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I have an elderly Dell Inspiron 2500 Laptop running Windows XP, just about every time I apply Windows Updates I get boot problems. The laptop will partially boot but won’t get as far as the Windows logon screen. If I switch it off again and restart it sometimes fixes itself, but sometimes it doesn’t.

The problem seems to be caused by the Windows Update process updating the registry keys. Specifically HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Currentversion\Setup I don’t know if this is the only key affected but it was the most recent one I found.

I have managed to solve this problem by using Registry Mechanic from PC Tools Software to scan the Registry and then fix any errors it finds. You could do the same thing by using Regedit to edit the registry but Registry Mechanic is pretty reliable and seems to do the job for me.

I have now got into the habit of running Registry Mechanic after any Windows Update download. Sometimes I have had to resort to booting Windows in Safe mode to run Registry Mechanic but things have always come right after Registry Mechanic has worked its magic.

At the time of writing (June 2008) Registry Mechanic costs $29.95 and is available for a free trial download. If you are having the same problems as I have then it is worth the money.

There are other products which would do the same job just as well but Registry Mechanic is the one that I found when I initially discovered this problem and it has served me well since (but see the next post to avoid being ripped off by PC Tools).

Replacing the US K000047870 keyboard on a Toshiba Satellite P205D (running Windows Vista) with a UK K000050540 keyboard.

Finding the right keyboard

I recently bought a laptop for a friend. I bought a Toshiba Satellite P205D-S7436 on eBay from a vendor in the US. I was quite happy with the purchase, it is a good machine and the price wasn’t bad.

But of course being a US model it came with a US keyboard, so I needed to swap it to a UK model. With a regular PC this is a trivial task and there are any number of vendors selling compatible keyboards, but with a laptop it isn’t quite so easy. Even finding the correct model of UK keyboard for a US model laptop was difficult, hence this article, hopefully it will make the process easier for others.

To cut a long story short, I ended up buying a replacement K000050540 keyboard from http://www.topazsupport.co.uk/ their customer service was very good but they are quite expensive. My value laptop wasn’t such good value by the time I had spent an extra £55 on a replacement keyboard.

Changing the keyboard

Preparation

Shut down the laptop, unplug it from the mains and remove the battery pack, we don’t want any nasty shocks.

Make sure you are properly earthed, a wrist strap is a good idea. Any static electricity on you can do serious damage to the laptop.

Get out a small cross head screwdriver (I used a number 1), I also used a headtorch so that I had good light on the working area. A pair of tweezers may also be handy just in case you drop a screw, they are pretty small.

Removing the old keyboard

Open the laptop up and locate the plastic bezel which runs along the top of the keyboard. I was able to get my fingernails under the middle of this and gently lift it out, it unclipped without much trouble. If your bezel is a tighter fit you may need to slide something like guitar pick underneath to lift it.

Once the bezel is removed you will see 4 small screws (black on my laptop) along the top edge of the keyboard, unscrew these and put them somewhere safe.

Now lift the edge of the keyboard closest to the screen and gently pull the keyboard towards the screen, the back edge (the edge closest to you) will slip out from its retaining slots and the whole keyboard assembly will come free. Don’t pull too hard though, it is still attached to the motherboard.

Flip the keyboard over so you can see where the keyboard cable is clipped into a connector on the motherboard. You can unlock the connector by moving the 2 tabs on either side of the connector forwards (towards the screen), on my laptop the tabs are white. This releases the keyboard cable and you can now remove the keyboard fully.

Installing the new keyboard

This is just the reverse of the removal process.

Orientate the new keyboard so it is facing the right way then flip it up so you can see the keyboard cable underneath it. You will need to fold the cable back on itself to line up with the connector on the motherboard.

Slide the cable into the connector and move the 2 locking tabs back into place, the keyboard is now connected.

Slide the back of the keyboard (furthest from the screen) back into place with the retaining tabs fitting into place under the lip of the case.

The tabs at the top of the keyboard (nearest the screen) should now line up nicely with the screw holes. Replace the 4 little screws you removed earlier (you did put them somewhere safe didn’t you ?).

Orientate the plastic bezel so that the sloping edge is away from the screen and clip it back into place, there are tabs at each end so you will need to lift it in the middle a little to fit the tabs into place. Once located correctly it should clip back into place with a satisfying click, you shouldn’t need to force it.

That’s it! You have replaced the keyboard. Now you just need to tell Vista that you have a new keyboard layout.

Changing the keyboard settings in Windows Vista

1. Click on start
2. Control Panel
3. Regional and Language Options
4. Select the Keyboards and Languages tab
5. Here you will be able to add a new keyboard, click on Add to select from an enormous list of possible keyboard options, you want EN English (United Kingdom).
6. Once you have added your new keyboard you can Remove the old (US) one.
   If you don’t remove the old keyboard from the list of installed services you will be able to select which keyboard layout you want to use for Vista. Just remove the US keyboard option, you can always add it again if you decide to change back to the old keyboard.
7. Click on OK to save your changes, you will be returned to the Regional and Language Options page.
8. Click on the Administrative tab
9. Click on the Copy to reserved accounts button.   This will remove the option to select different keyboard types from the Vista welcome screen (before you login to Vista).
10. Click on OK.  That’s it!!