Windows 10: HP laptop keyboard not recognized on wakeup; fixed by restart - why?

My HP ProBook 450 G5 (winver 1903, build 18362.657) wouldn't recognize its built-in keyboard when I accessed it this morning. A simple restart of the computer fixed the problem, but I'm wondering why it happened.

Some background:

I always restart the computer at the end of the day (the workday; it's my office computer). Usually when I open it - the next morning, or the Monday after a weekend - the login screen immediately appears. If I'm gone for more than a two-day weekend - as I was this time - I have to press the power key to wake the computer up. But however I get to the login screen, I get there and log in.

This morning - again, I had to wake the computer with the power key - I tapped key to bring up the signon part, and nothing happened. Same with multiple taps. Clicked the mouse and the password field appeared, but then I couldn't type anything. It's like the built-in keyboard wasn't there.

Did a simple restart using the mouse, and when the login screen appeared, everything was normal.

I'm not at all worried about the problem reappearing. Just bothered and curious, about why this happened at all.

:)

 

Built in keyboard not working

I recently purchased an ASUS ROG GL553VD Notebook Computer and a few weeks ago the keyboard stopped working. After a few restarts it worked again, but today the problem came back, and was not fixed by any amount of restarting. Several people on past posts said to reinstall they Keyboard driver, but there was no Keyboard section in the Device Manager. I am currently resetting the laptop to factory settings to see if that fixes the issue. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

In-build keyboard is dead until restart

See HP Notebook PCs - Keyboard Troubleshooting (Windows) in HP Customer Support - Knowledge Base.

The article provides step-by-step instructions on the topics:

• 
  - Test the Keyboard

• 
  - Pressing keys does nothing (keyboard is not working)

• 
  - ...etc

 

HP Laptops Shipped with Hidden Keylogger

Michael Myng, more commonly known as ZwClose, was approached by a friend to look into the possibility of controlling the keyboard's backlighting on his HP laptop. Michael was down for the challenge, and his friend sent the Synaptics SynTP.sys file over to him. After analyzing the keyboard driver, he found the sleeping keylogger. The logging function is disabled by default. However, intruders can enable it easily by modifying the registry value through malicious code. Michael reported the issue to HP, and the company released a list of the affected laptop models along with a security patch. The list contains over 400 models from HP's most popular product lines like the EliteBook, ProBook, ZBook, Spectre Pro, ENVY, Pavilion, OMEN - just mention a few. Now that the vulnerability is public, we urge HP laptop owners to install the security patch ASAP. The fix is also available on Windows Update if that's your preferred method.








Sources: ZwClose, HP