Punctuation Keys

The functions on some of my punctuation keys are out of whack. The forward slash-question mark key produces these two French letters é & É and the apostrophe-quotation marks key does the same thing. When I hit SHIFT and the lesser than key I get an apostrophe. When I hit SHIFT and the greater than key I get quotation marks. When I use the backslash key I get the French letter à and when I hit SHIFT backslash I get the French letter À. The comma, period, semi-colon and colon functions work fine. I have checked and my keyboard is set for English Canada so I am not sure why the French letters are appearing. I would really appreciate some help in clearing up this irritating problem.

 

Your setting is using Canadian Multi-lingual, no matter how it is described in your localized version of XP.

Control Panel, Regional and Language settings, Languages

In the lower box for keyboard try other English variants, including US English.

 

Thanks for the suggestion Bill. I made the switch to English U.S. but that did not sort out the problem.

 

After a reboot?

Two questions:

. is this a laptop?
. is the problem new?

Procedure checklist: after changing the keyboard selection, check the Enable Keyboard Indicator on Taskbar box.

Be sure that a checkmark to left of your original language/keyboard is present so that it will remain the default used. If it's not there, click the original language/keyboard line to highlight it, then the SET AS DEFAULT button to move or cause the checkmark to appear. Finally, click OK at the bottom of the window.

This completes the installation.

 

Hello again Bill. The taskbar shows English with a check mark. I went to the settings feature and changed from Canadian Multilingual Standard to English United States, hit APPLY and then OK. No change. I have since restored my Dell PC (not laptop) to the Multilingual feature.

This problem popped up approximately 48 hours ago. My son had been doing some research and typing for his homework. Is it possible that he has hit some sort of Control-Shift or Alt-Shift-Fkey combination of keys. (apologies for incorrect punctuation - cannot use the question mark).

I really appreciate the help that you have offered up.

 

Since it's only been a couple days, try system restore if you haven't already done so.

 

Hello Zander. Thanks for joining in. Do you mean use the Retore Defaults on the Keyboard Indicator. I have tried that twice. I am not sure what a system restore is or how I would go about it.

 

Click start>all programs>accessories>system tools>system restore. When it opens, choose restore my computer to an earlier time. Then in the calendar select a date that predates when this a happened. If it started on Sunday, choose a restore point that was made on Saturday. It will (or should anyway) restore your computer to the way it was on Saturday or whatever day you select. Everything should work normally when you're done and you won't lose any of your personal files. However, if you've installed any program since the day you select to restore to, you'll have to reinstall it. So, don't go back any further than you have to. If it doesn't work restoring it to the day before this happened, there's no point in trying more.

 

I will let Zander explain System Restore.

If you have at lower bottom on the keyboard a key marked "Alt-Gr" this causes the keyboard controller to select an alternate state for the display adapter, and keyboard, depending on other options chosen.

When the computer starts there is usually a very brief message to enter SETUP. Do so. Under setup there should be an option to reset 'System Defaults', and I want you to do so.

The keyboard itself likely has a small EEPROM to allow it to save configuration settings. From a large manufacturer such as Dell, the keyboard would contain configurations for several native languages. If in typing you accessed and did not properly exit the selection choices possible, the EEPROM on the keyboard could well save a language choice state that the Operating System cannot influence.

To reset the EEPROM on the keyboard, call Dell Technical support or email them. There is a key sequence to change the setting, and I honestly have no idea what it is.

If Dell Tech Support proves unsatisfactory, send me a Private Mail, and i will give you a different email contact to use. But you have to use Dell Tech Support first, and give them an honest chance to resolve the issue before even thinking of contacting me.

 

I have a neighbour who is an IT person. It took her a short time to discover that my computer was picking up the configuration from another keyboard in the background that had somehow been activated. I'm sure it was a lot more technical but that was the way she explained the situation to me. Many thanks to both Zander and Bill. I really appreciate the attention that both of you gentlemen gave my post.

 

OK, glad to hear you got it sorted out.

Don't forget about system restore after this. It can get you out of a lot of jams. Just remember, the farther back you go with it, the more likely you'll have programs to reinstall and other minor details to take care of.