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External keyboard on a GL771J laptop?

nickelpeed
Level 7

‎08-13-2018 04:26 PM - last edited on ‎03-06-2024 08:17 PM by Community Admin

Can I use an external keyboard on my laptop?

I have a GL771J. I love it. It's an Intel Core i7, 2.50Mgz, it's fast and easy to use. I've had it for about a little over 3 years. I don't usually eat at my keyboard, but I recently spilled some beef stew on it and the keyboard went crazy. It wasn't a lot, most of it went on me; but I guess it doesn't matter if it's not a lot, it does the damage anyway.

I immediately unplugged it, took the battery out, cleaned it off and turned it upside down. I let it set for 24 hours. I turned it on. Window 10 came up, but when I go to type, it's all gibberish. You press one letter and it types a whole set of different letters and numbers. I have my screen locked, so I can't log in. I guess it's good Windows comes up, but it sucks that the keyboard has decided to go manic.

I decided to take it in to computer repair. I chose a place with years of experience. The reviews were great. I told him what was wrong, filled out the paper work, and gave him my computer. It wasn't until I was getting ready to leave that I found out that the reviews were old reviews. He bought the company 3 years ago. I figured, okay, I'll give him a chance.

After a week, I went back and he said he was trying to find out if he would have to replace the entire top casing or buy just the keyboard. I found that out with one look on the web. If he repairs computers, shouldn't he know that? I'm getting a bad feeling about this. I truly believe he hasn't even turned it on yet. So, that leads me to the question, can I attach an external keyboard to my laptop? Could the keyboard be dried out by now? What should I do? Any advice would be very welcomed. Thank you.
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9 REPLIES 9

xeromist
Moderator

‎08-13-2018 07:56 PM

I use an external keyboard all the time. As long as the built-in keyboard isn't throwing errant ghost keystrokes when you aren't touching it you should be OK.
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station…
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nickelpeed
Level 7
In response to xeromist

‎08-13-2018 08:10 PM

xeromist wrote:
I use an external keyboard all the time. As long as the built-in keyboard isn't throwing errant ghost keystrokes when you aren't touching it you should be OK.



Can you shut the internal keyboard off? Or is that not possible? Thank you for your response. I appreciate it.
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nickelpeed
Level 7
In response to xeromist

‎08-13-2018 08:11 PM

xeromist wrote:
I use an external keyboard all the time. As long as the built-in keyboard isn't throwing errant ghost keystrokes when you aren't touching it you should be OK.



Meant to ask, what kind of keyboard do you use? Is it by ASUS or another kind? Thank you.
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xeromist
Moderator

‎08-13-2018 09:09 PM

Typically you can disable the touchpad on a laptop but not the keyboard unless you disable it in the Windows device manager or physically disconnect the ribbon cable. There is no shortcut. However you can have more than one keyboard attached and as long as you only type on one at a time it will be fine.

I use a 3rd party mechanical keyboard but it doesn't matter. Literally any USB keyboard from any brand will work with Windows. Some keyboards will behave strangely in the BIOS or UEFI but you can find out by reading reviews.
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station…
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nickelpeed
Level 7
In response to xeromist

‎08-13-2018 10:52 PM

xeromist wrote:
Typically you can disable the touchpad on a laptop but not the keyboard unless you disable it in the Windows device manager or physically disconnect the ribbon cable. There is no shortcut. However you can have more than one keyboard attached and as long as you only type on one at a time it will be fine.

I use a 3rd party mechanical keyboard but it doesn't matter. Literally any USB keyboard from any brand will work with Windows. Some keyboards will behave strangely in the BIOS or UEFI but you can find out by reading reviews.


I use a mouse. I know if I plug and play it in my actual laptop, it's going to affect the laptop keyboard. I have never used a external keyboard, will I be able to us my mouse in that keyboard? Thank you.
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xeromist
Moderator

‎08-14-2018 09:37 AM

Sure, Windows handles multiple devices of the same type just fine. You could have 3 mice and 3 keyboards if you really wanted to. Windows will take inputs from all of them.
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station…
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nickelpeed
Level 7
In response to xeromist

‎08-14-2018 04:25 PM

xeromist wrote:
Sure, Windows handles multiple devices of the same type just fine. You could have 3 mice and 3 keyboards if you really wanted to. Windows will take inputs from all of them.


Thank you so much. Now I have a question, what should I do about the guy I chose to repair my computer? He still hasn't called me. I don't know what's going on.
It's frustrating. I wish I had read everything I did after I brought the computer to him. He has it now and he keeps on putting me off. I'm seriously thinking of just taking it from him, pay the fee; and try stuff at home. Like an external keyboard. I don't even know if it's still doing what it was doing when it first happened. I just want my computer back. It's been over a week. 😞
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xeromist
Moderator

‎08-15-2018 09:44 AM

Well, if you signed any paperwork when you dropped it off that would include any enforceable terms. Otherwise you'll just have to ask for it back and negotiate the payment. If he hasn't done any work then you don't owe him anything. If he's already put some time into it (fixed or not) then you might need to pay him for his time.

If he's being especially unreasonable you could always leave a bad review online. At least that way others won't make the same mistake. However if it's just one guy and he has several repairs going on then a week isn't totally unexpected. So make that a last resort because you could seriously hurt his business.
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station…
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Lu_GRU
Level 9

‎08-15-2018 02:18 PM

@ nickelpeed
It seams like You still had some food left over under keyboard and when pressing some keys others were also registered as pressed.

My two cents would be:

If You need laptop :"now", take Your device from repair shop, go home, unscrew to get to the keyboard, see what's happening there (clean up left over food). It's not complicated, see online videos how to do it. In worst case scenario purchase new keyboard and replace it.
Otherwise just call the guy and ask / negotiate repair terms / times before writing negative review.

It strange to me that You didn't asked about times beforehand and it could be that they thought that it's not urgent to You so they put that at end of queue.
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