Disabling or unpluging the on-board keyboard

To start, let me just say that Cherry Coke and Keyboards do not mix… So yeah, after over a month of trying to clean my laptop keyboard, I'm finally giving up. I've got a USB keyboard that I'm using until I can afford to buy a new keyboard, but sometimes that's just not good enough. My problem seems to be my alt and ctrl keys. Even with my USB keyboard plugged in, they will still randomly press on the on-board keyboard, causing me to open menus, close windows, and do all sorts of fun stuff… *grrr* So I need to disable my on-board keyboard, but I'm not finding a way to do this… Would it be a bad idea to just unplug the stupid thing? I don't want to fry anything in my computer, and as many times as I've taken my laptop apart, I'm not to sure on the electrical working and stuff. Any advice?

Hi,
First try the more obvious things:

1 Make sure the laptop lid is closed and there is no foreigh object trapped inside putting pressure on the keys (make sure power options is set to " on closing lid - do nothing"
2 Next have a look in "device manager" and see if you can enable/disable keyboard from there
3 There may be a setting in the B IOS to enable/diable
4 See if you can remove the offending keys and manually clean them on some the tops flip up easily….
5 If you have been "inside" your notebook and know your way around, check carefully the ribbon cables and connectors, they are easy to attach but often click into place when pushed in an extra mm (about 40 thou) any loose ness here will give the symptoms described.
6 Although the cables are easily connected (some have "zero insertion force" others nothing quite as fancy, some can be tricky to disconnect with cunningly concealed catches/flaps, very small (1mm or less) and difficult to see that need to be lifted pushed pulled/manipulated to disconnect.
7 its often possible to buy (on ebay for example a similar make and model computer that is sold for spares only) and they go for a few pounds or dollars, it might be worth taking a look and replacing the whole keyboard with a "spare obtained in this way.
8 Finally if you have decided that your keyboard is sticky and contaminated beyond redemption and having disconnected from your machine, you are about to recycle it or dump it in the skip……then its worth "washing it by hand" lowest temperature then drying carefully and air drying ( with cool, dry, moving air, for at least 3 days and then and this must be at your own risk seeing if, on internal battery power only it works, dont use mains power……don't wash the ribbon cable or connectors (that would annoy the gods) if you don't make sure that all moisture is removed then you will fry the computer, so only try this if you are happy to run the riks!
Regards
paws

Ok, let's see here: 1. Checked that, nothing in the way. 2. Checked, can't find anything. 3. Checked, can't find anything. 4. I've removed all the keys and cleaned the whole thing with q-tips, no good. 5. Checked, everything is connected correctly. 6. Same as 5 7. Cant's afford it. 8. I don't mind using my USB keyboard, and I'm not a big risk taker. So I'm really not to keen on trying this.. What would happen if I unplugged the ribbon cable on my keyboard, and ran the computer like that? Would I have to worry about shorting something out? Thanks for the input so far. :-)

You can certainly unplug the keyboard with no ill side effects. It should be listed as a seperate device in device manager and can be disabled in there also. As Paws suggested about Ebay, I would like to be a little more specific and say that you can easily buy a brand new replacement keyboard for your laptop for $20. If you really enjoy working on this stuff like you have said, then you CAN clean the keyboard and make it work again. First, you have to remove ALL the keys, carefully, not breaking any of the white "scissor" like brackets underneath the keys. Once all the keys are removed, you will have to identify how to "peel" the layers apart of the keyboard. Usually by bending a couple metal tabs or something. When you peel the keyboard apart it will consist of three plastic mylars between the two metal, outer "shells." Remove them carefully and clean all layers gently with soapy water and rinse them well. Lightly towel dry them and let air dry the rest of the way. Soak all the plastic pieces (keys, and plastic "scissor like" brackets) in warm soapy water and swirl and shake them around. Rinse well. Set them on a towel and pat them dry and then let air dry the rest of the way. Once completely dry, put the layers back together and re-attach all the keys. If you have paid close attention and been careful, you will have a brand new keyboard. This is actually a fun project, but very time consuming. It can be done, but if time is money, its much cheaper to pay $20 for a brand new keyboard. If you like to tinker and learn its a project that will keep you busy a while. I would suggest that you draw a map on a piece of paper of where each key goes, or take a picture of it. If you don't have anything to compare to you'll have a heck of a time figuring out where they all go. This, ofcourse, can be half the fun in a sick kind of way. Also, it is very important that you carefully examine under the keyboard in your laptop to make sure that no beverages seeped down into the motherboard or other electrical components. If it did, you are lucky the laptop still works at all. But, you need to remove all power sources from the laptop and then clean the substances off the motherboard. Because it is usually a sugary substance, water dissolves it the best. A damp, but not dripping wet q-tip will help soak up and remove the spilled fluids. Use some compressed air or a fan over the laptop to ensure that all the water is dried out before you attempt to power it back up. This is very important that you do not prematurely power the laptop up before all traces of water are dried up. It can hide under chips and in other crevices for a while. I'd wait over night at least with a fan blowing over it, just to make sure. Good luck.

Depending on the manufacturer of the notebook, the keyboards can be bought cheap. I've had $10.00 keyboards from Acer and $75.00 keyboards from HP. IMHO buy a new one, and just unplug the internal keyboard and put it back on the computer while disconnected. Use your USB keyboard until the new one comes in. And YES, check to make sure no Cherry Coke got past the keyboard and made it's way to the motherboard. If it did, get it OUT because it will cause damage. I've had notebooks come in with beer, Coke, and Mountain Dew spilled in them. They typically clean up well, but it's a ###### to take the whole thing apart. I don't do that for free.