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Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 6:34 pm
by DeathKnyte
Hi All,
I see there are some real computer wizards, on these boards, perhaps one of you could be so kind to help me.
I screwed up my computer somehow...
It has to do with the keys on my keyboard when I press them.
All the normal letter keys work still, but when I want to use punctuation or special symbols, they are all screwed up.
Some have stopped working or even make a different symbol that the ones I normally had.
For instance, the question mark key now makes this É type of symbol.
The bracket make this Ç type of symbol.
I can not find where the quotation marks are now located, etc.
This makes typing, writing, very frustrating.
I have rebooted my computer, hoping that it would somehow undo this, but that failed.
I have completely shut it down, waited a few hours, and started it back up. Still no joy.
I did search around for what I could have done wrong - and for the life of me I just do not know - I am always very careful not to push any keys on a computer unless I know what it is supposed to do, because if I break something, I get screwed.
If you are going to ask me some technical stuff, please be patient with my answers if they are not up to your level of computer intellect.
I have MS Windows 7, as the operating system on my computer.
Thanks for your time.
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 6:40 pm
by Thargoid
It sounds like you've changed your keyboard to that of a different region by mistake.
If you follow this link it gives some details on how to change it (using the French Canadian as an example - change that to whatever your locality should be):
Windows 7 or Windows Vista
Click Start , type intl.cpl in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
On the Keyboards and Language tab, click Change keyboards.
Click Add.
Expand the language that you want. For example, expand French (Canada).
Expand Keyboard list, click to select the Canadian French check box, and then click OK.
In the options, click View Layout to compare the layout with the actual keyboard.
In the Default input language list, click French (Canada) – Canadian French, and then click OK two times.
In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, click OK.
Note The Language bar appears on the taskbar. When you rest the mouse pointer over this bar, a tooltip appears that describes the active keyboard layout.
Click the Language bar, and then click FR French (Canada).
There are other ways to switch the keyboard (one of which I guess you found by accident) but this should sort you out. There is a language toolbar that sometimes pops up (for example when you use IE) and you can do it via there, and also I think on the log-in welcome screen too (the little blue square with the 2-letter country code in it).
For more details select "Help and Support" from your start menu, and then search in there for "change your keyboard layout"
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 7:59 pm
by DeathKnyte
Oh man, Thargoid - you're a genius!
Thargoid wrote:It sounds like you've changed your keyboard to that of a different region by mistake.
...
There are other ways to switch the keyboard (one of which I guess you found by accident) but this should sort you out. There is a language toolbar that sometimes pops up (for example when you use IE) ...
Yes, somehow I discovered another way to change it - although it befuddles me as to how I did, because since discovering Oolite and downloading it, I do just play that , and visit the wiki and this board.
Talking about IE, I don't use it, because when I bought my new computer (which uses Windows 7), I was informed to use Mozilla Firefox as my default browser.
Any ways, thank you so much. You have now been elevated to "hero" status in my eyes.
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 8:06 pm
by Thargoid
You're more than welcome.
I work in France and Germany as well as the UK, and so am quite used to swapping keyboard layouts. I touch-type, hence normally set the overseas keyboards (which have different key layouts and in some cases key symbols) to UK english and confuse everyone by having different things come up on-screen to what I type.
Anyway glad you're back on course now 
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 8:20 am
by Selezen
Thargoid, I did enjoy the fact that you gave keyboard based instructions to help someone with keyboard layout problems.
Reminds me of tech support at PC World - people calling us on their computer modem phone software and us telling them to reboot whilst we hold.
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:21 pm
by maik
DeathKnyte wrote:Yes, somehow I discovered another way to change it - although it befuddles me as to how I did, because since discovering Oolite and downloading it, I do just play that , and visit the wiki and this board.
If you do have more than one language for your keyboard configured, you can switch between them with a keyboard shortcut. By default this is the left alt and shift keys together, so this could be what accidentally happened.
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 5:02 pm
by Thargoid
Selezen wrote:Thargoid, I did enjoy the fact that you gave keyboard based instructions to help someone with keyboard layout problems.
Reminds me of tech support at PC World - people calling us on their computer modem phone software and us telling them to reboot whilst we hold.
Well it was only typing intl.cpl into the run box, and that could be copy-pasted from here if needed via a mouse.
And in any case his keyboard was still working, albeit on the wrong map. But the point is a valid one, it's just simpler than trying to instruct someone through the various layers on Win7 control panel.
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:16 pm
by DeathKnyte
Selezen wrote:Thargoid, I did enjoy the fact that you gave keyboard based instructions to help someone with keyboard layout problems.
Ha ha! That is funny, now that I think about it.
I suppose Thargoid saw that my normal letters were okay as well as that I could still (find) use the period punctuation mark, from the initial post. So that would be all the keys required to type into the box on my start menu, and access the program.
Thargoid wrote:
Well it was only typing intl.cpl into the run box, and that could be copy-pasted from here if needed via a mouse.
...
Oh that's so smart. I don't know if I would have thought of that, to tell the truth.
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:39 pm
by Thargoid
Of course you would 
If you don't tell them then I won't!
Yes I did see that you said normal letters were OK. And if all else fails, the . on the numeric keyboard tends not to remap geographically (presuming you have one).
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 3:14 pm
by UK_Eliter
Hey Thargoid (and in the hope you see this - otherwise I'll PM you)
I've just switched to Windows 8 and it seems that, sometimes after I run Oolite (not always), I get the language bar in my system tray - even though (1) I've turned it off previously, (2) I have only one language (/keyboard language) installed (namely, British English) - although Win-Space shows me (even when the language bar is turned off) a choice between UK and US keyboard layouts. Any ideas, my international friend?
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 3:24 pm
by Diziet Sma
While Thargoid will be able to give you better directions, it sounds as if you have one language installed, but 2 keyboard layouts. The solution is to delete/uninstall the US layout (may require reboot afterwards to 'take'). I don't have Win 7 or 8, so I can't give you better directions than that, sorry.
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 4:54 pm
by Thargoid
I don't have access to Win8 to see but the keyboard advice sounds like a good first thing to try. If all else fails you should be able to minimise the bar to be very small and unobtrusive anyway.
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 9:01 pm
by Ironfist
On Win 8 at least the windows key + space will switch between installed keyboards. It is possibly this that caused it.
Ironfist
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:22 am
by Diziet Sma
Ironfist wrote:On Win 8 at least the windows key + space will switch between installed keyboards.
Hmm. not one of Microsoft's most intelligent design decisions..
Re: Computer Help Needed - Please
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:27 am
by UK_Eliter
As far as I can tell I have only one keyboard layout installed.
I'm still investigating . .