Lenovo laptop keyboard doesn't work and doesn't show up in Device manager

Question

Hi,

I'm having a bit of trouble with my laptop keyboard. I tried using a utility to update a bunch of my drivers at once (stupid, I know) without creating a restore point before (stupider). After doing that, and restarting my laptop to apply the changes, my keyboard and touchpad stopped working.

Following a guide I found online, I then tried to go to Device Manager > Keyboards > Standard PS/2 Keyboard > Uninstall device, and then restarted again for the correct driver to hopefully reinstall itself. That too did not work, and resulted in my keyboard now not showing up at all in the Device manager.

The touchpad is still there, but instead of uninstalling the device I tried Device Manager > Mice and other pointing devices > Synaptics Pointing Device > Update driver, but apparently the best drivers are already installed.

I have Xubuntu dual-booted on my machine, so I checked on Xubuntu and in the BIOS menu - but they keyboard works perfectly in both cases, so I doubt it's a hardware issue.

I found another guide telling me to delete a certain value in the registry, which I did (but this time created a backup). Not only did that not help, but it also disabled the USB keyboard I'd been working with as well, so that was a no-go. I restored the backup and searched deeper.

Unfortunately, I found nothing. Out of desperation, I "refreshed" Windows 10 from the Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Reset this PC (while keeping my files), made a clean installation of Windows (from the Windows Defender Security Center, also while keeping my files) and again made a clean installation of Windows, this time erasing everything. Nothing helped.

Is there any way to get my keyboard functioning again?

Answer 1

Hi Antoine

My name is Andre Da Costa; an Independent Consultant, Windows Insider MVP and Windows & Devices for IT MVP. I'm here to help you with your problem.

Try resetting your BIOS defaults:

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/reset-pc-bios-...

If that does not work and you have a desktop computer...

Power down

Unplug it

Open the system unit

Remove the CMOS CR-2032 battery

Plug it in, start the machine, wait 10 seconds

Power down, unplug it, reinstall the CMOS CR-2032 battery

Plug it in again, power up

Check if the keyboard works.

If that does not work, I recommend you perform a custom install instead.

From another working computer, download and make a bootable copy.

Step 1: How to download official Windows 10 ISO files

	[http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...](http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-windows_install/how-to-download-official-windows-10-iso-files/35cde7ec-5b6f-481c-a02d-dadf465df326)



	Step 2 How to Prepare Bootable Install Media for Windows 10 - DVD, USB or SD Card

	[https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wik...](https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-windows_install/how-to-prepare-bootable-install-media-for-windows/442447c3-0826-4473-a5b7-36568d20ef9d)

Review the following guide for instructions and details about configuring your BIOS or UEFI boot settings for DVD, CD, USB or SD Card.

BIOS/UEFI Setup Guide: Boot from a CD, DVD, USB Drive or SD Card

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/bios-uefi-setu...

Once your computer is set to boot from the DVD or USB, you should see this option.

The Windows logo will appear on screen, this might be here for a while, as long as you see the indicater, everything should be ok.

Select your Language, Time and Keyboard method then click Next.

Click Install now

Setup will also prompt you to select the edition you have a license for - Home or Pro. Please make sure you choose the right edition. If you choose the wrong edition, your only option will be to perform a clean install again.

The copy of Windows 10 you download and upgrade from will correspond with the edition of Windows you have installed, if it does not, this is why you might be experiencing problems activating:

Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Windows 8.0 Core, Windows 8.1 Core should install Windows 10 Home 



Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8.0 Pro, Windows 8.1 Pro should install Windows 10 Pro

IF YOU ARE NOT SURE WHICH EDITION YOUR SYSTEM CAME WITH, CHOOSE WINDOWS 10 HOME.

Wait while Setup starts.

Accept the license terms and click Next

Click Custom

Select the Primary Partition then click Next

You will receive the following warning:

The partition you selected might contain files from a previous Windows Installation. If it does, these files and folders will be moved to a folder named Windows.old. You will be able to access the information in Windows.old, but you will be able to use your previous version of Windows.

Click OK

Wait while Windows installs

When this phase of setup is complete, Windows will automatically restart and reboot into setup again.

Windows is detecting and installing your hardware. After this is complete, Windows will restart one last time.

Out of Box Experience

The Out of Box Experience page is where you get to configure detailed settings in Windows, which includes creating a user account, privacy, sync PC settings and install modern applications.

Windows will check if there is an active Internet connection. If it does not find one, you will be presented with the following screen.

Create a Local Account and click Next

Wait while Windows finalizes your settings

Continue to wait while Windows installs modern applications.

When setup is complete you can retrieve any personal files from the Windows.old

Browse to C:\ Local Disk and open the Windows.old folder

how to recover your files from Windows.old:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

Answer 2

Hi Andre,

Thank you very much for your swift reply. I've tried the solutions you outlined, and for anyone who finds this with the same problem I'll list what worked:

• Unfortunately, resetting BIOS defaults did not help.
• I do not have a desktop, so could not test removing the CMOS battery like you described.
• However, performing a clean install of Windows 10 definitely helped. I followed the steps described in the articles you linked, and managed to reinstall Windows without too much trouble.

Thanks you very much for taking the time to reply! ^^