Fix : Stuck brightness controls / hotkeys not working in Windows 8 , 7 , Vista & XP

After reading this post you will be able to solve a problem where you cannot use the hotkeys on your keyboard to adjust brightness controls, volume controls etc. These hotkeys mostly located on your functions keys & are activated by a key marked as Fn on your keyboard. These keys are colour coded for user’s reference. Many time due to a software glitch these keys stop working & with that otherwise functionality that these hotkeys render is left unusable. Follow the steps below to fix the above said problem:

  • Only sleep & no shutdown
  • sometimes when we just let our computer sleep when we don’t use it & we do not use shutdown for a long time, this type of problem might occur due to data corruption. a simple restart should solve your problem right here.

 

  • Buggy Drivers
  • Try updating the following drivers :
  • Power manager driver ( if any )
  • Chipset drivers ( make sure you are installing the complete package )
  • Graphic Drivers
  • You can run Windows update or any system update program that came with your computer.
  • A better idea is to uninstall the current set of drivers & then download / install fresh / updated drivers from your system / motherboard manufacturer.

  • Hotkey management software
  • Almost every manufacturer provides a proper hotkey management software that can be download off their support website.
  • Make sure to checkout any Microsoft package that might be required by your computer for proper hotkey integration ( refer documentation / support site )

  • BIOS Update
  • If this is a frequent problem with your system, do check out your system manufacturer’s support site for any BIOS updates.
  • Refer the documentation first and/or make sure to read any related support forums for bug check.
  • Note : BIOS update might harm your computer & you should perform the BIOS update procedure at your own risk.

 

  • Checking Services
  • Go to run ( Windows key + R )
  • type services.msc
  • press ctrl + shift + enter
  • Look for hotkey start-up services or HID Human Interface services
  • Double click
  • set the startup type to automatic
  • Restart your computer

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