Hi - A friend asked me to help fix his Laptop for him - it's an Acer Aspire V5-571 MS2361

Sledge

Problem as follows - he's installed Windows 10  on it - however, windows 10 can't recognise the keyboard, and has installed a generic driver, which seems to ignore the built in numberpad on the keyboard, and instead uses the traditional numbers keypad superimposed over the right hand side letters, making it almost impossible to use, as it's on permanently.  No keyboard shortcuts will turn it off.  I figured windows 10 needs the appropriate drivers to get the keyboard working as it should - windows update has only made it worse.  But I can't seem to find any on Acer's site, and typing websites in is an exercise in frustration as I can't seem to find a fullstop anywhere. - I see this laptop was paired with Windows 8 originally, and I'm assuming it should work if he puts windows 8 back on.  But he'd really like to keep windows 10.  Does anyone have any ideas?  
Also: Tried to get into the bios to check all the settings there - it was passworded - no one knows what it was or is.  Is there a standard password Acer uses, or do I need to reset this somehow?

Thanks in advance for any help!

AnhEZ28

@Sledge does the numpad only type the numbers but not the other function like arrow keys?

Sledge

@AnhEZ28 - thanks for the reply!
The number pad on the right hand side of the keyboard is not active, or can't be activated by pushing num lock.  The numbers are in fact superimposed over the letters to the left of the numberpad - ie u=4, m=0 etc, comma works, but full stop is a plus sign, as is the key to the right of the full stop. It's weird - there is a function shortcut to turn that number layout on/off - but it doesn't work.  Does that make sense?

StevenGen

Sledge said:

@AnhEZ28 - thanks for the reply!
The number pad on the right hand side of the keyboard is not active, or can't be activated by pushing num lock.  The numbers are in fact superimposed over the letters to the left of the numberpad - ie u=4, m=0 etc, comma works, but full stop is a plus sign, as is the key to the right of the full stop. It's weird - there is a function shortcut to turn that number layout on/off - but it doesn't work.  Does that make sense?

Those numeric keys symptoms are in the actual keyboard as the keyboard has some sort of damaged and/or its faulty and has nothing to do with the Win-10 driver! Check the keyboard first like its connection to the mobo, as the numeric keys might be gone completely or its circuitry has shorted out (as this is an old laptop) or try an external keyboard and see if the right side numeric keypad works? As the Win-10 driver is the only appropriate driver for that laptop. Note: also try to take Win-10 to an "Earlier Restore Point" and if that doesn't work then Restore Win-10 completely if all the above doesn't work. 

Win-8 drivers will not fix your problem and has nothing to do with anything as this laptops works 100% and very well with Win-10 Home and Pro. With the bios password this forum restricts any hacking guides so you will have to take this laptop to a technician and replace the bios chip, also and if this laptop hasn't got a UEFI bios then that would be an even better idea (seeing that you can't get into the bios) to get a new flashed UEFI bios chip as these laptops work 100% better in UEFI bios format mode. Also there is a bios mod that you can do if you could have gotten into the bios and that is to mod the V5-571 UEFI last bios version so it can be flashed onto an MBR bios laptop like yours and convert it to UEFI bios, which I've done to my laptop and it still works 100% and perfectly with Win10 Pro. Also and if you want all the appreciate bios and drivers for this V5-571 laptop from Acer do this:

1. Visit the Drivers and Manuals section of the Acer support website.
2. Enter your Serial Number/SNID or search for your product by Model.
3. Select the BIOS tab to display the latest available BIOS version. Compare this to your BIOS version to determine if your BIOS is up-to-date.

Btw and as I've got the same laptop and have had it for many enjoyable years, the keyboard/touchpad drivers have always worked perfectly on it, you also have to be aware that these Aspire V5's and V3's laptops are renowned for keyboard keys hardware problems, that their keys are sticky, don't register while pressing them in quick typing and the space bar not separating words in sentences and allot of general typing usage problems) as they are a real pain to use, so even if you change the keyboard you will still have these problems (but not the numeric keys not working) as I've done that and been there allot of times and the keyboard problems were always persistent its in these laptops design.

Also the best upgrades (if your friend wants to invest in this laptop?) is to put a 2.5" SSD drive preferably a Samsung EVO as that is what I did and its worked for over 4 years perfectly with this SSD drive and its still working 100%, also do a Crucial System Scan as this laptop can run 16GB total RAM (2x 8GB DDR1600MHz) into its 2x memory slots and with a UEFI bios this laptop will be 200% more suitable to run Win-10 and be enjoyed as a platform than what it came with OEM. Good luck and hope this helps you out completely on this Aspire V5-571 laptop as they are a real old timers work horse and bullet prof as I've enjoyed mine for many years and still do for certain software and as a spare laptop  

AnhEZ28

@Sledge try https://keyboard-test.space/ this website to test the keyboard keys. 

jacobdevv

Try keyboardtester.org to test the keyboard keys working properly or not.