Computer Keyboard Broken?

[bluecountry]

Hi,

I have a 6 year old Dell Inspiron 5150.  I've had many problems with it over the years, and CH has done a great job of extending it's life. 
I'm not sure if this latest problem is spyware/hardware, or old age.

Yesterday I was on MS Word, I was trying to cut and paste some of the text, so I highlighted it with my mouse, right clicked copy, then paste.  After that the rest is fuzzy, what I do know is since my computer has been opening, closing, things at it's own will.
I got a message even stating that the computer's ctrl button was being held down.  I tried restarting, but to no avail (it asked for some reason if since ctrl was being held down if I wanted to go in safe mode).

I have no clue why this is occurring.  I am not holding down ctrl, I checked, the button is not jammed, so far as I can tell.
Any ideas on the problem/solution or is it time to trash?  It's be nice to at least be able to retrieve my files..which at this point I can't.
Thanks.

[Allan]

Not to state the obvious, but the first thing you want to do is try a different keyboard and/or try this keyboard on a different system.

[Salmon Trout]

Not to state the obvious, but the first thing you want to do is try a different keyboard and/or try this keyboard on a different system.

Try connecting an external USB keyboard and see if you can use that. Also, replacement laptop keyboards are not very expensive.

[Allan]

Oops - sorry. Thanks for the assist ST

[bluecountry]

Well...I tried this afternoon.  The ctrl key is no longer being "held down" without my consent.  Good news.

Bad news.  Nothing on the keyboard work.  NOTHING!

Now, is this "fixable" in anyway without buying a new keyboard (this is after all a labtop)...or is it the keyboard finished?

I just don't get how this happened.  It seems fishy to me the sequence of events..
a.  Typing is fine
b.  CTRL key is being held down without consent
c.  Shut off computer....ctrl key no longer held down...no keys working

Wondering if some virus on the internet gave it to me...or if this not an unusual way for a keyboard to go.
Await further replies before I shell out money to fix the board or buy a USB one.

[Quantos]

Salmon Trout suggested trying an external keyboard on the laptop, how did that work?

[bluecountry]

Didn't yet.....don't want to spend money unless I absolutely have to.
I'm just not sure, and wanted your opinions first, if this is hardware or could have been triggered by a virus, or if it can be resolved otherwise without purchasing new material.

[Quantos]

If you want to check for virus or malware involvement then go HERE.  Follow all of the directions and post the required logs.  Just don't post the logs in this thread, make a new thread for that purpose in that section of the forums.

[SuperDave]

Bluecountry, you should be able to borrow a usb keyboard from someone for a few minutes.