I am setting up a new Dell with Windows Premium. When I use WORD 2000, there are 5 keys on the keyboard that do not produce the character on the key. When I call Dell, they say they will charge me $129 to fix it and when I call Microsoft, they're going to charge me $59. The WORD program worked fine in my eMachine. It seems to me that there is collusion between the companies to force me to pay someone to fix a problem that they intentionally created.

lol. The best answer is to clean the keyboard or, if necessary, get a new one (for your computer, it'll cost about $30 for a replacement keyboard.) In the meantime, the easiest way to get any character you can't get from your keyboard is to use the Character Map application. (In XP: Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Character Map). Find the character you want, click on it, click on "Select", click on "Copy", and then paste the character normally as you would for a copy/paste. Hope this helps! Good luck!

From your query I interprete as they key is not displayed in the screen. First check with the external usb keyboard. If the external keyboard is also not working, please check the keyboard layout in the control panel regional settings. If the external keyboard is working well, change the laptop keyboard.

The £ character is part of the font character set which changes when u change character sets.
If you want to stay with the language settings you have you must determine where the £ is in the character set.
My £ is produced when I enter ALT + 156. The character is in the upper 128 of characters. Number 156 to be exact. For the British KBD it is mapped to a key to make it a single keystoke.

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

If this is hardware problem, it'd be hard to repair. I don't mean it's not repairable, but what i mean is i don't recommend since repairing a keyboard and purchasing a new item will cost you more or less the same.
Well try this, Press Fn + Numlock (simultaneously on both the keys) on the keyboard and check if it helps or not [press once and then type the malfunction keys, if not press twice or thrice]. Most keyboard with Fn key's functions can be deactivated or activated with this key combination.
Good luck.

Thanks for using FixYa.

When you get that it usually means the language setting for the keyboard has changed.

The standard key markings are valid for most english language settings. US is the default. To change this go to start - settings - control panel. Then look for Regional and language settings. Click on that and then in the window that open there are three tabs along the top. The middle one should say language, click on that one. In the Text Languages and input options area click on the Detail button. A new window opens. At the top it shows your language. And in the box under it will show your lnaguage and installed keyboard layout. So if I were using Canadian English and the US keyboard then the keys will function as marked. To change the keyboard language click the add button, then select your language and then the keyboard layout. When you click ok it goes back to the previous window but now will show the original setup and the new one you just made. Just remove the original and apply and close everything and your keyboard will now produce the correct characters.

this is to do with your FN key....it is activated to be on all the time...

googlesearch this ...

your "NUM LOCK" is on, you need to find the key and press it, its usually near the top right hand side of the keyboard.
the problem should then be solved

regards

hi.. is that a bi-lingual keyboard that you purchased? If so, what model? If that's a toshiba laptop w/ a bi-lingual keyboard, press the left (shift+ctrl) buttons for 10-15secs then release it. You should be able to bring back the normal function of your keyboard. If your having problems pressing the "n" key and it replaces it with a number on the screen when you type it, it's most likely that you enabled the "num lock" function of your keyboard, on Toshiba press FN+F11, on Dell FN+F11 also i think, it may differ on other models, sometimes FN+ Print Screen or Pause (above F11).

Hope this helps.

Here is The Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator, click and download it, then you can assign your own keys.