Ask HN: WHy is my computer typing by itself? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: WHy is my computer typing by itself?

4 pointsArdit2015 comments

I have tried anti virus, anti trojan, turned off speech recognition, tryin to disable text to speech narator, seems like almost imposible, it does it online and offline, sometimes i can write like now, other times i can not write at all, what i do is go mad on the keyboard and well loadsa stuff happen, stuff you never knew the comp can do like cool formating and other stuff, anyway, i have no idea what it is and like i really want it to just go away. I though if i try upgrade to vista it may go away but apparently I cant cus my comp does not have enough ram. This has happened to me before, but then it was the speech recognition software, this time I have no idea, I have tried uninstalling all audio drives and software, reinstalling windows xp restoring it also, so, besides the obvious explenation of a ghoast being in my room :P what do you think is it, like what can I do and how may I get rid of narrator.

P.S, I aint a pro with computers like, just can find my way around it fine when theres no ghosts lurking haha. And sorry about the awful writing.

Could just be some fried circuitry. Since it's a laptop, you're kinda in a jam. I had this once when a mouse was going bad. It started phantom-mousing around the screen. See if there's any diagnostic software for your laptop and run all of those scans to see what you come back with.

I hate to be that guy, but...

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu

You may have a stuck key or a fouled up contact layer... happened to me on an older keyboard as well, suddenly I'd get crazy input. A while later somebody fessed up to dropping their drink into my keyboard :(

Try another keyboard, see if it goes away.

my laptop isn't that old and it does not write just one leter on an on like ggggggggggggg, although it does do that, it, sometimes it just starts doing thing without touching it at all.

On my machine it looked like someone typing weird stuff.

If the keyboard works fine after you boot from Ubuntu LiveCD(or any other LiveCD really), then the problem might be some deep problem with a really smart Windows rootkit. That said, I haven't heard of such a rootkit which was able to survive a clean reinstall(it is possible as a proof of concept though).

The most likely explanation is a fried keyboard. I used to have the original Microsoft Natural Keyboard that I spilled a drink on, it started doing weird stuff similar to your laptop keyboard afterwards.

Perhaps you or someone with access to your machine have enabled a remote desktop server and one of your friends, or enemies, is having his jollies at your expense.

If the keyboard doesn't work, Google hijackthis and download it. When you run it, you can click on the items it finds in the report to learn more about what junk is in your trunk, and how to get rid of it....then you can hit up one of the online scanners to make sure your Antivirus didn't get compromised.

Have scanned it with housecall (an online anti virus) as well as sophos anti virus

it is working now like, lol, seems all good now, until all the sudden will start going crazy again.

Maybe someone like me got ahold of it. I wrote an app that I put on one of my coworkers machines that would start to slowly move the mouse to the right side of the screen if it sat in the same spot for more than 30 seconds.

Do you have a wireless keyboard and do you live in close proximity to other people who do? (roommate, dorm, apartment buidling)

no, its a laptop, so the keyboard is built in. I reinstalled windows so have not installed the driver for wireless internet, but last time it found a wireless network but that was encrypted.

I was referring specifically to a wireless keyboard not wireless internet. I've read stories on the net about a neighbor's keyboard attaching itself to a different computer.

Someone else may have gotten hold of your computer, and s/he is trying to drive you nuts.

If you reinstalled XP the only remaining common theme would be, well, the keyboard.

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