Dusting Laptop keyboard

Question

Is there a way to temporarily disable a laptop's keyboard in order to clean/dust it off, other than having to turn off the computer?

c.f. [How to disable a keyboard?](http://superuser.com/questions/44572/how-to-disable-a-keyboard) — slhck, Nov 18 '11 at 10:07
To clean very dirty keyboards, Leo Laporte recommends putting them through the dishwasher and letting them dry for a few days (yes, seriously). — BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft, Nov 18 '11 at 17:06

score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 18 '11 at 10:07

16

Well, you could lock the screen win-L on windows or do something similar. You could probably also disable it from device manager.

I'm sure there's something similar on linux, but that is heavily desktop environment dependent.

answered Nov 18 '11 at 10:07

Journeyman Geek

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mostly ctrl+alt+L – HTDutchy Nov 18 '11 at 14:40

score 10 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 18 '11 at 11:22

10

You can get a can of compressed air which will clean the keyboard without actualy pressing the keys.

edited Nov 18 '11 at 11:22

daxelrod

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answered Nov 18 '11 at 10:14

ben950

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score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 18 '11 at 12:17

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Open up a text editor and let that take the hit - or use a natural bristle brush (no static build up) with long hairs so that there's little pressure on the keys/gaps.

answered Nov 18 '11 at 12:17

Linker3000

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Tended to do the former, but every so often you hit a... unfortunate key combination – Journeyman Geek Nov 18 '11 at 12:22

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 18 '11 at 17:14

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You can also just sleep you computer instead of turning it off.

answered Nov 18 '11 at 17:14

Benjamin Crouzier

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 18 '11 at 13:22

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You could try KeyboardLocker to lock your keyboard , some key combinations will still work but its unlikely that you would press them , while cleaning.
Here is a how-to for the tool.

answered Nov 18 '11 at 13:22

Shekhar

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I am still having trouble understanding why would you really need to do it ? I mean why not just switch the device off or remove the keyboard ? or do you frequently drop bowls of ramen on you keyboard after a 1000 line code sprint which you have not been able to save ? – Shekhar Nov 18 '11 at 13:24

Dusting Laptop keyboard

5 Answers5