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Why don't my key presses respond right away?

I've had my laptop for over a year, and it developed this problem recently. About once a minute a key press (or lifting a key up) won't respond until a couple milliseconds after I hit the key (and in the lifting case the key will count as being pressed a couple milliseconds longer than I'm really pressing it). This causes me to die a lot in games that need precise timing!

I guess this could be a hardware or software problem, I'm not sure. I'm running Vista/Ubuntu in dual boot if that's helpful for some reason.

I do eat while computering often, but this doesn't sound like food stuck in the keyboard, does it?

I've tried uninstalling programs that had been recently installed when I noticed the problem, but that didn't change anything.

Well, thanks for at least reading my problem. Have a cool day everyone!

Answer this question I have this problem too

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This is very difficult to diagnose via the Internet.

I can tell you for sure that the dual booting has nothing to do with your problem (unless you are booted in Ubuntu and/or playing a game through WINE in Ubuntu).

I'll make the assumption the problem occurs only in Vista and not just in the game. If it also happens in Ubuntu then it's likely a hardware problem with your keyboard. If the problem is only present in the game then your computer may have just gotten cluttered to the point that it can no longer handle the game.

Assuming the problem is not hardware:

  • Malware is the simplest to check for using MalwareBytes, a virus scanner (AVG Free), etc.
  • Clean your keyboard by using compressed air (probably all you need) or by physically removing the key caps.
  • Keyboard software may need an update or may need to be removed because it is causing the problem (Logitech, etc).
  • Examine Windows updates that happened in that time frame that may have done something strange to cause this because something had to have changed for this to break.
  • Use CCleaner to clean up your computer.
  • Defragment your computer.
  • Try to update the drivers for your computer.
  • Try Windows Update and see if it offers any optional updates that might help your situation.
  • A registry cleaner. I suggest CCleaner's registry cleaner. If that doesn't help ntregopt has helped in the past (usually only with boot times).
  • Vista has just become broken some how (time to reinstall).
  • Your computer is just beyond its capabilities.

Hopefully, you can figure this out or someone else can provide a better answer than I can right now.

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You're right, the problem does not happen in Ubuntu. I'm totally trying out all of your suggestions, I'll let you know what comes of it!

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Hi Ben,

I'm not sure it's related but there's a very well known problem about the Dell XPS M1530, it's the heating issue.

The Graphic Card is too powerful for the fan system (Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT or 8400M GS).

I have two XPS M1530 (with the 2 different cards) that reached temperatures over 80°C (Graphic Card), and over 60°C (HDD and Motherboard).

I have also experienced key repeating problems before Motherboard + Graphic Card Replacement.

Here is a link to the Dell Community about the heat issue

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club...

ps:

Great Answer Erik. Very Detailed and Precise.

ps2:

To monitor the temperature, you can use a freeware like Speccy

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helpful +

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Ben Sweedler will be eternally grateful.
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