using it.
> > Any 'strange' characters?
> >
> > If so - what are your keyboard regional settings set at
> > (what should they be)?
> 
> Max wrote:
> > thnks for the response.
> > strange characters in a sense that it when you type an alphabet it types a
> > number..looks like the key board setting is messed up..
> > I am trying to reset my keyboard settings (regional setting US/North
> > America) but don't know how to do it.
> 
> Is it just the U, I, O, P; J, K, L; M, <, > keys?
> 
> If so - is NUMLOCK off?
> 
> Also - you never said what happens when you plug in a USB keyboard...
> 
> Google is friendly. ;-)
> http://www.google.com/search?q=choose+keyboard+layout+in+Windows+XP
> 
> I like:
> http://www.conversationexchange.com/resources/keyboard-language.php#xp
> 
>   1.. Click Start and then Control Panel
>   2.. In Control Panel, if you are in Category View, click on Switch to 
> Classic View (top left corner)
>   3.. Open Regional and Language Options.
>   4.. Click on the Languages tab.
>   5.. Under Text services and input languages, click on the Details button.
>   6.. Under Installed services, click Add.
>   7.. In the Add Input Language dialog box, choose the input language and 
> keyboard layout or Input Method Editor (IME) you want to add.
>   8.. Click OK twice. You should now see a language indicator in the System 
> Tray (located at bottom right hand corner of the desktop by default). You 
> can switch between different input languages (= keyboard languages) by 
> pressing the Alt + Shift keys
> -- 
> Shenan Stanley
>      MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
> 
> 
> .
>