# Very weird computer problem
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 6, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988 "2002-12-06T19:01:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988/1 "2002-12-06T19:01:19Z")
When I hit the “o” key on the keyboard, the letter “p” is displayed.
When I hit the “p” key on the keyboard, the letter “o” is displayed.
This is true for both upper case and lower case.
All other keys work fine. This occurs in all applications.
I turned the computer completely off and back on again, and it still does it.
WTF? Is it the keyboard?
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### Author:  [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988/2 "2002-12-06T19:23:03Z")
Are the offending keys in this order (O-P) ?
If not, take them off (they come off somewhat easily) and switch them. Perhaps someone pulled a fast one on you? That’s _my_ experience with the matter…
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988/3 "2002-12-06T19:23:10Z")
First of all, did someone switch the key caps on you? The “o” should be to the left of the “p”. Standard practical joke.
Second, try the keyboard on another computer and vice versa. (In case someone installed the software version of the above joke, for instance.)
Other than that, based on my experience taking apart and fixing a bunch of keyboards, it’s sufficiently strange that I would rec. a new keyboard. Nothing that I can think of outside of a faulty chip can cause that behavior.
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988/4 "2002-12-06T19:27:59Z")
Sounds like a prank to me, If you have XP (or a handicapped enabled computer) look under “START/Accessories/Accessibility/On-screen keyboard” to see if the keyboard map is in sink with the actual keyboard.
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### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988/5 "2002-12-06T21:04:54Z")
Ah jeeze, that’s what it is :smack:. Our 4-year old daughter apparently dropped the keyboard on the floor, and the “O” and “P” keys fell off. She put them back, reversed of course.
I feel like such a dope now for not noticing it. Thanks.
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### Author:  [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988/6 "2002-12-06T21:49:35Z")
That is a classic!!!
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988/7 "2002-12-06T22:02:33Z")
It should be…
qwertyuiop
asdfghjkl
zxcvbnm
Yours might be…
qwertyuipo
asdfghjkl
zxcvbnm
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988/8 "2002-12-06T22:04:28Z")
A buddy of mine did that to me once, switching M and N.
I got him back, though.
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### Author:  [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-weird-computer-problem/140988/9 "2002-12-06T22:14:30Z")
Yeah, the version I’ve always heard of involved ‘M’ and ‘N’.
A slightly larger-scale version of this prank was done in my high school computer room, involving the spelling of famous four-letter words with the buttons.