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Hello,
I am using a Surface Pro with Type Cover.
When I am selecting multiple items e.g. in Outlook or Windows Explorer I apparently hold down the Ctrl-key and left-click the items with my mouse.
When I select many items it takes certainly a while to select -- if that time span is let's say 10 seconds (may be it's just 5 sec) then my CTRL key locks, meaning, I do not have to hold it down in order to select multiple items. Problem is that you e.g. can't even hit the Windows button on the keyboard and not even the hardware Windows button on the Surface. If your machine falls into Sleep mode you cannot type the password any more. You have to reboot.
It took a while to find out that the Ctrl key was the trouble maker -- then after identifying it as such I tried to unlock it by hitting it 1 more time which works.
So, that is a remedy, however, if you do not notice that the Ctrl key gets locked then your machine also slows down, even the Task Manager (e.g. Performance tab) doesn't update any more. That looks like an overload -- may be because Thousands of 'key down' messages are processed, even if the key is not pushed any more? Just a speculation.
One more thing: the Ctrl key gets only locked when I make the selections with the mouse -- if I select them with the Surface Pen the Ctrl key gets NOT locked.
BTW, I tried two mice: bluetooth and wi-fi -- both deliver the same result, it doesn't matter.
Anyway, I am not aware that something like a 'sticky key' would exist for the Ctrl key? Does it? At least I have not turned on or seen such access feature activated. Also, no, my keyboard is not filled with crumbs. And it is unlikely that it would lock when I use the mouse but not if I use the Pen...
And the Ctrl Lock-down seems wrong -- is it?
Type cover bug? or am I unaware of the 'sticky key' feature?
Frank
The Surface family includes Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, and other Surface products. Surface is designed to help organizations, students, and consumers be more productive.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Greetings all,
New update: 5/21/14
We are still investigating this issue and hope to make progress soon.
Just a quick update (2/10/14).
We are actively investigating this issue and will work on a resolution to ensure our customers have the best possible experience on their Surface devices.
This problem is still not fixed for me. I bought an original Surface Pro and had the problem, but only with the type cover. The touch cover never had this problem. I tried the proposed fixes and could not get it to go away.
I bought a surface 2 and type cover 2. The same problem still exists. Periodically, the shift, alt, or control key sticks for no apparent reason. It seems random and does not seem to be related to accidentally holding the key down. I notice it when I am typing fine in Word, outlook or some other application and suddenly the keyboard starts to misbehave. Suddenly, menus and side bars start to open as I type. I then bang on the shift, control, and alt key and continue on my work. It is extremely annoying to still have this problem. I even exchanged the type cover 2 keyboard for another on and still have the same issue.
I have tried the fix outlined in the thread that keeps getting posted here as a fix. But this fix does not work for the problem I am experiencing. (Perhaps there are two different problems that look similar but have two different causes?) When I tap and hold a key, the key repeats fine and does not stop
I suspect there is a hardware problem, not a software problem. I notice this happens most often when I am typing on my lap. I suspect that in an effort to create a low profile keyboard, there is something with the design that shorts out a key or causes it to mechanically stick somehow.
I was encouraged by the post that stated they did not notice this behavior on the surface pro 3. However, there is an adage the covers this for me: Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I want the surface line to be successful, but this is a deal breaker for me. This has been going on since November according to this thread. The keyboard is defective. Microsoft need to fix it or compensate for defective design. At this point, it appears that Microsoft is unable to fix it, so it might be time for compensation by allowing us to at least exchange our type cover 2 keyboards for one that works. (Does anyone know if the Power keyboard cover suffers from the same issues? I have not seen any such posts.)
Stops for me. Mind you: I am NOT using a Surface or Surface Pro. This is on a regular Acer PC with a Microsoft Sculpt wireless keyboard.
it stopped
It stops for me. During any kind of gaming on the SP2, any key will get 'stuck' if held down for a few seconds.