Why does my PC sometimes think I am constantly pressing the control key?

Posted by David Faux on Super User See other posts from Super User or by David Faux
Published on 2012-01-17T20:10:36Z Indexed on 2013/10/18 4:00 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 283

Filed under:

keyboard

|

ctrl

I was browsing the web with Chrome and pressed f. A search box appeared. I then pressed s, after which Chrome asked if I wanted to save the web page.

I soon realized that my PC was thinking that I was constantly pressing the Ctrl key regardless of what program I was using.

In response, I tried clicking both of my Ctrl keys a few times to no avail.

This problem arises sporadically as I work. I am not sure what is triggering it.

Why could this problem be occurring? Is it the keyboard or software? How should I respond?

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about keyboard

HTG Reviews the CODE Keyboard: Old School Construction Meets Modern Amenities

as seen on How to geek - Search for 'How to geek'
There’s nothing quite as satisfying as the smooth and crisp action of a well built keyboard. If you’re tired of mushy keys and cheap feeling keyboards, a well-constructed mechanical keyboard is a welcome respite from the $10 keyboard that came with your computer. Read on as we put the… >>> More
how to set keyboard for phonetic Hindi typing oneiric for Wx keyboard on QWERTY keyboard

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I am trying to type documents in Hindi language. My OS: Ubuntu 11.10 Gnome environment (http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=gnome-session-fallback) I do not use unity interface.The method is shown here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL7icGNhIfI I am able to type in Hindi in Libreoffice and… >>> More
Send regular keyboard samples OR keyboard state changes over network

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
Building a multi player asteroids game where ships compete with each other. Using UDP. Wanted to minimize traffic sent to server. Which would you do: Send periodic keyboard state samples every from client every to match server physics update rate e.g. 50 times per second. Highly resilient to packet… >>> More
Non Blocking Keyboard on WinCE accessing the virtual keyboard

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hello Guys, I am desperately looking for a solution that enables me to read keyboard events in a non blocking way. These Keyboard events are generated by a VIRTUAL KEYBOARD that comes with the WinCE device. I have a console application running in C++, where the user is asked to navigate via 'ESC'… >>> More
Fix keyboard orientation in landscape iPad app (upside down keyboard)

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm converting a landscape (UIInterfaceOrientationLandscapeRight) iPhone app to be a universal app. So far I've got the orientation working properly: the iPad version will launch with the right splash graphic and start in the right orientation (LandscapeLeft or LandscapeRight) depending on how the… >>> More

Related posts about ctrl

Maximum number of characters using keystrokes A, Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
This is an interview question from google. I am not able to solve it by myself. Can somebody shed some light? Write a program to print the sequence of keystrokes such that it generates the maximum number of character 'A's. You are allowed to use only 4 keys: A, Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. Only N keystrokes… >>> More
Socat and rich terminals (with Ctrl+C/Ctrl+Z/Ctrl+D propagation)

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
socat - exec:'bash -li',pty,stderr,ctty - bash: no job control in this shell What options should I use to get fully fledged shell as I get with ssh/sshd? I want to be able to connect the shell to everything socat can handle (SOCKS 5, UDP, OpenSSL), but also to have a nice shell which correctly interprets… >>> More
socat and rich terminals (with Ctrl+C/Ctrl+Z/Ctrl+D propogation)

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
socat - exec:'bash -li',pty,stderr,ctty - bash: no job control in this shell What options should I use to get fully fledged shell as I get with ssh/sshd? I want be able to connect the shell to everything socat can handle (socks5, udp, openssl), but also to have a nice shell which correctly interprets… >>> More
Windows Constants for Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, and Ctrl+V

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I've got some older MFC code I wrote that I'm "freshening up" a bit. I have the following code in a window class' OnChar() handler. I really don't like using constants like 0x18. I'd like to make the code more readable. I know I can declare my own, but are there no Windows macros for these values… >>> More
How to Disable Ctrl-C /Ctrl-S While Running a Batch File

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
By default, batch files can be terminated when the user presses Ctrl-C and can be paused by pressing Ctrl-S. Is there a way to disable this? The MS-DOS BREAK command apparently used to do this, but it is now ignored in Windows. I need something that works in WinNT 4.0 and Win2K. >>> More