about 15 minutes ago i was writing a post on another site and about 3 sentences in i went to make a capital i [by striking shift plus i] and it wouldnt work. moments before that i had used the shift key without a problem. i hit the shift key on its own and the help menu popped up for internet explorer. i repeated this several times and the same thing happened. i hit the other shift key to see if it worked and it gives me this;

EIS
{<ES{<ES{ES{<ES{ESES{ES{<ES{<ES{ES
{<SS

in that jumbled above i hit the right shift key 11 times. no enters or spaces were used. i restarted my computer several times and also switched the usb port it is plugged into but no luck. on the desktop, the left shift key acts as a right-click, bringing up the menu. right shift key does nothing.

i have to write a biology report tomorrow so any quick assistance would be greatly appreciated.

i have a compaq usb keyboard model sdm4540ul

thanks in advance.

ryan