Smart Computing Article - Basic Troubleshooting- Keyboards

Depending on whether you use a notebook or desktop system, your keyboard likely has 80 to 110 keys and uses a traditional QWERTY layout vs. a Dvorak or other layout. Most keyboards connect to a computer via a cable that has a connector that plugs into a computer PS/2 or USB port. The connection provides the keyboard power and relays electrical signals between the keyboard and computer. Wireless keyboards typically use battery power and a receiver that you connect to the computer for communicating, usually via RF (radio frequency) or Bluetooth technology. Inside a keyboard, a built-in microprocessor and circuitry manages those electrical pulses, which occur when you press a key and it connects to a sensor that's underneath. The microprocessor, or controller, analyzes the pulses, converts them to binary form, and passes them to the operating system, which executes the appropriate command or enters content into the proper program. Fortunately, keyboards are fairly simple devices and don't generally experience many problems. Still, there may come a time when you notice incorrect characters or no characters at all displaying on-screen, multimedia keys not functioning, error messages indicating a keyboard isn't