I've been given a laptop to fix – it is 'randomly scrolling documents'. I'm almost certain it's a faulty connection in the keyboard, causing page-down to fire. Is there a program I can use to monitor all key presses from the keyboard to see if this is the case?
Windows Keyboard Debug – How to See All Keypresses
debugkeyboardwindows
Related Solutions
It sounds like keys are "sticking down". Though in fact they don't really "stick down", but rather the electrical signals get a bit haywire. More likely if you've ever spilled anything on the KB, but can happen without, especially if the unit is rarely used.
If it's simply a matter of rare use then it's fairly likely that "exercising" the keyboard for a few minutes -- just punching all the keys repeatedly -- will improve the situation, and maybe cure it, at least temporarily.
Added: Keep in mind that most laptop keyboards consist of a rubber membrane over a printed circuit. Pressing a key presses the membrane against the printed circuit, and the conductive rubber of the membrane thus "completes" a circuit, allowing the key press to be detected. (In some cases the detection is capacitive rather than resistive, but the principle is the same.)
A big advantage to this scheme is that it's hard for the innards to get dirty (though spilling liquid on the keyboard can do it).
Run ProcessExplorer, use the crosshair from toolbar
and move it to the Error message. This will highlight the program which causes the error message.
Best Answer
What you need is a Keylogger. For example, you can use Actual Keylogger, a free keylogger which runs hidden in the background and automatically records all keystrokes.
Alternatively, you can use PassMark Keyboard Test. It's a shareware with a fully functional and free 30 day evaluation. It allows you to quickly check that all the keys on your computer keyboard are functioning correctly, check the keyboard LED's and look at the internal scan codes being generated by the keyboard.