Is It Possible To Have FoolProof Spyware Installed on Someone`s PC?

Factual Questions
1

Once in a while when using my PC, certain charactor`s will not enter from my keyboard as they should.

For example, here is my question mark key:
É

Here is the key for quotations (to the left of the enter key):
``

If I open up wordpad then I will get the correct charactors so what could be possibly be causing thisÉ (see what I mean)

I can get the question mark key to work, but I`ll need to type it on a word file and cut and paste it in.

Lets`s try this again…

What could be causing this problem I am experiencing?

If someone had planted some keylogger or software on my PC, could that be a reason? I am getting paranoid.

I use Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, and I also run
CCleaner
Glary Uitilities &
Spybot.

Is it possible I could have some kind of virus and these programs wouldnt catch it?

Thanks
Gus

2

You most likely remapped your keyboard by accident. Or you could have a stuck key. Get a new keyboard.

3

By default Windows has the language tab enabled. Certain Ctrl-shift whatever combinations can change the keyboard language from, say, US English to German, without you noticing… Suddeny Y is the esset character that looks like a B with a tail. Etc.

That *might *be a cause. Not real likely with you reporting that the same keystroke returns different characters in different programs. But no harm in eliminating it as a possibility.

For XP, take a look under Control panel >> Regional Settings & langauges >> Languages Tab >> [Details]. Vista / Win7 is similar. If you have multiple langugages or keyboard mappings available and don’t need them, remove them.
As suggested above, if you have a spare keyboard or can borrow one I’d also try swapping keyboards. It’ll at least eliminate either the KB hardware or the PC software as the source of the problem.

4

If it’s your keyboard language, and you’re running Windows, there’s probably a little icon of a keyboard in your tray down in the corner. If you click it, it’ll show a list of choices, of which you probably want the “US” one. (Then uninstall the others as ** LSLGuy** says)