Keyboard issue after 24H2 install

@Hazel123


You just need a "ruggedized" laptop. They are plenty thick. And, all but indestructible.

I do indeed. I would like one. But have you seen the price?! Just under £4,000 Uk money! For Core ultra 5, 16gb ram and 250gb ssd. Shame they are so expensive. I wonder if I could make one cheaper.....

Or this maybe. @Bree linked one of these before and I dismissed it as having no touchpad at all, but in fact it does have a touch pad - top right. I would love one of these - not sure it would suit as a daily driver though, with my eyesight!

Hazel123 said:

Thank you. And that's what I guessed because the keyboard was perfectly fine until I did a reinstall and the laptop could well have got overheated during that. The idea of thin laptops is ridiculous IMO! Or at least have SOME thick laptops still available - but there aren't any.

So between three identical laptops I have some options. One of them is defunct but has a good screen and keyboard. One has a defunct keyboard and a good screen. The third one I am using now has a good keyboard and a screen that is going a bit.

So I'm thinking it would be easier to swap a screen than to swap a keyboard! There is a fourth one as well with a bad screen and good keyboard. It's just the keyboards are not easy to change. By the time I've removed every single item from the case, including the motherboard, I am likely to bork something - even if I video removal to make sure everything goes back right.

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Unfortunately replacing the screen is not as easy as it seems. Yes the panel is easy to remove from the plastic frame, but to disconnect the cable you must remove some parts from the laptop. So I would try to replace the keyboard first. If it comes out easily after removing some screws (detachable), go for it. If it is stuck on a metallic frame, it will be deformed while trying to break the plastic and remove the frame. So it won't be easy to put it back.

spapakons said:

Unfortunately replacing the screen is not as easy as it seems. Yes the panel is easy to remove from the plastic frame, but to disconnect the cable you must remove some parts from the laptop. So I would try to replace the keyboard first. If it comes out easily after removing some screws (detachable), go for it. If it is stuck on a metallic frame, it will be deformed while trying to break the plastic and remove the frame. So it won't be easy to put it back.

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Apparently got this model you can replace the screen without needing to open the back . Just watched a YouTube video for this model. Although it seems I’ll need some tweezers and double sided tape or stretchy double sided sticky things.

It looked amazingly easy compared to older laptops I’ve done. You take the bezel off. No screws to do - you just find the ends of the stretchy sticky thing and pull them out all round and the panel just comes away. . (Famous last words )

I’ll link the video when I can find it again.

The keyboard unfortunately is absolutely major with this model. Really you need a whole top cover with the keyboard already attached (which I do have). But it still needs removing absolutely everything from inside the case, including the motherboard. Something I might have had a go at on a non essential laptop 10 years ago but maybe not now.

As a person that hates difficulties, I vote for replacing the screen then. There is no need to disconnect the cable from the motherboard side, disconnect it from the panel side. Take care for WiFi antenna and anything else around the panel. Once I damaged the webcam and had to replace it.

Hazel123 said:

not sure it would suit as a daily driver though, with my eyesight!

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I have enough trouble reading the screen on my Galaxy S22+. Plus all of the mistakes I make trying to type on it with my fat little fingers.

Yes typing on a tiny smartphone screen is not easy for a ...mature... adult. I hate it that every time I try to type "Legacy" (such as in Legacy BIOS boot mode) I always type "Kegacy" and I have to delete and type it again as auto correct doesn't fix it. Every single time!

Well I'm not much further on I decided to buy a new laptop. Sent for two online intending to send one back. Sent them both back - one was badly made and didn't look like it would last two years and had a faulty on button. The other I quite liked but the screen was too small and horrible screen. Sent for an HP Probook. Screen was awful - worst screen I've seen for a long time. Keyboard wasn't great. Sent that back.

Meanwhile I sold two dead laptops for spares for £100 each and bought three used laptops identical to my old one for £375. In total. So I have three 6 year old laptops coming effectively for the cost of £175. One at least has been owned from new and good condition and lightly used.

Also meanwhile I still don't have all my files and programs on one laptop! The one with the faulty keyboard is unusable and I decided to just use the other one which doesn't have enough drive space. I was going to buy a 2tb sata drive for it - sent for the cable - as there's space for a second drive. The NVME drive is basically glued in (it arrived like that a couple of years ago). And don't want to destroy the laptop trying to get it out.

But now I have three identical models coming, I will hopefully be able to put my 2tb NVME in one of those and get all my files and programs back in one place again. So I effectively just have one working laptop with the internet right now - which does for most things. I don't really want to spend money on a 2tb sata drive to upgrade this one when I have two 2tb NvME's I can use in the new/used laptops. And I also need to spend £100 on a 32gb ram stick to upgrade the ram in the one that will become my main laptop. So the sata drive upgrade can wait unless it comes crucial.

However, I want to put the 2TB P31 drive in one of the new/used ones about to arrive. And I'm also wary of uprading to Windows 11 again after what happened on my old laptop (ie a lot of installing and updating and the heat it produces).

So I've decided to put Windows 10 on one for a year, with all my programs and files. Two reasons: 1) It's quick and easy to install and update and these machines need Windows 10 before I can upgrade to 11 (they just don't play nice with a clean install of windows 11). 2) Because I want to use the P31 drive and am rather apprehensive about that kb Windows 11 update that affects certain drives, as that is one that can be affected.

Now many people using that drive haven't been affected by it but after being without a fully working computer for over two weeks, I just want to use something and not worry about windows updates! Windows 10 presumably will only be getting security updates from now on for a year on ESU .......

I'll keep Windows 11 on one machine though.

But honestly - I don't think there is a single new laptop I like or want - they all have terrible keyboards (for me anyway but I'm maybe fussier than most about keyboards). And I'm not sure I quite like 16:10 either. It might be better for the screen but maybe not for the ergonomics.

I would like a surface pro however! I've used one of those and like the keyboard. But it's not a laptop and they are very expensive - even used. So three used laptops should keep me going for two or three years at least hopefully! And when they conk out I might have to accept getting a desktop.

In the middle of all that OH got taken to hospital with chest pain on exertion (nothing to do with my laptop situation I might add). He feels perfectly well by the way but might need stents. At least the router is working ok!

Having all your programs and files somewhere in the ether (cloud and external drive) is not great. I don;t think my brain will work as it should until everything is back in one place! I have 15 years worth of files etc - for all of us.

A quick note: 16:10 is better than 16:9. 16:9 is very exaggerated and tends to leave little vertical space. The standard was made after cinema, but cinema isn't computers, let alone documents. Cinema grew joining as much people (tickets) as possible near enough the screen, more "square" aspect ratios would have meant less people or many watching the film with a poor angle. Btw cinema aspect ratios are named with only one number, like "2.7". This means H/V = 2.7. For example a hypothetical 2400x900 monitor would be close to that.

I also think you might try to build desktops or buy some, much preferably built by a user. They're a lot less prone to the effect "small notch in a screw thread => new computer", and their screws will develop a lot fewer notches, desktops (specially home-made ones) are a lot more robust. Define your mobility needs and use a desktop at home or in the office (whatever is appliable, I don't know anything).

Regarding the affected SSDs, it has been proved that they had a "technical" (Beta) firmware which had issues. Just make sure you update your SSD to the latest stable firmware using manufacturer's utility before upgrading to Windows 11 and you should not be affected.

Regarding screen aspect ratio, I remember my first 14" 4:3 CRT monitor, we could actually play games there back then! My next screen was a "huge" 19" 4:3 CRT which had the height of a 24" 16:9 monitor and yes, it was big, no BS. Today's monitors seem too small, like using my old 14" one or even smaller! I remember my dad's first 19" 16:9 LCD monitor was too small, compared to his previous 15" 4:3 LCD monitor. Also the smaller resolution of 1366x768 was inconvenient to say the least compared to the previous 1280x1024. At least with a 16:10 monitor you have a little more height, such as in my Sony 19" 16:10 TV with resolution 1440x900. Much better than 1366x768 of the majority of cheap 19" 16:9 LCD monitors. Even the 15" 4:3 LCD monitor I have at work looks much better in "full height", as I call it, 1280x1024 resolution. So if you have a still working old 15" 4:3 LCD monitor, DON'T throw it away! you can use it on your modern PC with an HDMI to VGA or DP to VGA adapter! You can even connect it to a DTV tuner and convert it to a small TV or connect a TV box to watch Netflix and whatever! When playing 16:9 content you are at 1280x720 (aka "HD ready") resolution, no bad! And old series/movies, such as Star Trek, look much better in full screen 4:3 than with vertical black bars on a modern 16:9 monitor! Finally, for me and others that prefer full screen viewing than black bars, 16:10 is a good compromise. 16:9 content is only slightly expanded vertically and 4:3 content doesn't look as bad as stretched to 16:9.

Thanks both. I don't mind the 16:10 format, but for a 14" laptop it makes the base longer, as well as the screen taller - presumably why there are now such enormous touchpads and the keyboard further back. That doesn't work for me. Strangely the 3:2 of the surface pro does work for me but maybe because it has a small touchpad and keyboard closer to you. Although I have to increase resolution on that or things are a bit small. I don't have one so that's not an issue ha ha.

As I've sent for three identical laptops to my old one, they are all 16:9 14" laptops and I'm used to that, so that's fine for me. There were actually about 6 available, so people are selling their 6 year old laptops before Windows 10 ends it seems.

@spapakons unfortunately there is no firmware update for the Hynix P31. Hynix confirmed that that model came with it's firmware and no further firmware needed. But it still failed (for some people but not all).

What about updating your laptop BIOS? This would also update the storage controller and could fix bugs.

Yes they are on the latest bios. I just decided I wanted to use the Hynix drive as it runs cooler - seeing as my last laptop seemed to have got a bit hot doing a lot of updates. I wasn't aware of it, but it has a samsung 970 evo in which isn't the coolest running. Or maybe it was just a bit over-used! I do tend to hammer laptops - as in - they are in daily use and get a lot of use.