05Nov
Windows XP Slow Keyboard Response Cause
Have you experienced slow keyboard response? The time between key strokes and screen output, is extremely slow, even in some simple task like word processing. You type some five letters ahead of what’s shown on the screen.
There are a number of cause for this:
- accidentally turned on windows “Sticky Keys” feature
- keyboard auto-repeat delay and rate misconfiguration
- rogue process running
- virus/worm/spy bot infection
- computer overheating
The list could go further but those are the common ones. If you have some experience, maybe you could share some of the reasons too.
Posted on
Monday, November 5th, 2007 at 8:46 pm under 
Maybe this helps someone:
March 24th, 2008 at 9:16 pmfrom time to time, my keyboard gets slower (I use windows XP). None of the above reasons seems to be at my case. All is configured fine at my computer. The solution I found is to go to the control panel, keyboard, move the repeat delay to long and short, and click on the OK.
Than the keyboard slowness is solved (until the next time ;-).
Thanks Amichai that did indeed solve my problem.
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:58 pmhi amichai,
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:33 pmthanks.. yes. that’s keyboard auto-repeat delay..
so the pointer should be set to the following:
Repeat delay = Short
Repeat rate = Fast
i think i tried like 20 “solutions” i found on the internet,including these ones and still my keyboard sucks
September 4th, 2008 at 4:53 amsame problem. but ur tip didnt help.
September 15th, 2008 at 2:44 amHi Guys,
Using the F1 for help ask about Sticky keys, then go to the Filter Keys option!
You may find someone has turned this on. If so it slows down the input rate to almost zero.
best of, Peter…
October 8th, 2008 at 2:39 pmMaybe you have a data logger.
May 18th, 2009 at 10:53 amUnplug the internet and try to type.
If it speeds up and works ok, guess what?
Look for Nurech using spybot…….
i have the same problam but only in games can some1 help me?
July 9th, 2009 at 7:11 amhey you guys, in msconfig ati hotkey poller uitschakelen. OR if it isnt there, then turn off PCM services (cyberlink), Work fine.
July 16th, 2009 at 3:59 pmpeter, your my hero, never thought about the filter keys! worked great. thank you!
July 18th, 2009 at 8:34 pmJust in case. I had the same problem with my keyborad and all the above did not work for me. After checking keyboard/HDD/Ram failure, IRQ conflicts, Fresh Widows install, I have finally understood what Nicole tried to say. Here is my system:
Dell Latitude 131L;
Windows XP SP3;
Dual core AMD Turion 1.83 Ghz;
1.5 GB RAM;
160 GB HDD;
ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 with CCC and all.
This was were the problem lied. After installing/updating the graphic drivers from ATI, check for “Ati2evxx.exe”. In: Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services. the ATI Hotkey Poller may be set to run. Go to Properties and disable it; reboot the system. I did not have any Cyberlink s/w and this service was not showing in msconfig, but it is listed in the services list.
Now my system is back to normal and I’m really glad not to be bothered about it anymore, so irritating.
September 5th, 2009 at 7:32 pmCrmD, you are da man! This was racking my brain and now it is fixed. Thanks so much.
September 23rd, 2009 at 5:11 ambless you… my god, it’s taken me over a week of “professional service” - and I finally find the answer with a google search. I very much appreciate those of you who share your expertise!
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:26 amMy problem is similar. I was away for 4 days, my laptop was off during my absence. I booted up when I got home and found that ANY key on the keyboard is so slow as to be near non-responsive. If a key is depressed for about 3 seconds, it will register, then you can move on to your next key. Ideas????
October 6th, 2009 at 12:26 amWow! Thank you! I have been trying to solve this problem for months. Thank you Nicole, and then CrmD for translating what Nicole said.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:13 amCarl,
Try what British Peter said:
go to control panel, then accessibility options, and then disable “filter keys.”
That solved it for me, at least!
October 9th, 2009 at 11:46 amCrmD,
Thank You Thank You, nothing else would work but your fix DID IT!
October 16th, 2009 at 3:00 amThanks CRMD! you ARE the man!
October 16th, 2009 at 3:22 amThank you so much nicole and all of you, deactivating the ati hotkey solved my problem (I am using dell inspiron/xp) I am so pleased to write these few lines.
October 16th, 2009 at 1:00 pmTx again
I’ve tried all of the above and my keys are so slow I don’t use my computer much anymore. I’ve run my virus scan as well. Any other suggestions?
October 19th, 2009 at 2:39 amJust to update you all - I found some help through another website. It suggested that it could be the battery. I knew I had a dead battery, but I was using the outlet so I didn’t feel the need to replace the battery. I took out the battery and my problem is fixed.
October 19th, 2009 at 7:26 amFYI - disabling the ATI Hot Keys service did it for me as well. If you own a dell with this issue, look there first, as ATI is a Dell favorite. Thanks to those who contributed.
Also, Kim - that makes sense as even when your notebook is plugged into an outlet it is still running from battery (hence the ability to remove it from wall power without a hiccup in power supply), so if the battery is waning and the voltage drops, things just wont run right (to put it simply).
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:42 amThanks Kim
October 25th, 2009 at 6:51 pmIt WORKS!!!
You’re a GEM
Kim!
October 29th, 2009 at 12:19 pmTHANK YOU!
I tried nearly everything on this page. Too bad your post is near the bottom! I knew my battery was having issues, but I had no idea it was causing my keyboard issues. I removed the battery and - voila! I’m typing like a pro on my Dell laptop again!
Since MONTHS, I tried to solve that problem too.
For me, it was the CMD and Nicole solution that works.
Many, many thanks !!!
I’m keeping the Kim’s battery trick in mind : mine (battery, of course) is slowly getting exhausted ;o)
November 18th, 2009 at 1:45 amNice one Kim - that worked for me too. This web site has been FAB.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:31 amNicloe and Crmd
November 24th, 2009 at 9:01 amThank you, I tried all kinds of things to make this work, and this was the first website I tied and it worked. Thank you
I have been trying for over a month to fix this problem on my Dell Laptop and one google search was the answer.
December 17th, 2009 at 7:43 amI borrowed a friend’s Dell Vostro 1000 because my XPS M1330 was in the shop. (Never buy a Dell again but that’s another story).
Here’s the catch. The Dell Vostro with Windows XP was sooooo slow. Anything I hit on the keyboard would take 10 seconds per key response virtually rendering it unusuable. I deleted almost every program. Reinstalled Windows XP 6 times. Spyware. Antivirus. Defrag. Norton. Nothing worked.
Then I came across this post by CRMD saying to disable the ATI Hotkey Poller and ….. viola!
That damn disable trick worked like a charm.
I am sooo grateful. I now have a functioning computer.
Thanks again.
January 3rd, 2010 at 2:28 pmThank you Crmd!!! Not sure how in the world you discovered that but it did the trick!
January 27th, 2010 at 4:56 amThanks a lot, really working fine, thx ryan.
February 13th, 2010 at 3:53 pmNone of the above worked for me. I’ll have made a cup of tea before this prints out and I can submit it.
February 19th, 2010 at 4:26 pmThanks British Peter, sure enough, filter keys was the culprit. Owner of PC is an elderly gentleman with helpful children who played around with accessibility options for him.
February 19th, 2010 at 8:02 pmCarl, ur a genius!
February 26th, 2010 at 11:23 pmI’m having a similar problem to all these. It’s wierd. One minute my typing will be fine and then it slows down and speeds back up again. It was working fine earlier today then suddenly started doing this.
I’ve tried taking out my battery, looking for the ATI thing, virus scans, the lot and nothing is working. It keeps switching between typing fine then delayed.
Any suggestions?
February 28th, 2010 at 12:17 pmDitto Owen, really bizarre since my comp has worked fine for around 2 years, now is quietly dying it seem, don’t have an ati have nVidia, but is a dell laptop, any got any pointers?
March 5th, 2010 at 4:18 pmI had the problem on my dell -major delay with keyboard response times. This problem started very acutely today. Turns out, it was the battery (a Dell Battery!). For the sake of completenes, during the past 6-12 months when i boot up my computer i got a message indicating that the system could not recognize the battery and would not be able to charge it. odd and frustrating. btw, i think dells are crap.
April 24th, 2010 at 4:25 amWith Windows Vista and Windows 7, there is a bug in the keyboard driver, especially if you use a PS/2 keyboard. See this blog for details: http://keyliner.blogspot.com/2009/11/windows-7-slow-keyboard-response.html
April 24th, 2010 at 10:44 pmExperienced this problem twice but only when I enter data into my customised IGoogle home page search box! I cured it the 1st time by unchecking the “display seconds” option on my world clocks gadget.
May 20th, 2010 at 5:29 pmAfter a recent system rebuild, I got the same problem but this time, getting rid of the second hands did not cure it so I deleted the the world clocks gadget entirely and this cured it.
It’s a bit annoying not to have this gadget on my IGoogle home page as I have relations in Oz and Canada.
Thank you so much for the tips about Ati Hotkey Poller. You made my day :)
May 26th, 2010 at 2:16 amI had a lag between my key strokes and display on the screen on a Windows XP OS on my laptop. Odd thing was the lag seemed to be inconsistent, it appeared to be filling a buffer and emptying it and so display varied from normal key stroke to display response and heavily delayed response. Was fearful that it was some kind of key tracker virus. But online scanners did not find anything. After reading this log and trying out the couple tips on the ATI hotkey poller and keyboard I was able to fix the issue.
Many thanks to all who have spent time to post their problems and to those who suggested these solutions.
June 23rd, 2010 at 11:43 pmCmD, you are awesome.
Desktop support pays my bills and I was a bit stumped by the issue in till I read over your comment. Thanks for saving me a bunch of trouble shooting time.
The issue occurred on a Dell Vostro 1000, hopefully the spider will pick up on that.
August 20th, 2010 at 3:52 am