Synopsis: My computer interprets every action as ALT+[action]. I need this to stop.
Story: A few days ago windows corrupted a file on a bad restart. I don't know which file it was, but it says it was lost. Ever since then, windows interprets every action as though I were holding down the ALT key. This includes keystrokes and mouseclicks, but also includes autonomous actions such as loading flash files in my browser or clicking links.
In order to solve the problem, I want to reformat my hard drive, so I have the reboot CD in the drive (luckily I had previously set BIOS to boot from CD), but I can't even do so much as "press 1 for English" because it's interpreting it as ALT+1. I don't know why the computer is misinterpreting my keystrokes even outside of the windows platform-- any thoughts? I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling my keyboard, but it doesn't help.
I've thought about formatting the drive from the DOS prompt, but the only way I can figure to get to it is from the shortcut in windows. The DOS prompt interprets some of the keys correctly, but it doesn't interpret the enter key correctly, so I don't even have the ability to enter a command.
help please ty