Question Laptop is randomly locking keys after Windows 10 Update?

Jan 20, 2025
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Hey, I hope it's okay to post this here...I didn't know where to go for help. and a friend suggested this spot. I'm not a particularly computer-smart person (as you'll see in a minute when trying to describe what I even have) but since the 15th of this month, when I installed a new Windows 10 update, I'm noticing a peculiar issue.

Uh first of all, my laptop is...I'm not sure. My brother got it for me after I lost my computer in a fire. I'm not positive what I have. It says Republic of Gamers on bootup, and it has stickers on it that say "AMD Ryzen 5000 Series 9" and "Nvidia Geforce RTX" aaand "FHD 144HZ 100% sRGB Pantone* Validated" on it. I don't know what any of these mean, if any of this information helps. I'm also running Windows 10. If more info is needed, and you can guide me how to get it, I can!

But as for the issue: I've had this laptop since February 2022, and it has NEVER done this until I installed the most recent Windows 10 updates on January 15th a few days ago. Ever since I installed that update, I'm having a weird incident where my W, E, U and I keys will suddenly stop working. And EVERY TIME I GOOGLE this issue, everyone says either the keys need to be cleaned, the keys must be dying, or it's a problem with a plug-in keyboard. (Of which I have none.) I'm going to say right now that those are not the problem!!!

I've had those issues in the past, and for those, the keys taper off and the issue is constant. BUT THAT IS NOT THE CASE THIS TIME. For the entire day, my keyboard functions flawlessly. There will be ONE OR TWO times a day where suddenly the W, E, U and I keys will absolutely stop. All keys work, except those, and it doesn't matter how hard you hit the keys or how many times, it doesn't even falter. It's like somebody shut them off entirely. There has been no fading/weakening of the keys up until this point. And it won't let me use them for a full minute or so. And then, the keys start working again for the rest of the night flawlessly. Never delaying or showing any sign of wear, they function perfectly.

I can't figure out for the life of me what is going on, and I hate it. It has killed me in games, it has delayed me when trying to respond to people...it's very few and far between when this happens, but it ALWAYS holds me up when it does happen and it's driving me crazy, and I don't know what to do! Can anybody help me?

I have no idea if these updates are the culprit, but considering I did nothing else on the 15th that should have triggered this kind of issue, I'm suspicious of them.
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As for what I have tried.

I have tried uninstalling the recent Windows updates as I suspect them to be the issue. It seemed to fix the issue. However my laptop threatens to update during inactive hours anyway, and it's not good to have a laptop that isn't up to date, so I feel like I can't keep those uninstalled.

I have done a virus/malware scan and got no results.

I have gone under Device Manager to see if my keyboard driver needs updating. It doesn't. I tried uninstalling it and rebooting, and it was reinstalled, and the issue is still persisting.

I have tried the Windows troubleshooting scan, and it found nothing wrong with the keyboard.

I have none of these settings enabled:
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At this point I'm kind of at a loss...I really hope someone can help me. And testing for this issue will take some time, since it happens VERY randomly and rarely...about once or twice a day.

I really appreciate any help...I truly don't know what else to do!
 
Firstly, just install the .Net Framework update to see if its that that's causing the issue. Leave the other one and re-schedule it if needed. Then check back in.
So I did what you said, and only installed the .Net Framework update. I also had to pause updates for seven days so my laptop wouldn't auto-install it anyway.

I waited an extra day, just to be sure nothing is going on, and there has been absolutely ZERO issue with my keys. Usually it happens a couple times a day, and once, it skipped a day, so I waited an extra day just to try and be as sure as I can be. I guess it's hard to be 100% sure with something so random...

But I'm fairly sure this has worked, and the key issue isn't occurring anymore. I've been doing a lot of typing over the past three days too, so there's been A LOT of chances for it, and just...nothing.

If this really is the case...what do I do now? Because I can pause updates longer, for about a month, and then it says after that point, my laptop will auto update anyway.
 
Thats a good start. 👍

The KB5049981 being a cumulative update, will eventually force to install through windows update. This update mainly contains security fixes released in Dec2024.

I would suggest now trying the manual installation method and see if it behaves by downloading it direct from microsoft update catalogue website and installing it seperately, now that the .net update has installed ok.
The link below will download the KB5049981 .MSU file. When finished downloading, it can be double-clicked like an .exe file to start the install process. Give it a try and if the problem returns then check back in and we can go from there.

https://catalog.s.download.windowsu..._bda073f7d8e14e65c2632b47278924b8a0f6b374.msu
 
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