Shift key makes buttons unusable in games

[Jason Chi]

Shift key makes buttons unusable in games
My shift key has been acting up for at least 2 days and ever since I started playing video games, it acts funky. Whenever I press Shift (as it is the default for sprinting or using a command in the game), I am unable to press escape, enter or any other button until I press shift again. I'm not sure why this problem occurs, but I can give a couple examples of my games.

League of legends - Pressing Shift freezes the game and shows the windows cursor instead of the in-game cursor.
Rainbow Six Siege - Pressing Shift sprints, but until I let go of the key and I am unable to press any other button
Overwatch - Pressing Shift and I am unable to press any other button and the windows cursor appears in the middle.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

So, shift is acting strangely - but it is slightly different from one software to another. My first guess would be malware because it does not seem to be a consistent, hardware layer type of error. However, if you have another keyboard, I would try swapping first. Also, if you have a special keyboard with specific software, please disclose this now. Otherwise, pursue as if it were an infection.

 

[Jason Chi]

Well all of my other games act like League of Legends such as Minecraft and all of my steam games. I don’t have any malaware as I scan my pc every day. I was thinking it could be a software error. If this helps, I connected my PC to my steam link before the problem started.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

SO, swapping keyboard did not change anything?
SO, you do not use any keyboard software?
SO, you have total faith in your anti-malware?

Did you install anything just before problem appeared?

You could try removing keyboard as a device from Device Manager and then re-starting to allow system to find and install your keyboard fresh.

Personally, I think someone may have changed the scancodes for your keyboard as a prank or misguided malware.

If you have a very recent restore point at a time still before the problem appeared, you may wish to try that.

 

[Jason Chi]

Yes I trust my antivirus xD
No one uses my pc, and reinstalling my keyboard driver fixes the problem for a short time. I don’t have any system restore point.

 

[Jason Chi]

I also do not have any keyboard as my family uses only laptops.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

"No one uses my pc," except almost every website you visit on the internet.

"reinstalling my keyboard driver fixes the problem for a short time" further indicates a software problem. Seems something is changing it after a short period.

I 'trust' my anti-malware too - but I have 3 others which I use from time to time as something needs to 'watch the watcher'.

My last recommendation, you might just try: https://www.bitdefender.com/support/how-to-create-a-bitdefender-rescue-cd-627.html

 

[Jason Chi]

Yeah I get what you mean. Don’t worry I actually have bitdefender xD

 

[Jason Chi]

I just turned my laptop and everything seems ok. I’ll keep you posted if anything happens again!
Thanks,
Jason

 

[Jason Chi]

Nope still not working. I don’t think it’s a virus. I’m starting to think it’s steams fault.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Occam's razor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_razor

 

[Jason Chi]

What are you trying to say?

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Basically, the simplest is likely to be right. Occam's idea can be applied in many areas of life. In troubleshooting, it is simpler to think the problem is a virus and to do a free scan than to, say, replace the keyboard.

SO: I would download and run Rescue Disk (not the same as your AV). I would borrow (or, for $10, buy) a USB keyboard and try that (http://www.dummies.com/computers/pcs/how-to-add-an-external-keyboard-to-your-laptop/). I would do a web search on "shift key game crash" and read up.

 

[Jason Chi]

Thanks m8. I ran my antivirus and updated *every single driver* on my pc. The problem seems to be fixed.
Thanks,
Jason

 

[Shaush]

Are you using DISCORD ? if thats the case you should turn off the OVERLAY or change its TOGGLE on some other button since the default is SHIFT.