The other day a strange thing happened.
The has computer been set to use Dvorak Key Board mapping.
It is a *$^%$! XP OS.
Firefox 4.3
Firewalls(2)*#@*&$#% soft and Nortons
Nortons updated antivirus
encrypted internet
While still logged on to legit website ...a coffee break...still logged on to the site the keyboard on it's own reverted to Qwerty...the Computer was then physically disconnected from the net.... in Open office.....it was still Dvorak

Hmmmmm very strange

The computer was scanned by a second CD Based anti virus no malware.

Any ideas?

I've got bucket loads of ideas, but none that will help if want the computer intact. Mine does random weird stuff too.

Looks like the site you were using requires input of the upper numeral characters.
If it expects a "#" character it expects the shift 3 character.
If your Shift 3 character is not "#" then the received character would be incorrect.
To force this response they convert your keyboard to qwerty.
They should revert you back at logoff, whether they do or not??
Hope this may help

Discussed your experience with nerd geek son, Examinator. He suggests that what may have happened, if you have enabled automatic updates over the web for your Microsoft XP operating system, is that upon such an update and as a consequence of it, that your preferences for the keyboard settings may have reverted to the default XP settings. My son says such things seemingly capriciously occur with some MS OS automatic updates.

It may have been that while you were on your coffee break an automatic update may just happen to have been completed, and resulted in just such a reversion to a default setting of a QWERTY keyboard layout in your computer as you describe.

Given that Open Office is a non-Microsoft piece of software, it may be that reversions to default settings that might otherwise pervade your computer were you to be using only Microsoft programs (such as MS Office) are not triggered by automatic updates of the operating system, thus explaining the retention of the Dvorak keyboard preference you describe when in the open source program Open Office.

This is just a suggestion. There may be some other cause of this behaviour. I do not know whether a malware program such as Back Orifice (which allows a remote intruder to control your computer) would be picked up by your anti-virus program, but I presume it would. It is hard to imagine any poster to OLO being a worthwhile target of such an intrusion, in any event, but I suppose it might be possible.

Thanks all,
Come to think of it I did receive an update about then.

Who would want to waste the effort to leech from me....Boring.
My issue is who I talk to, their private email addresses and their vulnerability, not what secrets are on my box. But what it (the box) could do....bot.

Again thanks all.

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