My laptop keyboard started acting up. The keyboard acts like the function key is always pressed. The function key supports the second SET of numbers on each key for the following:u, i, o, p, j, k, l, m, etc. When I push the letter i, 5 appears instead.

I ruled out a hardware problem by booting to another partition. Everythings fine.

Can I just reload just the keyboard driver? Can I reload just the keyboard software (if there is any)? i would hate to reinstall the whole OPERATING system, Windows XP Pro.Go to Device Manager and uninstall the keyboard. Restart the PC and Windows will DETECT and reinstall it.I tried that twice with no luck. I also copied over the 2 driver FILES from the good partition with no luck. Any other ideas?If you look at the bottom row of keys on the left hand side, there is a fn key, next to the Ctrl key -press and hold the fn key and then hit f9 key.

What was spilled on the laptop ? ?
Nothing. Even if it did, it's a Panasonic toughbook, supposedly military grade. It should be able to with stand a little BEER spillage

I've narrowed it down. It's not the keyboard or the drivers, it's the Panasonic Hotkey software that comes with the laptop. I'll play with that.Check the keyboard mapping in this pic....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fn_key

Does it look like yours?
Yeah, basically the same keyboard. Only the blue numbers 0-9 are affected. I'm going try to reinstall just the Panasonic software tomorrow.The blue numbers are activated by the "fn" key. By pushing and holding it down than hitting the F9 key it should switch your machine back to normal.

If that doesn't work than take a look at your manual and see which "F" keyis the right one. Most laptops use the F9 key to switch back and forth...

I tried everything including looking at the registry, turning off the Startup programs, and uninstalling the software. Nothing worked.

I was looking for a keyboard reprogramming utility at majorgeeks and found a forum posting with the same issue on a different laptop. Shift+Numlock was the problem. Arrggghhh.