How did just one laptop key become hard and then again soft?

United States
December 11, 2012 10:13pm CST
I am little confused here. Last week, I noticed that key 1 on my laptop become totally still. It simply did not want to be pushed down. Only a big force made it work. But today when I turned on my laptop that key turned totally soft just like before. It did not show any tantrum. How is it possible? My sister said she experienced the same on her laptop.
3 responses
renkinjutsushi
@renkinjutsushi (716)
• United States
12 Dec 12
That can happen when you get something (like a crumb) stuck under the key. The key will jam, but once the crumb or whatever it is works its way out, it'll work just fine again.
divineathena
@divineathena (1746)
• United States
13 Dec 12
I suspected that, but thought to myself that since I keep the laptop clean the crumbs can never stay collected under the keys. But again, who knows what goes inside them? The laptop keyboard is way too thin for inspection. Even the eyes cannot explore its inside.
renkinjutsushi
@renkinjutsushi (716)
• United States
13 Dec 12
Well, it doesn't have to be a crumb. The last time it happened to my keyboard the obstruction was a little bug that was unfortunate enough to crawl in there.
Lovegreen
@Lovegreen (376)
• Philippines
12 Dec 12
Hi divineathena:) Maybe it was disaligned and locked in that position, and a hard push got it back into place.
divineathena
@divineathena (1746)
• United States
13 Dec 12
Hi Lovegreen, Is it technically possible for keys to become locked? I totally forgot most of the stuff I learned in my old computer classes. But yes, that key not working totally saddened me. I thought that was the end of my laptop's key1.
celticeagle
@celticeagle (166761)
• Boise, Idaho
12 Dec 12
There was probably something underneath that made it seem hard with you struck it. Hitting it several times popped whatever was under out and made it soft to the touch again. Happens alot on my laptop. If you think about it laptops get pretty dirty and you need to clean them as best you can. A brush will help. You can get ones just made for this job.