My computer randomly stops responding to keyboard input when I press keys

Question

Several days ago, my computer has developed a problem. At seemingly random times of day it will stop responding to key presses. It can sometimes take up to 5 seconds for the computer to respond to input when this is happening but I can move the mouse and click without trouble. It is not limited to specific applications and it even blocks shortcut keys such as Windows-D

How can I find the cause of this problem? Could it be a running process that is blocking keyboard input?

_{Dell Precision LAPTOP, running Windows 7.}

Whats a stroke touch/strike touch? does the keyboard freeze totally? — Journeyman Geek, Jun 04 '12 at 10:54
When you press a key? (what key? Any key?) 5s before or after what? — Journeyman Geek, Jun 04 '12 at 11:15
when I press any key. (letter, figures, shift, capslock...) for example :
for the precedent 'example' word, I strike 'e' 'x' but nothing displayed... Then after 2s I retry and stroke 'e' 'x' 'a' 'm' 'p' 'l'... and it works. — Florian, Jun 04 '12 at 11:18
Each time or randomly? Like if you tried to type something after that does it freeze again? — Journeyman Geek, Jun 04 '12 at 11:25
Have you tried a different keyboard? Do you use text expansion apps such as AutoHotkey or PhraseExpress? Does your computer run in a virtual environment? — user 99572 is fine, Jun 04 '12 at 20:54

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:04

You may have a program running that is intercepting keyboard strokes when you press a key.

You should run a full system scan according to the directions in this community-approved virus detection and removal wiki and make sure there are no unauthorized programs running on your computer.

_{I experience a similar problem due to a screen dimming program that runs in the background. During certain times of the day when it is adjusting the screen, I cannot type.}

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 30 '23 at 18:43

Make sure you don't have a game controller plugged in. If you do, it could turn upside down and wiggle the controller causing it to steal your curser. It happened to me several times before I figured it out and just unplugged my game controller and fixed the problem.

My computer randomly stops responding to keyboard input when I press keys

2 Answers2