Neither ctrl keys work

Question

Okay so, this morning neither of my control keys were working (and both were yesterday). So far I've done some installing, restarting and help page surfing and so far none of these have worked:

1. Alt+fn+ctrl (in any combination.)
2. Reinstalling and updating drivers for the keyboard from my laptop maker
3. Checking for malware and removing those and also doing virus scans
4. Yes, I can use the onscreen keyboard for ctrl - no I don't have an external keyboard to hook up to my laptop.
5. Yes, I have cleaned they keys with compressed air (I always do regularly)

Any more suggestions (besides hooking up an external keyboard - since both went at once and no other keys went, I really don't think it's they keys suddenly not working)?

Answer 1

I tried all of it and unfortunately, neither of the keys work.

Answer 2

Hello,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I appreciate your efforts and time in resolving this issue. Since you have already tried On-Screen keyboard and it works fine, this might be a hardware failure for which it might require you to get the keyboard changed. However, you may try the following methods and check if it helps.

Method 1:

Step 1: Try Safe Mode

Safe mode is the configuration of Windows, when it is running on only basic set of drivers and all the startups are disabled. To know more about safe mode, follow the article below:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-in/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-safe-mode

If the issue is resolved in safe mode, follow step 2 after restarting the computer in regular mode.

Step 2: Clean Boot

A clean boot is performed to start Windows by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This helps eliminate software conflicts that occur when you install a program or an update or when you run a program in Windows. To know more, follow the article below:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Note: After troubleshooting, refer to this section ‘How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting’.

Method 2:

Run the hardware and device troubleshooter.

Open the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter:

1. Press Windows + W.
2. Type “Troubleshooting” and hit Enter.
3. On the left pane, click on view all.
4. Click on Hardware Devices

I understand that you do not have another keyboard to diagnose this issue. However if the issue persists, we would require you to connect an external USB keyboard to check if it works fine or not.

Do reply with the results. Hope this information was helpful.