Need help!
I have a Dell Inspiron laptop that has a keyboard lag problem. Sometimes when I try to scroll using the arrow keys, I get a 5-10 second delay before the computer responds. Dell "tech support" tells me I need to reinstall the OS (XP home edition) and of course that I will lose all my stored info. Is there another way to fix the lag?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Thanks! 

I have only had the machine for 3 weeks or so. The problem has been there since new. I just didn't have the time to waste on their tech support.

philp what kinda of insprion do you have, i remember my dell insprion had the same problem at one time and all i had to do was download a updated driver for the keyboard.

i had a insprion 8200 and it was one of the drivers listed on dells website for my laptop.

can you try a usb keyboard , to see if you have the same problem ?
you could have a look at task manager  > performance , to see CPU usage and mem. availible, I sometimes get this using Incredimail , and found the CPU was at 100%, I just do a spell check, and it comes back down , LOL I very much doubt it is the Dell Spec, keyboard lag kinda went away with the 166 MHz CPU

Sorry to leave ya hangin'. I got so tied up with the Dell people that I forgot I posted here. 

Check this s#!t out!

I spent almost an hour and a half online with their "tech support" one Saturday morning. First he said he wanted to reinstall the OS. Not an option for me. Then he says let's replace the keyboard. I asked what he was smoking. If I press a key and I have to wait for a response, how does that translate to a bad keyboard? Obviously the processor received the command, it just had to think about what to do with it for a few seconds. Or am I wrong here?

So I wasn't happy with his 2nd plan of attack. Then he tells me he will create a trouble ticket and have Dell send me a box to return the unit to a repair depot. Inside the box I will finding packing instructions and a shipping label. Fine. If that's what it takes, screw it.

A couple of days later, I receive a box from Dell at work. (I always have stuff sent to the job. Shipping guy works 30 feet behind me.  ;) ) I open the box thinking it's a tad small for my laptop, but maybe they just don't want it shifting around. Inside the box I find some nice foam packing material and a brand new power cord for a PC. Still in the plastic bag with the Dell part number on it. And a packing slip showing my order number. I get on the phone and 8 mins. 37 secs. later (we have digital call timers on the phone displays) I finally get a human to interface with. She can't thank me enough for being a Dell customer but wants to know all about this power cord. I try to tell her she can have it back, just send me the box I was supposed to receive and I'll drop the damn thing in! Not good enough. So she transfer me to a "technician" of Middle Eastern descent with fair English speaking skills. He is also most concerned with this power cord and not in the least concerned with my issue or the fact that I never got the box. After 21 mins. 17 secs. on the phone with these brain donors, I get frustrated and hang up. Two days later I check my mail and find an invoice from Dell. Sems I owe them $5.36 for a PC power cord I ordered from them.     

Another 43 minutes on the phone, and convos with 2 more brain donors, later that evening and we all agreed that I can keep the power cord I have absolutely no use for (it's for a PC, I have a laptop......oh yeah, you guys know that already) because it would not be cost effective for them to send a call tag to have it picked up, and they will go ahead and send me a box in which to return my laptop for repair. TEN FREAKIN DAYS after my initial hour and a half online session!!

Gee, I hope I don't sound bitter. 

Anyway, in the interim I find that it's not just the arrow keys that are slow to respond. It is the entire keyboard. I just happened to have the most problems with the arrows. 

However, I did take MYRIAGON's advice for uninstalling/reinstalling the keyboard from the device manager and haven't had a bit of lag during the typing of this entire rant. 

I do want to thank all of you who replied. Some very good and knowledgeable people post here and my hat's off to ya!!

I'll keep ya posted if there are more problems.