I`ve discovered a strange problem when I try to type some characters in my posts.

Here`s what I get when I try to type a:
question mark - É
back slash - é
left square bracket - ^^
right square bracket - ¸¸
ampersand (shift 2) - "
pound sign (shift 3) - /

So far I have only noticed it when I try to post in a Slow Travel discussion. There are a couple of other issues too, but you should get the idea. Anybody have any idea what`s going on (question mark)

It sounds like you have your PC set up for a French Canadian keyboard. On this page, scroll down and you'll see a picture of the keyboard. The É instead of a question mark is my 'clue'. This is typically a setting in your operating system and other programs like Microsoft Office should also do the same thing. I would start by checking your operating system The page I linked above doesn't give you instructions for XP but you can find them here. This Microsoft article tells how to configure. Go up to the part where you checked check Installed Services. This will tell you what keyboard you have installed. You do not want to add. Just check and see if it is currently set to French Canadian.

It might also be related to how your browser is communicating with Slow Talk. But first we need to see what you are set for on your computer.

Hi Marta,

Thanks for your help. I agree that my keyboard has French Canadian settings when I`m in Slow Talk (notice the wrong-facing apostrophe in I`m).

A couple of problems.

I`m using Vista, not XP.

I am unable to duplicate the steps you outline to determine my keyboard settings. Microsoft is no help, BUT I did find somebody reporting a similar problem in one of their forums.

Isn`t it odd that it only happens in Slow Talk - not in Office.

I happen to have a Vista box here at my work. Here is where to go to see the keyboard configuration.

- Control Panel
- Regional and language options
- Keyboard and languages tab
- Click Change Keyboards.

At the top of this dialog is the 'Default input language'. Is this English (US)?

Below, what keyboards are listed under 'installed services'.

This is a starting point. I don't think this is necessarily where the issue is but let's start by checking what your system has installed for keyboards. I changed to the French Canadian keyboard and it changed the behavior in all my applications. So the setting might be elsewhere.

Also, do you use IE or Firefox to go to Slow Talk?

Edited to add: Also what type of PC? Laptop?

I found this blog complaining of something similar. I'm going to guess that your Vista setup has multiple keyboards 'installed' and something is triggering the keyboard to switch when you go to Slow Talk.

If that is the case, you can switch back to the English keyboard by pressing the left alt key and shift together. There is also a language indicator in the lower right portion of the status bar on the bottom. You will see either EN or FR. You can click on it and a popup will let you select your keyboard.

Oh, I just noticed if you right click on the EN or FR, you can get to Settings... which will take you directly to the keyboard settings.

A solution might be to remove the French Canadian keyboard from the list of installed keyboards. I'll keep looking around to see what might be causing it to only happen on certain websites.

Hi Marta,

Thanks for your detective work. I can toggle it back to the English keyboard using LEFT ALT + Shift. We'll have to see how long it lasts. Maybe I inadvertently hit a couple of keys that toggled it to the French keyboard.

To answer your earlier questions, I am using Firefox on a Laptop.

Great. I'm going move this to the technology forum so it gets a wider exposure.

Hi Marta,

It happened AGAIN. Tried the LEFT ALT + Shift toggle - didn't seem to work, BUT I just changed the setting by clicking on the keyboard icon on the bottom toolbar - all OK.