One key won't work (tilde), but only in one of my Windows 7 profiles

Question

One key won't work (tilde), but only in one of my Windows 7 profiles

Anonymous

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) Service Pack 1 (build 7601). My update history says everything has been installed.

The tilde / left-single-quote key (just below ESC on my keyboard) won't work in my regular profile -- won't work in any program at all.

But it works in the other profiles I have set up.

I've tried three keyboards; it's not the keyboard. I've tried both wireless and USB.

I tried deleting the device drivers using Device Manager, then rebooting. Didn't help.

Any help?

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Anonymous

Dear Niranjan Manjhi,

I tried using the instructions in the link you provided "Fix a corrupted user profile," which specifically say that the profile includes settings for "desktop backgrounds, screen savers, pointer preferences, sound settings, and other features" would be transferred to my new profile if I followed the directions. However, none of my desktop settings imported into the new profile, such as the desktop background, the items on my desktop, and the changes to my start menu. Therefore, I tried a different approach (documented below) before totally trying to rebuild my profile.
In the end, I found the problem was **not** a corrupted user profile. The problem was a setting in Control Panel / Region and Languages / Keyboards and Languages. (I went to this setting because a general internet search revealed that the gaming community had some issues with the tilde/grave key.)

Under the "Change Keyboard" button, I did the following.

a) Per the gaming community's suggestion, under "General," removed "US - International" keyboard, leaving only "Keyboard = US" and "Other = Ink Correction" (the latter I learned is for my tablet input). This change did not fix my problem itself, even after a reboot. But I left it that way. Then, next...

b) Under "Advanced Key Settings" for "To English," I used "Change Key Sequence" to uncheck "Enable Key Sequence, which had been set to "Ctrl-Shift" + "Grave." However, neither did this change fix my problem itself, even after a reboot. Then I tried next ...

c) Under "Advanced Key Settings" for "Between input languages," I used "Change Key Sequence" to change the "Switch Keyboard Layout" from "Grave Accent (`) to "Not Assigned." [I left "Switch Input Language" to "Left Alt + Shift."] THIS CHANGE FIXED MY PROBLEM.

I want to mention that the keyboard manufacturer for my unified wireless keyboard and mouse was kind enough to send me an entirely new set, hoping that it would fix my problem, even though it was not a hardware issue.

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2 additional answers

Answer 1

Hello,

Thank you for keeping us updated on the status of the issue. I really appreciate the effort made by you in order to fix the issue. Your response will sure help others in this community facing similar issues.

Please feel free to reply, in case you face any other issues with Windows in future.

Have a great day!

Answer 2

Hello,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I do understand that one of the keys does not work in regular profile but it does in another profile. Hence, this is due to user profile corruption.

I would request you to follow the instructions provided in the article below one by one and check the status.

Fix a corrupted user profile

Hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to reply in case you face any other issues with Windows in future.

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One key won't work (tilde), but only in one of my Windows 7 profiles

2 additional answers