Toshiba keyboard dead?

My laptop keyboard has starting acting weirdly. A few months ago the number lock light stopped working but still everything else was ok.

However last night the "x" and "shift" keys have stopped working and are unresponsive.

I could order a new keyboard but I just wanted to know if there is any kind of trouble shooting tests I could carry out to confirm that they are dead before buying new a new keyboard.

My laptop is Toshiba Satellite S50D-A

Many thanks for any ideas given.

 

This kind of problem is usually physical. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. There is little software testing can do. Even if the offending key is not completely dead, having an unreliable key is annoying.

Just buy a replacement.

 

The only thing I could suggest is to open the laptop, find the keyboard ribbon connector, pull it out and clean the contacts with a qtip and rubbing alcohol.
Don't know if anything was ever spilt on your keyboard, but could be liquid damage. Not repairable in most cases.

 

In my experience of keyboard faults it is rare for a ribbon to be faulty, 99% chance of a faulty keyboard.

 

I just had to change a keypad on a used 9 year old Laptop I just purchased. As the days progressed, more and more keys started to fail. The hardest thing was dealing with that 'clip' that holds the ribbon cable to the connector. When I went to flip up the 'clip', it dislodged (I thought it broke until I took a real close look at it). It was an adventure figuring which way it went back on and how.

I never had that happen to any ribbon connector before on any electronic device.