I do realise this is an embarrassing admission to make, but the problem is upsetting enough for me to seek help:
These disappearing letters are driving me stark, ravin' mad!
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I bet you are using some version of Windows! I'm not much help but you can search Windows hot keys and it may help with which unmarked key you hit that kills your email. I do know Windoze has a hotkey for email and for lock and switch monitors and hides screens, but I don't use Windows except when needed at work. I gave up even trying to keep up with all the never ending changes.
ReplyDeleteBill, you're right, it is Windows, and I suspect it is a hot key I am hitting. If I knew which one it was I'd throw it away, so I can't hit it by mistake, like caps lock and so many other keys I've already ditched of this keyboard.
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling, Robert. The problem i have is with the little touch pad on my laptop - just inadvertently brushing it with a thumb while typing moves the cursor to some random location in the text where I will keep on typing merrily away. I have to proof my emails carefully so as to avoid presenting unfortunate juxtapositions.
ReplyDeleteOK, to try to be actually helpful, altho no doubt you have tried this, I would turn the lights on and try hitting keys and key combos to try to ferret out the evil ones.
If nothing else works, you can always take a break from communication, pop open a brew, and contemplate the approach of fall.
Stay cool. Here in California we are coming out of a drought in dramatic, flash-flooding, fashion.
I took your advice, checked, and it suggests the hash key #. But since I don't mistakenly hit shift 3 together, I don't think that's it. There must be another hot key I'm more likely to hit when typing at speed. I did find (which I was previously unaware of) these emails seem to go into Thrash. Not sure that's always been the case, though.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tony, I think that's what I will do next, play around with the keyboard to see if I can find what I'm doing wrong. It just happened again then when I was typing this reply to you. I pressed something which took me away from posting a comment!
ReplyDeleteI have a friend over here with that problem and I speculate (and he thinks it likely) that he was hitting ctrl+a selecting everything, and the next character or space deletes it all. I would suggest the following - when have to key something for the second time (I have a bum keyboard on one pc), I do so in a Word or some application with a robust undo feature. Then copy and paste the text.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. I just tried the control+a and that does seem to be distinct possibility, though in my case the emails just disappear off the screen - it's not just the text I've written, it's the old "new message". I have done the write in Word then copy and paste often in the past, but I'm afraid I'm usually too lazy to do that with every short email reply.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say what problem it is you're running into, but suffice it to say that I try to avoid composing emails directly into my email program. If it's an email message of more than a few sentences, I'll use my word processing software or even the built-in text editor to compose the message and then copy/paste the text. It's an extra step but it avoids misfiring an email before it's complete.
ReplyDeleteI know this might be a bit out there, but I think there's two alternative possibilities that people haven't raised.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, possibly hardware. When you poped those keytops off, the conductive rubber membrane under them will have been disturbed, and left exposed. Some keys may be making electronic contacts that you aren't aware of.
Secondly, it may be software. Windows - or even the emailer you are composing in, may be crashing out and shutting down during use. If this is the case, you can have a good look at Window's event logger. Here's a guide on how to use it.
http://www.cyberlink.com/support/faq-content.do?id=10449
But I think this may need more investigation.
Thank for Scott and Toronto.
ReplyDeleteScott, the first possibility you mention is a very distinct one, I think. But this is not an entirely new problem, and was known to happen (less frequently perhaps)when all the keys were in place.
Scott, as for crashes and suddenly shutting down, what is it with Google Chrome? Anytime you "push it", it just curls up its feeble little toes, lays down and dies. What the ...? Does this happen to other people? It's fast, but it's also pathetic!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Windows Live Mail crashes far too often too!
ReplyDeleteRob, sounds like possibly a shortcut or hotkey issue - hard to tell without seeing what you're doing. Or perhaps a physical/hardware issue.
ReplyDeleteAlso, don't worry about being a two-finger typist - Geral Murnane (one of our great writers) is effectively a one-finger typist! Watch him at work here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZczV13raSFQ
rino