Thursday 12 February 2009

Sony Vaio/Internet Explorer typing problem fixed!

Hahahahahahahahaaaaa!

Right now I’m grinning like a maniac because this problem has been driving me to distraction for ages. It’s weird how a thing like having random keystrokes ignored when you’re typing can drive a person disproportionately loopy, but there you are.

So, if you don’t have the same problem then there’s no point in reading the rest of this post. Nothing for you here. If you are looking to fix keyboard/typing weirdness in Internet Explorer on a Vaio laptop then read on…

You’ll know you have the problem if you type in a text box on a web page and, unless you type v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y and carefully the text looks something like this:

The uick bron foxjumps ver the laz dog.

(Because, as you might have gathered, some of your keystrokes get ignored.)

This has happened to me on two different Vaio laptops now (and when I googled for it, other Vaio users were having the same problem so I had a pretty strong feeling it was something specific to them) and I’ve seen it in IE6, IE7 and even IE8.

Anyway I read a post by some other poor soul frustrated to the point of madness, who just happened to mention that one good thing about the Vaio is the fingerprint sensor for logging on.

lightbulb

Ping! Lightbulb moment!

It suddenly occurred to me that I don’t get the same problem with FireFox or Google Chrome on the same machine. And also that Firefox 3 and Google Chrome aren’t supported for web sites authentication by my fingerprint reader!

So after a little digging around, I found the setting in Protector Suite QL (the utility that provides the fingerprint security functionality) to disable integration with Internet Explorer. If you have the same version as me, here are the steps:

  • Open the Protector Suite QL Control Centre (you can do this by right-clicking the fingerprint icon in the notification area if you have one, or from the Start Menu)
  • Under Settings select User Settings
  • Swipe your finger to let it know who you are
  • Go to the Password Bank tab in the User Settings dialog
  • Under Web Browser support, un-check the box for Internet Explorer
  • Close down all your Internet Explorer windows

Next time you open Internet Explorer you should be able to type without being left wanting to headbutt things. Incredible!

Apologies that my normal, moderate tone has vanished and I’ve gone a bit deranged but if you’ve had the same problem then you already know how annoying it is.

Of course it does mean I’ve lost the fingerprint authentication feature for websites, but for me that’s a small price to pay for my sanity. Which will, I’m sure, be restored when this brief euphoria wears off.

And since this laptop is now running Windows 7 Beta that means I can now try out all the added goodness of IE8 which I’d been missing out on. Manic grins and too many exclamation marks all round!!!!

5 comments:

  1. Thanks! I was having the same problem. Couldn't type worth anything on the net, then I saw your post!

    Stupid UPEK drivers

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have this problem with my HP Pavilion, and I have a fingerprint reader too . What can I do to fix it? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have this problem and I have a HP Pavilion laptop and a fingerprint reader. What can I do to fix this? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I do not have fingerprint function yet I have this same problem. If I dont type slow everything prints out mixed up. My model is a Sony Vaio NW20EF. It is very frustrating and Sony are no help.

    ReplyDelete

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