Has anyone given the laptop a drink? Coffee tea and coke and even plain water will kill your keyboard. It's usually quite easy to remove a keyboard and sometimes involves taking off the bezel where the on switch is and/or releasing little clips around the keyboard top and sides and/or removing one or two screws underneath. The keyboard will be attached to the motherboard by a ribbon cable. There's a (usually) brown clip that has to be pushed towards the ribbon cable to release it. Make a note of whether the ribbon cable goes under or over this clip. You'll soon see in there's been liquid spilt, the area should be clean and shiny (with the possible exception of hair and dust). Usually the only remedy is to replace the keyboard. You can often get those on eBay for £12 or so. Regrettably you cannot repair a keyboard's switches only the key caps.
Helpful Harry, February 2011
