Laptop "asfqwerasfqwerasfqwerasfqwer"

[Doug99]

Hi All,
My laptop boots up ok to front page and recognises my pin to log in.
But when the OS runs up, the system freezes and whenever I try to access any search field, it is pre populated by the continuous string "asfqwerasfqwerasfqwera".
Its as if the keyboard is frozen, but seems ok on initial page for accepting my pin.
Its Windows 10.
Any thoughts please
Cheers
Doug

Edit - I managed to start it in safe mode and tried to select "Restore Point" but whan prompted for password, the field is populated with the same string. I try to delete the string but just fills up again.

 

[opps]

Have you tried running AV software? You might need to tell the AV software in safe mode to scan on reboot.

Alternatively, try a USB keyboard and see if that makes a difference.

Out of interest, if you open a text document in safe mode, can you type normally?

 

[Doug99]

Managed to run partial AV scan when at 25% a prompt popped up stating battery not detecting the mains charger, despite it being plugged in. Checked 20v ok at its output so don't know why it wasn't being detected..............then the battery died

 

[Nozzle]

Tried plugging in another keyboard (USB) and see if that overrides the internal one?

Or even take it to pieces and disconnect the keyboard ribbon cable. That those letters are all on the same row does indicate a hardware problem on the keyboard PCB.

Nozzle

 

[opps]

Managed to run partial AV scan when at 25% a prompt popped up stating battery not detecting the mains charger, despite it being plugged in. Checked 20v ok at its output so don't know why it wasn't being detected..............then the battery died

That does sound suspicious. Although I have never come across the same before, it sounds like something that a smart virus would do... In the past, I have known malware to steal bank accounts and then disable the machine.

That said, I have no idea if it is malware or a hardware fault. I guess you could do a "stress" test on the hardware from a bootable USB stick. If that runs, you, at a minimum know that the battery/charger is really ok.

In the old days I often booted the PC from an AV CD but that was before hard drives started being encrypted.

If you don't have Bitlocker turned on, consider downloading something like Hiren Boot CD or Ultimate Boot CD- there may be better options available now though.

As an after thought, when faced with PCs that I suspected were infected by new malware, I used to run Process Explorer (part of Sys Internals) and close any suspicious threads and wait to see if they restarted. If they did restart, I would go in to the registry and delete (read:modify) any entries and conduct further research.

 

[Tricky-Dicky]

Hi, Possible that your power brick has failed, then your battery ran down. How did you check for the 20 volts ?
Or have you tried to power the laptop by removing the battery and then using the power brick

 

[Doug99]

I used multimeter to confirm 20v. Passed the laptop to the experts for repair.

 

[old duffer]

its windows...that's the problem lol

 

[Doug99]

Laptop back from repairs. A defective keyboard (which caused the endless string) and updated Bios.
All sweet and dandy