FAQ's About Hardware - Keyboards

Q: How do I clean my keyboard?

A: If you are using a desktop computer first make sure it is shut down, next turn the keyboard upside down and shake it back and fourth and side to side, it may feel silly but you will probably notice some dust, dirt and perhaps a few bits of paper will fall out.

Next you can take a clean lint free cloth moistened with some isopropyl alcohol and use it to clean the keys. If your keys are especially dirty, a special tool can be used to remove the key caps from the keyboard to be cleaned individually. Come to the computer services department and we will assist you with this procedure.

If you are using a laptop, you can use compressed air to blow the dust and dirt out of the keyboard, then use a cloth with isopropyl alcohol to clean the keys. Do not attempt to remove the keycaps from the keyboard.

Q: What can I do if one or more of the keys are sticky?

A: Not much really, bring the keyboard or laptop to computer services and they will be able to help you.

Q: What are the keys labeled F1-F12 for?

A: The answer to this depends on what type of computer you are using.

For PC's - these keys are commonly referred to as "function keys" and they do different things depending on what software you are using. They can be used as keyboard shortcuts instead of using the mouse to choose a command from a menu. To find out what the function keys do in the program you are using, consult the on screen help feature.

For Mac's - these keys are used to control some of the settings for your computer. Here is a list of the function keys and what they do.

F1 - recudes the brightness of the screen
F2 - increases the brightness of the screen
F3 - mutes the speakers
F4 - decreases the volume
F5 - increases the volume
F6 - activates the "num lock" which allow you to use the "6,7,8,9,0,-,u,i,o,p,j,k,l,; and m" keys to enter numerical information. (look closely at each of these keys to see which number or math function is assigned to each key)
F7 - turns video mirroring on or off
F8 - turns the keyboard backlighting off
F9 - dims the keyboard backlighting
F10 - brightens the keyboard backlighting
F11 - toggles the expose feature on or off
F12 - unused

Q: When I type, nothing happens, what is wrong?

A: This problem may have one of several causes. Try the following.

• Make sure the keyboard cord is connected to the computer.
• Make sure the window you are working in is active, use the mouse to click the title bar, then try typing again.
• Try restarting the program.
• Try restarting the computer.
• If it still won't work, contact computer services for help.

Q: I've spilled some liquid in my keyboard, what should I do?

A: Shut down your computer immediately and send the keyboard for service.

Q: What is the difference between the "return" key and the "enter" key? (Mac's only)

A: If you look closely at the keyboard for desktop Macs you will notice a key in the numeric keypad area labeled "enter". At first it may seem that this key is redundant since there is also a return key as part of the main keyboard. On Mac PowerBooks the enter key is located to the right of the space bar. Most of the time, the function of these keys is identical. However there are some programs that will have different functions for these keys. One example is when you are working on a spreadsheet document in AppleWorks. When entering data into a cell and pressing return, the data appears in the cell and the cell highlighter moves down to the next cell.

When you press the enter key the current cell remains selected. This can be handy if you are experimenting with different values within a cell. You can change the behavior of the enter key by going to the AppleWorks Preferences. For more information on this consult the online help feature in AppleWorks.

Q: What is the difference between the two "enter" keys? (PC's only)

If you look at the keyboard for most PC's you will notice two keys labeled enter. One is part of the main keyboard and is the one you would normally use when word processing. The other is part of the numeric keypad section of the keyboard and is handy for when you are entering a lot of numbers, such as when you are working in a spreadsheet.

Most of the time, the function of these keys is identical. However there are some programs that will have different functions for these keys. One example is when you are working on a spreadsheet document in AppleWorks. When entering data into a cell and pressing the enter key on the main section , the data appears in the cell and the cell highlighter moves down to the next cell.

When pressing the enter key on the numeric keypad section the current cell remains selected. This can be handy if you are experimenting with different values within a cell. You can change the behavior of the enter key by going to the AppleWorks Preferences. For more information on this consult the online help feature in AppleWorks.

Q: What is the difference between the "delete" key and the "backspace" key? (PC's only)

A: Simple, when pressing the backspace key the character to the left the cursor will be erased,
when pressing the delete key the character to the right of the cursor will be erased.

Q: Why doesn't the "Print Screen" key work? (PC's only)

A: This key does work, it just doesn't do what you might expect it to do. Instead of sending a copy of the screen to your printer, it makes a copy of the screen and places it on the clipboard. To print a screen that is stored in the clipboard start the Paint program (located in the Accessories section under Programs in the Start menu) and choose the Paste command from the Edit menu. You can then use the print command to send the image to the printer, just make sure you go to the Page Setup command in the File menu and choose landscape printing or your page may be cut off.