Spontaneous phantom Page Down keystrokes

[Ishindri]

Alright, so my laptop has developed this issue, seemingly at random, where it starts acting like the Page Down key is being held. The only thing that stops it is tapping up on the arrow keys, but it will often start again a few seconds later. Obviously, this makes browsing the net a huge hassle, and editing any document near impossible. It's definitely mimicking Page Down - it will be constrained to active windows, doesn't happen when I'm on the last page of an edit window and so on.

I have no idea what caused this. I've searched for anyone else having a similar issue, but I couldn't find anything. I've done malware scans, chkdsk, and gone through my active processes to try and figure out what's causing it. I downloaded a utility to shut off the Page Down key and it still happened. I'm a little at my wits' end trying to figure it out, so I was hoping the collective wisdom of the fora might be able to shed a little light on my problem. Any ideas?

[Xanthir]

It's almost certainly a hardware failure. You'll probably need to get your keyboard fixed. This is somewhat difficult to do with a laptop.

[Copper Bezel]

But he has the PgDn key deactivated, right? Shouldn't that have fixed it in the case of a hardware error? (I mean, the simple test would be, press the key and see if anything happens. The system doesn't know the difference between damaged contact and a keypress.)

[Steax]

Boot another OS from a live CD and see if the issue persists? That's pretty much the ultimate hardware-or-software determinator.

[Ishindri]

Yeah, I would think if it were a hardware issue, blocking input from the key would fix it.

And Steax, that's a good idea, thanks. I'll try at that as soon as possible.

[Bhelliom]

Laptop keyboards are easy to replace if you can source a replacement part. Usually it is just a couple of screws or a pop off bezel. Check the googles for your particular model and eBay for the part.

[Wnderer]

You need to verify that it is a Page Down key event. You should find an a program that records keyboard and mouse events. There are other events which can mimic the page down, including some accessibility functions.