Lenovo T430 Laptop - Issue with "C" Key

Raquinator

Prominent
Jun 28, 2017
1
0
510
Hi all. I recently purchased a Lenovo T430 Thinkpad refurbished and have run into an issue with the "C" key on the keyboard.

Just for reference - since purchasing the laptop, I've replaced the battery, added more RAM, and performed a SSD swap and re-installed Windows 10 on this laptop.

So, occasionally, when I'm typing and press the "C" button on the laptop, it doesn't type out a "C" but instead performs the "Insert" button function or the "Page Up" button function. In addition, if I'm in Google Chrome, when I press "Ctrl" + "C" to copy the text, the function performed is "Ctrl" + "Tab" (i.e. it switches the Chrome tab, rather than copying the text).

This issue has occurred when: using Microsoft Word, typing an email in Gmail, logging in to the Outlook web client. Also, I can never copy text via "Ctrl" + "C" on the keyboard.

However, it seems to work okay when: I typed this thread, type into the Google Chrome search/address bar.

In addition, this issue never occurs when I'm using an external USB keyboard.

My initial thought was that it was a circuit issue - the laptop keyboard runs into issues, but the external keyboard doesn't. However, I'm not sure if this is the case since the laptop keyboard seems to work fine in certain instances. My second guess (after skimming online posts, here and elsewhere) was that it is an issue with the drivers. Since I've reinstalled Windows though and had this issue before and after the re-installation (i.e. on the old HDD and the new SSD), I am guessing that is not the case.

I've considered two options:
1) Buy a replacement keyboard and swap it out
2) Buy a small external keyboard (i.e. smaller in width than the laptop keyboard) and use that instead

The small external keyboard would be cheaper than the replacement, but I've come to like the Thinkpad keyboard and it'd be less to carry about if replacing the keyboard would solve the issue.

I'm curious what people think - what is the best fix for this solution? Any insight is appreciated :)