Need a little help

[Grant Lamontagne]

My laptop has an interesting quirk that might be a result of hitting the wrong keys, or it might be a software related problem.  It seems to only happen in FireFox, but then that and the word processor are about the only things I use on the laptop for. 

When I hit the question mark I get this É and when I try to hit the apostrophe I get this` and when I try to use the square brackets (like when using html tags) I get these ^¸

Is this something wrong with Firefox, accidentally changing something by hitting a wrong key somewhere?  It`s pretty frustrating- in order to get the question mark at the end of the previous sentence I had to copy and paste it from the web address above... 

Def

[Roadie]

First thing i'd try is running Firefox in safe mode (should be under Mozilla Firefox in the start menu) to see if it's firefox or one of the extra bits causing trouble.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I actually don`t run any FF add ons, although I have seriously considered the ad blocker since I also visit another forum that is soooo darned slow because of the ads....

Still, I am running a plain old version of FF with no extras, so I`m pretty certain it`s not one of those!

Def

[Roadie]

http://support.mozilla.com/tiki-view_forum_thread.php?forumId=1&comments_parentId=2514

Seems to be the same problem your having?

[Grant Lamontagne]

That seems like exactly the same problem, yes.

Let`s see if this works... ÉÉÉÉ

Nope...

Def

[Roadie]

Can you use the On Screen Keyboard to input correctly? As if you can paste the "?" in it would seem to not be a problem with your Character Encoder.

[Biru]

I've used FF since they first offered it and I've never had this problem. When I first read this thread, I thought perhaps you'd picked up a bug I've just been reading about. It apparently was nestled in a Vietnamese language pack in the FF add-ons (but of course you answered that with your statement concerning add-ons). That bug was Scumware, not a nuisance thing like you've got. Did this only recently start happening? If so, what changed? Sorry, these are the classic service tech questions ingrained in me by my former bosses

Good Luck, Bill.

[Biru]

I meant to ask if you were using Vista. I still have XP, and have been anxiously trying to decide whether to go Vista new or take the "downgrade" to XP on a new machine. It wouldn't surprise me if Microsoft would set Vista to bugger Firefox since that browser has taken on such life. Just pondering.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have never used the on screen keyboard.

My Dell Vostro 1000 laptop, running Vista is the only one I have this problem on.  I also run FF on my two desktops, both of which are running XP (one with Home, the other with Pro) but I tend to type differently on the laptop`s keyboard so I thought that might be at least part of the problem.  I also have the XP machines set to IE as the default browser since the wife uses them and doesn`t like change. 

Def

[ufox9al]

Vista is evil!

[NutSAK]

There you go.  I bet it you ditch Vista, the problem will go away.

Wasn't that easy? 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Come on guys, don't stop there- tell me to get a Mac and start running Linux!   

Def

[WhichDawg]

I'm switching to Linux on my pc! no more windows! whoooo hoooo
any luck yet Def?

[WhichDawg]

it sounds like you reset your keyboard map.
try going into regional and language options in control panel and
setting it for US english, and remove other keyboard maps.

[Grant Lamontagne]

It resets itself when I restart the computer- that's about as far as I have gotten with it!

Def

[Roadie]

How long does it play nice for? I'd suggest stopping everything but critical processes starting up at startup and then gradually adding them back one at a time till it starts acting up again. Lot of work though

[Grant Lamontagne]

Usually I'll be posting here when it happens, which is why I thought I might be hitting a keystroke that starts it off.

Def