Yes, that sounds right. To access recovery mode you press F9 when it is booting.
If you still want to try something else before starting over then I would uninstall & reinstall the drivers for the keyboard and touchpad (use the latest touchpad drivers while you're at it).
When you used the external keyboard & mouse, did you disable the onboard ones? If you didn't then you could still get the random keystrokes because all devices are active at the same time.
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station…